The Time: Middle of the week, about 8 years ago. August
The Place: Middle of Nowheresville, between Carlsbad, New Mexico and Albuquerque
The Situation: I was on the last leg of a business trip. I was returning from Carlsbad and, like the utter fool that I was in my wasted youth, had decided not to defer gratification and stopped at a mom-n-pop Mexican food stand on the outskirts of Roswell. The food was tasty. But there was a surprise in store for me…
So it’s about two hours later. My lower intestine is dancing the wild fandango as I try to drive with my legs crossed trying to contain the beast within my bowels. There’s just too much traffic to take a dump alongside the road.
Suddenly, a sign: Rest Stop, Next Exit. I begin to speed. Tires squealing, I pull up to the Rest Stop, tear out of the car and make a mad sprint for the restroom. And, about 8 feet away from the door, slam to a halt as I hit a solid wall of stench. I examine the smell. It’s so strong that it not only has odor and flavor, it has it’s own texture. I look. There is a line of dead flies, apparently killed by the smell at about a six foot radius. An invisible electric fence of stench.
Nonetheless, I persevere. Holding my nose (Literally) I push open the door. Apparently the septic tank has backed up and there’s about 1/4th inch deep ooze of excrement and urine and God knows what else. All of which has been melting in a windowless shack in the hot, August New Mexico sun. I back away.
“Fine.” I think. “The rest stop will shelter me from the road. I’ll go behind it.” I run back to my car to get toilet paper (I always carried a spare roll, just in case.) It was missing. I search for something. A magazine. A newspaper. All I can find is a book, The Wheel of Time.
“I can’t destroy a book” thinks Fenris’s Superego
"You wanna drive another 150 miles in squishy underwear?" replies Fenris’s ID
“But it’s a BOOK! You can’t destroy a book!” wails Superego
"It’s by Robert Jordan. You hate it. There are billions of copies of it in existence. Besides it’s nine thousand pages long. You won’t miss two or three of 'em" argues ID with relentless logic.
My stomach punctuates the discussion with a loud, disturbing rumble. It’s sick of philosophy. It gives me a 10 second warning. I grab the book and run.
As I drive back to Albuquerque, I feel shame and guilt mixed a resolution: I’ll never be toilet-paperless again.
Fenris