Sinking Sand

On Monday, my husband took the 6yr. old, the 8yr. old, and the 11yr. old Bubba fishing at a new place. A local dentist had offered his ranch for such an activity. They left mid-morning and were supposed to be back mid afternoon so we could all attend a church related function at 6:00p.m.

Sometime around one or two o'clock, the phone rang, but there was no one on the line. I hung up and didn't think anything of it. A little while later, the phone rang again, and I could hear a lot of static and my husband shouting, "TRUCK....STUCK....SAND....CALL....TOWING...EVERYONE...FINE..."

I pieced together that his truck had become stuck in the sand at the ranch and after 2 hours of his and The Bubba's digging and placing rocks and logs under the tires, they needed a tow truck. He was sure to mention that no one was hurt and they would enjoy the day while they waited for a tow truck.

First, I called the dentist to get directions to his ranch. He had to return my call after he finished up with the patient he was with. After I carefully wrote down the directions, including lots of "County Road So and So" and "past the red gate" I called a towing company and told them the situation.

Sometime later the tow truck driver called from his cell phone to make sure he was headed in the right direction. I assured him that he was and, noting the time, concluded that we would all be back together in plenty of time for our 6:00 plans.

Time passed.

Lots of time.

I made the sandwiches I was asked to bring to the church function and got everyone ready to go. 6:00 came and went and I hadn't heard anything at all from my husband or the towing company.

I called my husband's cell phone, knowing that if he were still at the ranch I probably wouldn't be able to get a signal. I was right. I couldn't get through.

I decided to call the towing company to see if they could report on what was going on. They said they hadn't heard a thing, but assured me that they would let me know if they did.

I called the dentist back and told him that I was just a touch concerned because I knew my husband would have been back in time for our commitment if he was able. The dentist gave me the phone number of the nearest neighbor to the ranch, and I called. The lady of the house answered and said that her husband would be getting home soon and she would send him to check things out.

It was beginning to get dark by this time and I had resigned myself to the fact that we weren't going to make it to our church activity. I called the towing company again and they still hadn't heard anything. No call yet from the ranch neighbor. No call from my husband.

It was pitch dark by now.

I thought about my 3 children out there in the cold darkness. They must be getting hungry. And where was my husband? Why hadn't he called? Why hadn't the towing company called?

I stared out the window into the darkness and began to think the very worst.

To be continued...

Go here for Part 2.