THE NARRATIVE ARC

Like Sentinels the Coyotes Watched Us

It was a white out as we crept along

Once the wind picks up and the inevitable snow drifts form, driving becomes a slow crawl. Even the experienced Michigan road crews can just barely keep up with their snowplows.

“Tom, I need for you to drive out to the airport to pick up a group of adventure writers and take them out to the ranch. There are several outdoor magazines being represented, including Field and Stream and Outdoor Life. They’re doing a write-up on the ranch. Their plane arrives in about a half-hour.”

My boss’s call caught me by surprise.

They hired me as night manager for the 250 room Traverse Bay Inn in downtown Traverse City, Michigan, just two months before this night. My new boss along with the staff and employees, were still getting to know one another. This period still qualified as the ‘honeymoon’ period of my employment.

“Oh sure, Jack.” I quickly responded.

“If you go to the front desk and ask Sam to give you the camper keys. You may have seen it parked out at the back end of the parking lot annex.” In fact, there were always several campers parked there, I didn’t know which. They were all huge.