The Fittest’s Solution

by Oonah V Joslin

The worn-out refrigerator truck might as well have been on Mars, except for places where ore had turned the rocks to verdigris. The rocks stood out cool against the ochre landscape; you could see right to the horizon all around. Way in the distance, red dust rose where the road joined Interstate 15. And the Pine Valley Mountains stood like cut-outs to the northwest of St. George.

Uncle Driver scratched his bald scalp. “Of course, if you want to loll around here, go right ahead.”

His hitch-hiking passenger sat staring intently at the car’s crackling radio. Signals just gave up and died here.

“What are you waiting for? Cryptic messages sent by angels or somethin’? The mother ship coming for you? College?” Driver laughed into the cloud of steam from the open hood and fanned at it with his cap.

“I’ve never done car maintenance —”

“I don’t give a cuss what you done nor never done. What you’re doin’ now is what counts, and you ain’t doin’ diddly! You’re pretty dumb for a genius, you know?”

“Um...”

“You wanna be here all night? There’s rattlers... There’s all kinda lizards, spiders, vermin...”

The young man discarded his cellphone onto the passenger seat. “So, what do I do?”

“Skim milk an’ two raw eggs. They’re in the back.”

“We’re making an omelette?”

“Yeah, why not? Maybe you wanna invite them vermins for a picnic!”

“Well what do you want with the groceries then?”

“They’re for the radiator, bonehead! Is brains forbidden where you come from? Motor’s overheated. The eggs’ll seal the radiator leak and the milk’ll do for water.”

“That’s inspired!”

“No, young’un. That’s survival!”