The freeway and most of the East Side’s roadways were shut down for the usual spate of State, County and local construction projects allowed by their short northern summers, but Bethany rolled down her Jeep’s windows and turned her car radio up so that everybody could enjoy Fleetwood Mac’s 1973 classic, “Hypnotized.”
She smiled, recalling how taken her first husband, Joseph, had been with that song, how it had led him to explore Appalachian folklore, enter a graduate program in Sociology and Literature, and to celebrate their honeymoon in a rustic mountain cabin in North Carolina, where their firstborn, Andrew, came to be.
Deciding to ignore the suggested official detours, Bethany nipped over to the road that ran along the river and below the imposing line of robber-baron manors, noting with amusement that the walking paths teemed: strollers and dogs; women in tight shorts and sleeveless tanks, topped with spidery headphones while bottomed with serious walking shoes; bug-helmeted bicycle guys with stringy leg muscles and thigh-length spandex shorts, whirring like dragonflies and resenting having to share the path with pedestrians, when they could so easily and more safely have used the street.
“So stupid,” Bethany laughed out loud at the aggressive, territorial bicyclists, at the drama of her confetti-strewn final exit from work, and how Joseph would have shook his head from his barefooted, barelegged, bare-chested place in the sandbox beside Andrew and Eloise, and loved her despite it all.
It was then that she noticed the tall blonde girl and tow-headed identical twins trudging, hand in hand, along the gravel and grass strip on the opposite, manor-side of the road.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2022)
And in case you’re not familiar. This is the Fleetwood Mac song referenced: https://youtu.be/fDzXbdxeeHI
To get back to the serial’s start, click here for Part 1
The challenge? Write a story in 6 sentences, no more & no less, and if you’d like, share your creation or just visit and comment on others’ ideas, with GirlieOnTheEdge, Denise. The prompt is “DETOUR”, and here’s where you join the party: Six Sentence Stories
Valley of the Trolls 
It’s all been said; the scene so aptly described, the music appreciation, and the promise of more drama at the (not) end. Brava!
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Tips her hat, then sweeps it across the floor, bowing deeply. Thank yuh!
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Excellent! The annoyance of shared used paths, and the mystery of the continuing story.
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Thanks, Ann!
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If the cyclists aren’t in the way on the footpaths, they’re in the way on the road! Usually cycling in the dark without any lights on… hehehe! I don’t mind cyclists, really!
Yes, Liz, you do see some sights whilst driving! 😀
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I love how sentence three captures the mood of a cycle/pedestrian path. It’s the same in France, probably the world over, with equal amount rude cyclists and pedestrians with their noses in their phones. Add to that speeding electric trotinettes and dogs not on leashes. As a regular cyclist and walker I’ve seen many near misses. Respect, awareness and a good old bicycle bell is the way. As for lycra cycling gear… yeuch 🤢😁
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Lycra: No. Just…no.
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Beautifully written, Liz. Conjures up such a warm picture of Joseph and his love.
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Seems like he should reappear, huh? 😉
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I’d love to meet him!
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(Chuckle) Me too!
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Great descriptive writing, Liz
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Thanks!
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Add me to Doug’s column of a certain disdain for the herds of bicyclists trying to dominate the roadways now that the winter has left.
It’s not just the junk and paraphernalia they seem unduly proud of, nor the implied athleticism that warrants streamlining (Spandex). It’s their rogerian affinity for clothing with labels, (mostly large, soulless corporations) that causes my right foot to grow heavy when they come into view.
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😂😂
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Well I have fallen behind on my reading in general but catching up on Disappeared has been delightful. Still can’t wait to see how it all ends up! 🙂
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(Same here…following the prompts with a prayer for clarity)🙃
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Ah, the twins have put in an appearance…
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There they go, again…😉
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Looks like the story will take a different turn..
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And yet it was all inevitable…
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Excellent scene, Liz. Rich in descriptive detail and nice touch providing YouTube link to the song.
I find music sometimes enhances a piece while reading. (Nice on the reread).
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Thank you!
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I am glad to read he “loved her despite it all”.
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We should all be so lucky.
And lucky to offer the same…
Thanks, Frank!
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Wonderfully described, Liz. The only thing missing from the power-walking women is the swinging ponytails and the water bottles. Re the male cyclists, here in Aus the older version of them are referred to as MAMILs – Middle-Aged Men In Lycra. 😉
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😂😂 MAMILS, I’ll remember that!
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