I don't know what short or long is so I don't know how it
adds up. It will be up to you to decide. This is my
favorite of all the short stories I have written
The Old Motel
It was late, almost midnight, Jack and Eva Summers
had been driving since early morning, and they were
exhausted. They had not seen a Motel for miles or even any
sign of civilization. The snow was coming down heavier and
Jack was afraid that if they didn’t stop soon, they would
be stranded on the side of the road. He had wanted to try
and make the drive to their new home in one day but with
the bad weather and an unexpected flat tire their schedule
had been thrown off. They found themselves in the middle
of the Appalachian Mountains, In the dark, in the middle
of the first snow storm of the season, with over 200 miles
to go before reaching their destination.
This was not a move that either one of them was
looking forward to. Jack had lost his job to down-sizing
within his Company. After weeks of scrimping and putting
bills off while searching for another job, he decided that
the only thing to do would be to move home with his mother
for a while, until they could get back on their feet.
Both of Eva’s Parents were deceased and so was
Jack’s father. He had never gotten along with his mother,
and that was the reason he lived a days journey from her
house now. Jack was an only child, and he realized it was
a bad thing to feel that way but he and his mother got
along better with some distance between them.
Mother had never been satisfied with the fact that
he had become an Architect instead of following in his
Father’s foot steps and becoming a druggist and staying in
their small town and taking over the family Pharmacy. But
the dispensing of drugs and taking peoples lives in his
hands was nothing that Jack thought he would feel
comfortable doing.
They continued driving and praying that something
would be up ahead before Jack wore out completely. He had
stopped on the side of the road to wipe the ice build-up
off the windshield wipers when Eva noticed a faint light
shining through the trees on the right side of the
road. “Jack! What is that up ahead. It looks like a Neon
sign…Up Ahead on the right. Do you see it?”
“I don’t see anything,” Jack shouted back at her
from the opposite side on the windshield, wiping snow from
his eyes to see better. “But I hope you are right and
maybe it will be a place to stop…Wait I see it now, you
are right, it is faint but definitely Neon, like an old
sign.”
Jack got back in and moved the car forward, and
looked for a driveway leading toward the light, hoping all
the time that it was just not the front window of a cabin.
He decided that if a cabin was all they found he would at
least stop and ask if there was anything up ahead. Finally
they found a small drive leading into the woods in they
direction they were looking. They made the turn and as
they did, Eva could make out a small rusted sign lying on
it’s side in the ditch. “Well there is a Sign Jack, I
assume there is some sort of Public establishment ahead.”
Luckily the drive was old and not well kept as the
ice and snow would have made a well maintained road too
slippery for them to have made the incline. The broken
pavement and foliage growing up through the cracks added
the traction needed to make it up such a steep hill.
“I think I see something up ahead and not a minute
too soon.” Jack said noticing that the storm was getting
harder. The sign was hard to read with the blowing snow,
but as they got closer they were able to read what it
said. “ fountain View Courts” Jack reported excitedly. I
assume the M has burned out, or maybe it was a F. They
don’t look like they are opened for business.”
“They just have to be, I don’t think I can go any
further.” His wife said, Her voice was trembling, and she
was shaking from the cold. There was only so much a Car
heater could do.
“ fountain View Courts consisted of separate
cabins placed in a semi circle across the top of a rise
facing the road. The cabins were backed by huge trees
which grew close as if they were trying to protect the
cabins…or consume them. In the round part of the curve
there was an ancient play ground area with a few broken
swings and a slide, sitting off at an odd angle and
covered in snow. If there was a pool, Jack and Eva did not
see one. The place was obviously built before pools were
thought of as necessary additions to road side Motels.
The first cabin had a small sign overhead that
said “Office” and a faint flickering light in the window
announced ‘vacancy”. The cabins all looked old but in good
repair. There was a low light shining over the door of
each cabin, but there were no cars in any of the parking
areas.
“Jack left Eva in the car and walked toward the
office and tried the door, thankfully finding it open. He
went inside to the small reception area and was surprised
to find an attendant sitting behind the counter at this
late hour.
“You are a welcome sight sir, we have been driving
since early morning and have come to the end of our
endurance. Would you be having a cabin available for us?”
“ My name is Mr. Simms, We are not usually opened
this time of year, not much traffic in the mountains in
the winter you know, but something told me that there
would be a customer who really needed to stop here
tonight. So I came down here to wait…And here you are. Yes
I can accommodate you. There is one cabin that we keep
ready even in the off season.”
“Well thank fate and your keen intuition. My wife
is in the car and she will be thrilled to hear that we
will be able to stay here for the night.”
Jack signed the register and accepted the key from
the owner, for the last cabin from the office. He guessed
the owner did not want to be disturbed any further. “And
before I go, Is there somewhere near that we can go and
find a bite to eat?”
“Well, No where else near here, But I have a small
place in the back and I offer sweet rolls and coffee for
breakfast. And since it is so late I can offer you maybe a
sandwich. It won’t be much, but I have a few making’s. Mr.
Summers, you go and get settled and come back in a few
minutes and I will have them ready with a pot of hot
coffee.”
You must have been sent from Heaven.” Jack
said, “I will be back as soon as I get Eva settled in the
room. I can’t thank you enough.”
Mr. Simms smiled as Jack headed out the door.
On the way back to the car Jack realized that the
proprietor had called him Mr. Summers, but he knew he had
not offered his name and he would have sworn that Mr.
Simms had never glanced at the register. “But he had to
have looked…How could he have know otherwise?” He was
muttering to himself as he got back into the car
“Is everything OK Jack? You were muttering to
yourself“ His wife asked.
“What?…No, everything is fine.” her husband
assured her.
Jack soon forget the incident what with the
excitement about the room and the unexpected offer of a
bite to eat from the friendly Mr. Simms.
“This is wonderful.” Eva exclaimed as he told her
all that had happened in the office. “Now lets hurry and
see about the room, I hope it is heated!”
Jack drove to the end of the drive and pulled into
the space marked in front of the last cabin. The door was
painted a bright blue with a large #6 freshly painted in
white in the center of the door.
When they tried the lock they found that it opened
easily. Jack reached for the light switch and they were
both pleasantly surprised to find a clean cozy room.
There was a sitting area directly in front of them
with a couch and an easy chair facing a small fireplace
that was laid ready to light.
Lighting the fireplace was the first thing on
their agenda. That done and their toes and fingers warmed
in the flames, they turned to inspect the rest of the
room. There was a long table up against the opposite wall.
A small hallway opened up to the left, obviously leading
to a sleeping area, with a bathroom in between.
When they passed the bath they found it to be neat
but rather old fashioned. The sleeping area in the back
was cozy with only one double bed and a place to put
suitcases. There was a dressing area tucked in behind the
bath. There were a few magazines next to the bed on a
little side table. Eva went over to the bed and was
flipping through them. “That‘s odd,” She said, “These
magazines are 20 years old. I thought they looked
different.” Jack picked up the newspaper and checked the
date on it. “This too.” He reported, “It is the
Appalachian Gazette from this date 20 years ago. How
strange, maybe they are just here as a novelty.”
“Probably so.” His partner agreed. “But this is
really nice Jack it looks like it has just been remodeled.
I am so glad we found the place. I don’t believe I could
have gone another hour.”
Yes, It was almost uncanny, and the lights seemed
to loom up out of nowhere. One second more and we would
have passed it right by. It is almost as if the lights
were turned on just for us, and as soon as we thought we
really needed to stop. All of a sudden it was here.”
Jack unloaded the suitcases and headed back to the
office for the food, slapping his hands together to keep
then warm. He realized that he had never given his credit
card information so he took that along with him. He
knocked on the door of the office and getting no reply he
went on in, too cold to stand on ceremony. There was no
one in the lobby area but he noticed a swinging door
behind the desk that was moving slightly as if someone had
just passed through it. He pushed his way through the back
door calling Mr. Simms name. Again there was no one to be
seen and the silence was complete.
But their host was true to his word, and supper
had been provided. Jack found a thermos of black coffee,
any fixings they might want, and two huge Ham and Cheese
sandwiches on sour dough bread, that looked delicious, all
laid out on an old cafeteria style tray. He looked around
again and called for the proprietor with no luck, so he
just shrugged his shoulders and decided he could thank him
in the morning.
When he headed back out toward the lobby he was
almost startled enough to drop the tray. Mr. Simms was
sitting in the same place they had found him when they
drove up. “Wow you startled me! Mr. Simms. I just passed
through here, didn’t you hear me calling?”
“I just came in by the front door .” He
explained “You children don’t seem to be to happy to be
going to where ever you are headed.”
“ Is it that obvious?” Jack asked with a tired
little sigh “We are moving back with my Mother. A prospect
I am not looking forward to. I lost my job and can’t find
another one right now. My mother and I never got along
much so I am not expecting a very warm welcome. But it
will only be for a while.”
“Uh Huh, We, Edna and I, moved here many years ago
too, temporarily, to help her parents run this place. But
we never got to leave. It was one thing after another.
Every time we would try to leave, some crisis would occur
and we were obligated to remain. Then her parents both
died within months of each other and we couldn‘t sell the
place, and we were stuck here. Now my wife has passed and
it is too late for me to start over.”
“I am an architect by trade.“ Jack explained to
his host. “but I don’t know what I might have to do to
keep us in food and comfort until I can get back to where
I belong. There are not many calls for architects in the
small town where my mother lives, and I will be too busy
just making a living to travel and look for something
somewhere else. Where was it you were bound when you came
here?”
"I wanted to go to Detroit and get into the
automobile industry. I had lots of ideas and I could have
done well for us. I sometimes wish that I had gone
straight on past this place without stopping, But now it
is too late.“
But you are a fairly young man yet, Mr. Simms, I
am sure you could find a place even now. I am sure that
even now, your ideas would still be welcomed.”
“No, it is just too late for me, I stay here and
wait for the odd person that needs a place to stop for the
night. You go on now Mr. Summers before that coffee gets
cold and your wife thinks you have been kidnapped.”
“Thanks again Mr. Simms and I am sorry that you
never got to fulfill your dream.”
“Thanks but I did what I had to do at the time, I
have no regrets about that".
By the time her husband returned to the cabin, Eva
was almost too relaxed and tired to eat, but quickly
decided the sandwiches looked too good to pass up.
“When I went back to the office, Mr. Simms was
there and we talked for a while. He has a sad story, He
gave up his dreams for family obligations and never had a
chance to do what he wanted to do….And I still never paid
him for the room, He never mentioned it.”
“ Well it is awful late,” Eva pointed out “ I am
sure he will be waiting in the morning when we check out.”
“I suppose so, It is unusual to find a trusting
person these days. I am just hoping that this place won’t
cost us too much for the night. We didn’t come prepared
for an over night stay.”
“Somehow I don‘t think that will be a problem, I
just feel like it will all work out.”
With their snack finished and the coffee drank,
they decided they were not so tired after all. The storm
had abated while they ate and for now the snowing had
stopped, They decided to take a short walk. The stars were
shining through the trees and the clouds and the hilltop
was peaceful. But soon they began to wish they had stayed
in the cabin.
They noted as they walked that the cabins looked
shabbier than they had when they first arrived. It was
almost as if their first impressions had been an illusion.
The doors of a few of the cabins were hanging lopsided on
their hinges now, and leaves could be seen where they had
blown up into the rooms through the open doors. The porch
was sagging on one of the cabins and the roof looked ready
to cave in on another one.
“This place did not look like this just an hour
ago, Jack. What‘s going on here?” Eva asked as she
tightened her hold around Jack’s waist.
“ I didn’t think it did either, an how is it our
cabin looks so nice while these are in such disrepair? I
don’t think I like this.”
“I don’t either, but you said Mr. Simms was so
nice, and the food he prepared for us was excellent.“ She
admitted. “It doesn’t make sense. Except for our cabin,
this place looks like a derelict that hasn’t been used for
20 years. Maybe because it was dark our first impression
was clouded, I don’t think I want to stay here.”
"I know what you mean, But it is too late and we
are too tired to try looking for another place. Lets just
go back to our rooms and see what we find in the morning.”
“Ok, I guess so Jack, As long as you are there
with me.”
“I am not going anywhere." Her Husband assured
her "I won’t leave your side again. Come on, this place
gives me the creeps. Lets at least return to our cabin
where we can pretend everything is fine.”
There was no TV, so after surprisingly hot showers
they turned in for the evening.
The next morning dawned bright and clear and would
have seemed like a summer day if the thermometer had read
higher than 20 degrees. The snow had come again in the
early morning covering their foot steps of the night
before. But it was no longer snowing and the view was
beautiful, Jack stood by the window looking at the
adjoining cabins with a strange look on his face.
“ What is wrong Jack?” His wife asked “You look
strange.”
“All of the other cabins on this hilltop look even
more run down in the light of day. All except for ours. It
doesn’t make sense.“
“Well Mr. Simms did say it was the off season,”
Eva pointed out.
“Maybe they just let things go until they get ready to re-
open.”
“These look like they have passed 30 seasons
without being refurbished. I am at least glad that one of
them has been kept up”
“I have also been thinking about what he said to
me last night. Maybe this move is not such a good idea.
What if we get to my Mother’s and never get to leave? What
if I take a second best job in a retail store and get into
a rut and never get back to what I really want to do?”
“Maybe it won’t happen to us, But I don’t see that
we have any choice right now.“
“Come on, let’s pack, check out, And see if we can
find a place for breakfast.” Jack said turning from the
window. “I am starved.”
“I can be ready in a few minutes, We only unloaded
over night things.”
The car was packed and ready to go, Jack pulled
away from the cabin and made the mistake of looking in the
rearview mirror. He slammed on his brakes and nearly sent
the car spinning down the ice covered drive. What he saw
in the rear view mirror made him question his sanity. The
nice warm cozy cabin they had just vacated now looked the
most ruined of them all. There was a large pine tree
crashed across the roof. The front window was broken out
and the front door was hanging from only one hinge. He sat
in stunned silence and hoped that Eva wouldn’t look back
and was grateful for once that the windows were covered
with ice and snow to block the view.
There was no way anyone could have spent the night
in that cabin…but they had. “Lets’ just pay the bill and
get out of here.” Jack said, glad that the office was
pretty much out of sight of Cabin #6.
‘I don‘t even want to try and figure this out.’ He thought
to him self ‘I just want to leave.’
“Right away dear, Let’s just go while the weather
holds.”
They stopped in front of the office and knocked on
the door. The door was locked and no one answered their
knock. “I don’t get it,” Jack told Eva “No one seems to be
here, I am just going to leave my Mother’s address on a
card and go. He can mail us a bill.”
“Good idea, It is not like we are trying to run
off without paying.” His wife agreed with him.
Jack tucked his business card with their new
address penciled on the back into the locked door and was
only too glad to drive away and leave this Old Motel that
just made no sense.
***********************************************
The sun was shining and reflecting off the snow
and ice that was piled up on all the bushes that lined the
side of the road, making them sparkle like a giant had
spilled a bag of diamonds during the night. It was not
long before the strangeness of the night before was washed
away by the bright sun of a new day.
About 5 miles down the road there was a roadside
Café advertising “Breakfasts 24/7”, in flashing neon
lights. “ That’s the ticket!” Exclaimed Jack. “Lets stop
in here and have a large breakfast and try and forget the
strange night we spent last night.”
“Sounds good to me.” Eva agreed as they pulled up
in the driveway.
At least here there were other people. There were
3 cars and 4 pick-up trucks in front of the restaurant.
Jack pulled into a space that had just been vacated by a
van load of teenagers. The van was covered with School
football graffiti. “This looks like a pretty popular spot.
It is also comforting to see that we won‘t be the only
ones here. I think if we had been…I would have suggested
that we leave.”
“And I would not have argued with you.” Eva told
him as they walked into the café’.
“They found a table for two by the window and they
sat down and waited for the waitress. “You know, I am
still thinking about what Mr. Simms said last night, about
missed opportunities, and I have been wondering if we are
doing the right thing by going to my mothers.“ He was
distracted for the moment by the waitress coming and
taking their orders.
“ We will both have coffee, One regular and one
Decaf.” Jack ordered for them. “ and I believe I want
Breakfast #1 with Biscuits.”
“Sounds good to me too, I will have the same.” Eva
told the smiling waitress.
“ As I was saying,” He continued as the waitress
left with their order. “The place where my mother lives is
a very small town and there will be no call for an
architect there. What if we get stuck in a rut like Mr.
Simms talked about and I never get to do what I have been
trained to do. I didn‘t go to college for 6 years to
sling burgers at a Burger King. It is almost as if Mr.
Simms was there last night just to remind me of what was
important. Maybe I needed a little help to make up my mind
about not making this move.“
“But what will we do?” Eva asked him “We sold most
of our things. We have nothing to go back to. What
alternative do we have?”
“That’s just it…I have been thinking. We don’t
have anything. There is nothing to say we can’t start
over… somewhere else. Some place where I can do what I was
meant to do. In a larger city some place. And since our
host last night mentioned Detroit, why not there? We are
heading toward Michigan anyway. Why don’t we just go on to
there and see what we can find?”
“We do have the money from the sale of our
belongings.” Eva admitted. “I guess we could survive for a
while on that. If that is what you really think is best.”
Yes, I think that would be best.” Her husband
decided. And he felt that a great weight had been lifted
from his shoulders. “I didn’t sleep hardly at all last
night thinking about this.“
The breakfast arrived and it was either the best
they had ever eaten, or they were just hungrier that usual
because they cleaned their plates without another word
spoken between them of their future plans.
Sitting back with their 3rd cup of coffee, the
waitress stopped at their table again. “You’re not from
around here are you? I have never seen you here before”
She asked as she laid their ticket down.
“No.” Said Eva as she introduced themselves. “We
were on the way to my mother in laws home in Southern
Michigan, but I believe we have just decided to change our
plans and go on to Detroit instead.“
“Well then, What changed your mind all of a
sudden?” The waitress asked, Making conversation with
these strangers that she would likely never see again. “I
wish I was going some place, any place. She sighed “I have
been here in this area for 40 years now and am likely to
die here.”
“Well, Edith” Jack said, they had both seen her
name tag “Then you would know Mr. Simms at the “Mountain
View Motel“. He is the reason we are changing our plans”
“I knew Mr. Simms,” She said with a puzzled look
on her face “But what could he have to do with your travel
plans?“
“Why, We stopped at his Motel last night. Jack
explained “He fixed us some supper and we talked for a
long time and he told me his story.”
“Yes, and since you know him, Maybe you could give
him this money for us. For our room last night.” Eva said
taking 40.00 from her wallet.“ I hope this will be enough.
We didn’t get to pay him last night, Jack kept forgetting
his credit card, and this morning he was no where to be
found. He must have decided it was too cold to get out”
“You couldn’t have stayed at that place last
night,” She old them “That place has been closed up for
the last 20 years. No one goes up there, the place is a
ruin.”
“Well it did look rather run down, all that is
except for the last cabin #6, The one we had. It was in
excellent condition last night, but when we left this
morning it too looked…well not quite as nice in the
sunlight.“ Eva cast a puzzled look at him after that
statement but did not ask him what he meant. “We were just
so exhausted we would have stayed anywhere. We couldn’t
figure it out, But I know we spent a comfortable night and
Mr. Simms fixed us some great sandwiches and coffee. We
are still confused but we would like to pay him for his
hospitality. So would you take this, if you know him, and
see to it that he gets it?” Jack tried to give Edith the
money. “It isn’t much but I don’t know what we would have
done if we had not found that place when we did last
night.”
Which cabin did you say you stayed in last night?“
Their waitress asked as she pulled up a chair and sat down.
“The last one, around the curve from the office.
#6” Jack told her, getting more curious by the minute.
“There is no way you could have stayed there. and
in that cabin especially, Mr. Summers, There was a huge
storm and a large tree was blown down, tearing all the
power lines and damaging that roof on #6.
“When was this storm?” the couple asked “There was
a storm last night, but it was not that severe and there
was no hard wind.”
“The storm was almost 20 years ago, and no one has
ever found it necessary to try and restore the place. We
have very few travelers coming this way, and with the
larger new hotels in the area it didn’t seem worth it.”
“But never the less, we stayed there last night!”
And what of Mr. Simms? Where does he stay?”
“I don’t know who you talked to last night, but it
wasn’t Mr. Simms.” The waitress told them “ Mr. Simms
was my father and he died 20 years ago, in that same storm
that destroyed the cabin, In fact he was in cabin 6 when
the roof caved in on him.”
Jack and Eva sat in stunned silence. That would
certainly explain the destruction he had witnessed this
morning, but what of the night they had spent?
“You know, you are not the first people to come in
here telling stories of staying at the Mountain View
Courts. No one has ever been able to explain it, It is
almost like Dad has a way of reaching back from another
place when he feels like he is needed.”
Well, if anyone ever needed him last night, we
surely did. In more ways than one…” Jack said “I don’t
know what to say.”
“You Don’t need to say anything.” She assured
them “ Just be glad that help was there when you needed it
most.”
“Thanks again.” Eva whispered, placing the $40.00
back into her wallet.
They paid for their breakfast and quietly got into
their car and drove away. They both knew then that their
decision to go to Detroit was right. Who could deny the
advice of such a special messenger.
“I guess I was not wrong when I told him that he
must have been sent from Heaven”
“No, I guess not.” His wife agreed.
The End
Contact me here: lafitzfan@fitz.zzn.com
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