The Park Ranger (by Suzanne)

It was the rookie park ranger who first noticed the orange car with Michigan license plates as it slowed near the entrance of the state park. In the dead of night, the ranger could hear the tire go over a rock then onto gravel at crawling sped. As a matter of course, the ranger put on his coat and gloves, grabbed his keys, and walked out to inspect the matter.

I’m the rookie – gotta pay my dues. They told me you see the strangest things on the night shift.

As he was saying this to himself, he knew this wasn’t a routine matter. He turned on his flashlight, walked into the road, and motioned for the car to stop. When he approached the car, his suspicions were confirmed. The license plate was tied to the bumper with a child’s jump rope. But getting a good look at the driver made the ranger think he should have called for backup. The man was wearing sunglasses and a tiara, held around his neck with pipe cleaners.

"Sir, I need you to get out of the vehicle, please."

The man grunted and slowly opened the door. A cork, a book of matches, and a shoehorn fell out of his lap. A coaster was stuck to the bottom of his shoes. When he took off his sunglasses, the ranger could see how bloodshot his eyes were.

"Please put your hands against the vehicle."

The ranger frisked him and took out from his pocket a jar of buttons.

"What’s this for?"

"In case I find a needle and thread?" The man doubled over laughing at his own joke.

Not amused, the ranger looked into the backseat of the car and saw it was strewn with leaves. His flashlight found a bucket with brushes, wallpaper, paint chips, sponge sticks. And seashells. Stuck to the mat was a lollypop piercing a stale doughnut. But no empty bottle of alcohol.

Well, according to everything I learned in training, there’s nothing more for me to do, he thought.

"You do know the park is closed. Please state your purpose."

"I was hoping to catch a bear – make some bear jerky." Again, the man doubled over laughing.

"OK, I’m going to have to call the police to take you into the station."

Four more months of the graveyard shift, he thought, as he called the police station.
 

(This story is from today's writing exercise at Unlocking Words. Suzanne was using the same word list as Betsy's post based on the writing prompts displayed on our table today: bear hat, tiara, license plate, tie, sunglasses, shoe horn, jump rope, coaster, pipe cleaners, leaf, toy car, stone, lollipop, key, cork, seashells, matches, wallpaper, paint, sponge paintbrush, glove, button jar. It's fascinating how two stories using the same words can be so different!)