Valuable Lesson: Day 1

Word Count: 6,061

Summary of Events:

Kingston packed what he'd need for the rodeo season before having supper with his grandparents, who worried about how the new truck would hold up, even though it was only four years old and didn't have a lot of kilometres on it. The next morning he and Drew, his travelling partner, set off for the first rodeo of the season, located in Alberta. They stopped for fuel on the Alberta side of Lloydminster where a friendly local reminded Kingston that in Alberta the fuel had to be paid for before it could be pumped . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Kingston checked the pump price outside and shifted his jaw. How was he supposed to know how much gas they needed? He understood curbing the pump and run business, but how did a person calculate how much they had in their tank? It wasn’t like the fuel gauge indicated how many litres were represented by each of the little markers it had indicating half, quarter, three-quarter, and the like.

“Oh, hey look, we’re good to go,” Drew said.

“No we’re not,” Kingston said.

“What do you mean we’re not?” Drew asked. “Is one of those ads in your way?”

“This is Alberta Drew,” Kingston replied.

“So?” Drew asked.

“Don’t you remember last season?” Kingston asked.

Drew shook his head. “I don’t think I’m even close to the combine.”

“You have to pay before you pump in Alberta,” Kingston replied.

Drew sighed before swearing. “How much do we put in?”

“That’s just kind of what I wasn’t really sure of,” Kingston replied. “They need to put the litres on the gas gauge.”

“How big is that tank in there even?” Drew asked.

“You could just pay for eighty bucks and then go fill it and get a refund when you’re done,” the cashier said.

“I guess that works,” Drew said. “If you go fill her up I’ll pay.”

“I wanted to get a snack,” Kingston said.

“We have cookies,” Drew said.

“Grandma wants us to pace them,” Kingston said.

“They’re already cold, I’d say that’s pacing them,” Drew said. “We don’t want them to get mouldy.”

“They aren’t going to get mouldy in twenty four hours,” Kingston said. “Besides, I mean, we could get milk for the cookies.”

“Fine, I’ll get it, get out there,” Drew said.

“No,” Kingston said. “I’ll pay, you go.”
“No, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be your turn,” Drew said.

“Fine,” Kingston held out his fist.

Drew looked at it quizzically, then bumped his own fist against it and pulled back, spreading his hand out and looking like he was confused.

Kingston sighed, then made like he was banging an imaginary table and stuck out his first two fingers like scissors.

“Oh!” Drew exclaimed. “Okay, I have found the swath. Let’s do this.”

“If they ever rewatch the security footage on this,” Kingston muttered.

“What, we’re going to become YouTube stars or something?” Drew asked.

“Too bad they won’t have the audio,” Kingston said. “That’d help them understand what we’re doing.”

“Whatever,” Drew said. “Rock, paper, scissors.”

Kingston showed rock, Drew did paper.

“Ha!” Drew crowed. “I win!”

“Don’t we usually do best of three?” Kingston asked.

Drew’s face fell into an expression that showed he was unsure, and annoyed that Kingston had brought up the possibility.

After a few moments Drew swore and they did it again. This time Kingston won by staying with rock while Drew did scissors. He followed it up by going scissors while Drew went back to paper.

“Come on,” Drew complained. “You just said that so you’d win.”

“You’re already twenty one, aren’t you?” Kingston asked.

Drew made indistinct grumbling noises that could well be disguising profanities.