The Rider chapter 2 Snowstorm

"Damn it's cold. At least the bike's running great, as always." All the years David has owned his grandfather's bike, it had never missed a beat, David thought to himself as he rode along toward home. It almost seems like it's gonna snow. He chuckled under his breath and replied to himself, "as if it ever really snows here in the valley and certianly never in June." The wind seemed to have picked up quite a bit and David was having a hard time keeping the bike rolling in a straight line. Small snowflakes started to fall across his face. The weather had changed dramatically in the space of just a few miles. It was getting harder to see. He slowed almost to a crawl when the snow started really coming down. This almost looks like what my grandfather used to call a Nor'easter, he thought. The bike started to falter in it's smooth running cadence and then stalled. "You've got to be kidding me!" yelled David at the now silent bike. "All these years and now you pick to break down?" He quickly scanned his surroundings. He needed to find shelter and it had to be now. Off in the distance he could see a gully that ran under the highway bridge that was just up ahead.


As he pushed the bike toward the underpass, the lone figure of a young man sitting there, tending a small fire seemed to have appeared almost out of thin air. David swung the kickstand down and leaned the bike over on its mount. The man sitting at the fire motioned towards a small crate on the opposite side of the flames from where he sat. David nodded and thanked the man for this unexpected hospitality. "Hell of a sudden storm and damn unusual for these parts," said David. The man nodded in assent but didn't speak for some time. He just looked over at David and seemed to smile just a bit. After a good long while the man spoke. "Is that an old evo sporty?" he asked. "You don't see those much nowadays." David replied. "No, I guess you don't, it was a gift from my grandfather; he left it to me after he passed. Smoothest running bike I ever rode, until tonight." he joked.
"Maybe the bike is like it's former owner; it just doesn't like snow." replied the man.
David laughed and said, "How did you know he hated the snow?"
"Just a guess." said the man as he gently prodded the fire.
"How is it you come to be under here?" asked David.
"Just waiting on a old friend," the man said. "He's gone to check up on his loved one and should be back before dawn."
"Well, I hope he doesn't try riding back in this weather," said David.
"I wouldn't worry about him, I've ridden with him many a mile and the weather doesn't seem to affect him much anymore. He'll be fine."

As the man stoked the fire with more wood, David could see that just behind him was parked a sporty identical to his bike. And the man seemed to look almost familiar to him. David couldn't explain it but he seemed to feel a connection with this stranger he had just met. As the night wore on they chatted on about bikes and what riding meant and the brotherhood that accompanied it. As it neared dawn the rumble of a sweet running V-Twin could be heard coming closer. The bike and it's rider drove up under the overpass and David saw the sharpest looking old panhead he'd ever seen.

The Rider dismounted and walked over to the campfire. He was a young man around David's age. He looked at David almost with a sense of recognition. He pulled a flask from his vest pocket and offered David a drink. David took a swig and almost immediately felt sleepy. He laid on his side and drifted off to sleep.

The Rider spoke to the man at the campfire and said, "Dammit D, when we were on the other side of this veil you never could follow rules worth a damn, but I always figured on this side you would at least try. A Nor'easter here in the valley in June?"
The man at the campfire laughed and replied, "Yeah, well I wanted to see my little shit grandson one more time, and I figured that was a funny way to get him here. I figured no harm done, and he wouldn't recognize us as young men as he never knew us then."
Pointing skyward "Well, you took a hell of a chance and the Boss upstairs is gonna be pissed that you did." chuckled A-Rod.
"That's all right," replied D, laughingly, It was worth it.

As they mounted their bikes and rode out to the highway Peter was waiting on his iron steed and with a smile said, "I gotta escort you two clowns to see the boss." Laughing, all three rode off down the highway.

David awoke to find himself sitting next to his Sporty in the warm desert air and wondered how the hell he got there. He was half-expecting to see snow on the ground, while realizing that it had to have been a ridiculous dream. As he got up and turned the key on, the bike fired instantly. He rode out, and for some reason he kept thinking about his grandfather all they way home.