WINTER... way too soon (Part 40b)

I was able to make it maybe another mile when I saw a sign that read “Motel”. There were no tire tracks into the driveway but I headed in anyway. I only got in far enough to get off the road. Needless to say the girls were pretty upset. At least we were all warm and dry. But I remembered that to keep the engine from overheating I had to make sure air could get to the radiator and, based on what I felt as I drove into the motel, snow was packed in under the front of the car. I told the girls to be calm and I’d be back soon. When I got out I saw a flickering of light coming from one end of the motel. That was a good sign. I dug the snow out from the front of the car and then trudged over to where I’d seen the flickering light.

As my eyes got used to the ambient light I could make out that there was a porch over the front of the motel. I headed for that just to get out of the snow. I walked down to where I’d seen the light and knocked on the door that read “Office”. I must’ve knocked a half dozen times before an old man answered. Friendliness was not his forte. He tried to close the door on me before I could explain my (our) problem. I did find out that the motel was closed for the Winter but the man and his wife lived there all year round. Even though each unit had a gas fired heater all the units had been winterized. In spite the fact we obviously needed help he wasn’t willing to offer any. I made one last plea and I don’t know what I said that made him change his mind but he finally let me in.

I had to make all kinds of promises to him and had to give him my drivers license before he finally agreed to let me have a room. I had to promise that we wouldn’t use the toilet. For some reason he decided that we would have to use one of what he called the “back” units. If I hadn’t been so desperate I would’ve asked why, but I didn’t. Before giving me the key and telling me where it was located he showed me how to light and operate the gas heater for the room. I’d never seen or used one before and I wasn’t all that happy with the prospect but it was better than staying in the car.

The girls were getting worried because I’d taken so long but they were happy that they weren’t going to have to stay in the car. Their happiness didn’t last long. The snow was mid calf and hard to walk in because it was so heavy. I told them not to even think about their suitcases as we would really be roughing it. I had no idea just how rough it would be.

Talk about sparse furnishings! There were two twin beds, a tiny desk, two rickety chairs, a small chest and a tiny table between the beds. The beds had only a mattress. There were no rugs of any kind but there were blankets in the closet. AND... it was cold as hell in there. Somehow, I remembered how to light the heater. We all huddled in front of the heater, waiting for it to start to take the chill off the room. One thing I remember vividly was that no one said anything about food.

Another thing that took a while to come up was just what were the girls to do about going to the bathroom. I hadn’t told them about the prohibition of using the toilet. For me it was not a problem. It wasn’t Elle who brought the subject up which was surprise. When I explained that they would have to go outside they didn’t believe me. It took a bit of convincing. But it reminded me of Elle's "problem". Time hadn’t meant anything since the big “flash” when we drove into the town. I’d had so many other things on my mind that I’d lost track of time and Elle’s “problem”. Even though the other girls were aware of the situation with Elle it was hard for me to talk about it with them present.

We were in an end unit so I went outside and stomped the snow down just off the end of the porch. I told them they had to make the best of the situation. Not very happy about it, they went out together which gave me a chance to ask Elle how she was doing. Just as she’d done on the trip home at Thanksgiving she’d worn a full “package” including the plastic pants, just as she would wear at night. She said she was wet but it wasn’t a problem... yet. She’d brought her handbag in with her and in it she had dry panties and a batch of pads. She said she’d wait until we tried to go to sleep before changing so that took some immediate pressure off. When the girls returned they were complaining bitterly in that they had nothing to wipe themselves with. Hearing that, I think that was the first time I really even thought about either of them and their panties. Knowing that they were both a bit damp made for the start of a bulge.

That was also about the time that the chill in the room was starting to abate. The problem was that everything in the room... walls, furniture, floor... were all the same cold temperature and they were still radiating cold. We’d finally pulled one of the beds up in front of the heater and were all huddled on the edge of it facing the heater. I think I was the first to unzip my coat and that was like a small victory. But, with that the girls started complaining about being hungry again. The only place that we’d seen that bore the slightest resemblance to having food was the grocery store where we saw the big flash of light. With no lights there was no chance of it still being open so I told them I didn’t know what I could do. Then the focus was on our parents and how they’d start to get worried. Again, I had no answer. When I'd finally gotten the motel owner to let us stay I asked if I could make a call home and he said the phone was dead. He'd tried to use it right after the lights went out. The girls were looking to me to have answers and I didn’t have any.

To be continued...