My Blue McGuffin in process since 2008

The Blue McGuffin

Part 1, Scene 1

EE BLUE MCG It’s hot. Desert in all directions. A flat 2-lane highway stretches from horizon to horizon. A light blue minivan moves West at 50 mph. Lee, a woman of indeterminate age slumps at the wheel. Her eyes are half closed. She yawns repeatedly. 

A figure appears in the distance. Lee jerks upright, eyes wide, slows the van to a crawl, stops. She gets out, opens the sliding side door, fishes in a cloth duffle bag and pulls out a small handgun. She gets back into the driver’s seat, buckles up, slides the handgun into the pocket on her left van door, and covers it with a greasy shop towel.

Boyd trudges slowly along the highway, wary, listening. When he hears the van start up again, he steps off the burning pavement onto the hard packed sand. As the van nears he turns his head to look at it, sticking out an arm, thumb pointed west. His shoulders are slumped and there is no hope in his stance. The thumb out is just a routine try. As if he doesn’t really expect anyone to stop.

Only three other vehicles have passed today, first slowing down to take in his raggedy jeans, leather sandals, and scraggly hair, then speeding up as if they were afraid he might jump out and attack them.

The van slows. Boyd endures another once over, waits for the accelerator to be pressed to the floor, and glances around again.

The blue van has stopped. A small bony hand waves out the driver’s window, beckoning him toward the idling van. He approaches hesitantly, looking surprised, and seeming wary. The hand waves faster and in a raspy voice, Lee calls, “Come on, I’m not gonna bite you. You want a ride or what?”

Boyd sees that she is alone in the van. Even in the desert heat all the windows are down. He leans in the passenger side window, looks at her quizzically. He appears not to believe his luck. A lone woman, not unattractive, is picking him up? As if afraid she will change her mind he carefully opens the door and climbs in, placing his cloth bag on his feet and buckling his seatbelt.