So there we were stuck on that mountain ...more than 1/2 way to Gods right hand ...And I asked him to help me with my truck engine .and here are the words the Lord said to me..He said I love you son but your engine is done ...just try walking I gave you two strong feet...So I thanked him again for my feet and the summer wind, ... we had herd the all mighty one...like a gleaming ray of sun.....we know his will be done ...so we took to the highway useing our two feet

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Now I really dident know what to do ,felt like crying ...I just tyed my shoe... was 1200 miles from my home..I sang an old Dylan song ,about when he traveled on ...the song to his friend Woody ...and the whole hard traveling crew...well after I got done singing ....I kept the song in my head and some times would hum it...said my friend we aint been beat ..lets hicth a ride or use our feet ...we headed back down the mountain .into Denver and roamed the streets

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Now theres a whole lot more to this story ...and every word of it is true ...Ill pick it up again ..and try to reach the end ...we were on the streets of Denver ..with no money ...and nothing much to eat

Well after wondering around the streets of Denver , it started to get dark ...and some were to sleep ..or just a place to rest our feet would be welcome ...and then the answer came like a flash of light on that warm summer night ...you see the truck that died up on that mountain was really an old chevy van ...and i knew it would run no more ..like going up hills ...but it would still rool going down hill ...so after some more thinking about the laws of physics ..we desided to go up to that mountain again ..and just let her rool down into the city ...and it could become our home ..at least for a while..we eaven could sleep in it ...eaven if the engine was dead ..I was sure that it wasent contiguous...and that we would be all right...so we walked and walked right into the clouds ..and when we got to the place there was the van just like we left it ...but some one had spray painted a happy face on the side ...that was ok by me ..dident care ...we got in and gave it a shove and down it went ...eaven played the tape player ..and we was crusing again ...the only other noise was the passing wind ...but when we got to the bottom of the mountain ...man was that thing hard to stop ...power brakes with out no power ...had to use both feet ...but we came to a rest right next to a payphone ...and there would be our new home ...for the night ...and maby for some time to come

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OK the end will get here ..but there is so much more to say ...its the parts in the middle ...the middle of life on a Denver summer day...Yes my friend the night had fallen and we had a place to sleep..and the problems of the day will be over come some day ..how and when I just cant say...Now the place the van had landed was not the garden spot of the earth...Now Denver is a real nice town ..but we were in the run down part...So I just kicked back and listened to the raido some , before I got my nights sleep...Across the street some pritty girl was standing ..She had on shiney pants and real cool hair...The road we were living on was not often traveled ..But some cars came past now and then ...And the girl was real friendley ..She smiled and waved at all of them ...I walked over and said how are you ..Do you know all them folks riding by...She looked at me and rooled her eyes and said she was a self employed tour guide ...And every now and than some one would pick her up and she would show them the town ..I said that sounded like a real fun job..She said she hated it more than words could say...And then she started to crying...So I gave her a hug and said dont you worry ..We are all looking for a brighter day...And I told her all that had happened to me earleyer that day....And before you know it she started laughing ..I really cant tell you why ...but it sounded better than her crying ...her name was Kelly..but her tour guide name was Star...

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Well the night had fallen ..and it sure was time to get some sleep ..there was a lot that happened that day and some how I knew that everything would be ok in THE END....you know something, aint dreams funny some time ...its like a little show ..and some times it seems so real ...but its just all in your head ..I think ..or maby some one some were, is trying to tell you something ..Or maby you are trying to tell your self something...Well that night I had a dream and it was really strange ...Heres how it went ...I was riden an elephant ..and he was the color of gold ..And we were going back up the mountain ..on the same road that the truck died ...And the elephant was also pulling a wagon ..And in the wagon was Kelly and she had three samll children with her ...and they was having a really good time ...and on the way up the mountain I seen A wooden crate ...and the words on the side of the crate said, GM...new chevrolet engine 250 six inline 6.....and I looked at the sky and it was a deep shade of blue ..and the clouds were all the shape of smiley faces ...now that was my dream ...the dream I had sleeping in my van ..on a side street in Denver

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I know that if I were to read this story ...and I guess, I am forced to read it, since its me thats wrighting it ...There might be A few questions that I would ask...Like where I was going ...and why ...Who was with me...And most of all... What was I thinking takeing a beat up van across the United States anyhow...Well the why is because earley that summer a good friend that I known most of my life passed away...We were the same age give or take a few weeks ...His name was Chink ...And those who he liked, Loved him ...And if he dident like you,. You would hate him ....See we wernt angels , mostley depending on lifes luck ...We were gamblers our lives were the stakes ...And the payoff was knowing some joys to be alive ....One time Chink helped me put an engine in an old car I had ...when we got it running right ...He said I bet this thing would make it to cal ...like in califorina...I just couldent pick up and go right then and there ...but I was tempeted ...Chink never seen the west coast ...And i stood over his coffin and these words played in my head ...I might have made a deal there , maby eaven layed a plan ...A quiet little prayer to guid my friend to the promiced land ..the words that I said quitley to my self ...If I dont see Chink in heaven I dont want to go there myself...

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Let me see now where was I ...Its been A while ...Oh ya THE END ..A new day had come and like all new days there is always the possibality of new things ..come to think of it aint no two days ever the same anyhow ...I have related to you why , I just had to take that cross country trip ..Some how I just owed It to myself,and also the memory of my friend Chink......Who I was traveling with was a friend, I met while working for a concrete company his name was big Ed...Me and Ed were truck drivers ..we both did some of the open road ..Me moastley the east and south ..Ed had been every where..Ed looked kinda like John Wayne ...And no matter what happened nothing seemed to bother him much ..when the van lost the engine , Ed just started to read some cowboy novel ..told me to do the worrying ...Well on this new day the thing that woke me was Kelly knocking on the van door ..she said she was quitting the tour guide business ..and wanted to know if she could hang out with us ...I told her sure , but today we may have to visit an automobile museum..she said that would be cool ..now the auto museum was fast Jacks Junk yard ...to me junk yards are like a time warp ..a place where you may see a 57 chevy ..or maby eaven a packard or a hudson ..so we hoped on a bus and headed to fast Jacks ..it was right near THE END of town

When we got on the bus there were not a whole lot of other people on it ..we all sat in the seat all the way in the back ....Kelly started to talking ..she seemed worryed ..talking about her boss at the tour guide place, beeing mad about her quiting her job..I told her I had quit about 100 jobs and been fired form 200 more..and aint no old boss ever gonna give me or her a hard time...dont worry Kelly them jobs are like buses if you miss one there is always another comming soon...Kelly knew Denver, and she knew right where Fast Jacks junk yard was ..we got off the bus and had to walk a bit ,was just a block or two ..and then we came to the entrance of fast Jacks ...Jack was kind of a fast talker, and after he was done saying, what he was saying, he would spit this real cool straght stream of tobacca juice ...I said you got any chevy in line 6 cylinders around here ...cheep ones ...Jack said got a few over there along THE END of the fence....

After I got done looking at all the cool stuff at Fast Jacks , I walked back to the front of the place where fast Jack was sitting ..You find what your looking for ..? ask Jack ..and he spit another strean of tobacca juice right after he said those words...well Jack how much for that engine the one by The DOG THAT ALMOST BIT MY ARM OFF...Jack said that en el be 375...I said do you mean dollars he said ya ...and he spit again ..I told him thats funny dident see any with diamond studded bolts...price a little steep Jack, cant you do better ..He said thats the price take it or leave it ..spit again...so we left .....And we thought it wouldent hurt us a bit to walk back to the van, witch had become our home for the time beeing..It was a nice day and the three of us riding the bus would cost about five dollars and we were getting low on dollars anyhow...Now on the walk back there was a supermarket so we went in and bought a little food ..peanut butter, ckackers and some Spam ..and some other things you would but if you dident happen to have a refrigator in you new home ..You see Big Ed dident complain verry much , but he was starting to moan about beeing hungry... all the while I dident eaven think about eating none because there was to much on my mind ...So we returned back to THE END of the street where the van was parked ..and sat down and had a Spam and cracker kinda lunch .... Then the next thing that happened ..was ,..I dont know ..kinda a blur to me ...A big black Lincoln pulled up next to the van ..and this guy with a with a black hat with a green feather in it said KELLY GET THE H--L OVER HERE ...he sounded kinda mad ..and they were talking well maby argueing back and forth ...this guy got out of the car ..and then he slapped Kelly ...Now I know one thing you dont want to mess with Big Ed at meal time ..ED grabbed this gut by his neck and slamed him right into the side of the van ..the place where the happy face was painted ..and then Ed ..hit him with a left hook that lifted the one side of the van in the air about 3 inches ..and then the guy fell to the ground ..I went over to see if he was still breathing ..and he was .so I dident render any futher assistance...Kelly said that the guys name was lucky Larry ..and he was her boss at the tour guid place where she used to work ..this day was getting off to a fast start and it was nowhere near THE END..

Let me see where was I...oh ya THE END ...this poor story has to get finished some time [ eaven if no one looks at it ,[maby in a few thousand years some one will read it and say "I dont see the point"] .....here we go ..we got Lucky Larry knocked out cold on the ground ..I am living in a busted down van 1400 miles from my home ...and here come the guess who ..the cops...Ok boys what is going on here ...well officer that guy laying on the ground over there just drove up the street here and ...shut up boy the cop said ...all of you get in the car..and the police officer got mad when I asked him if I could ride in the front seat, told me aganst the rules ..so me ,big Ed and Kelly got in the back of the police car ..there wernt no door handles on the inside of the police car ..we were taken to the station so they could ask some questions....now I dident think this was good ...you know , he could have asked questions there ...when we got to the police station ..he opened the car door for us and said we got to get to the bottom of this ..bottom of what , I said ...he said were gonna take a walk down that hallway and diside if you need charges put on you...charges , I aint got no mastercard ..so into the police station we went ..and they put us in this big cage and then closed the door..

WE all know some things some time ,..and the reality is ,..well kinda to real, to make any sence out of ...I will try to give you an expmple ...The reality of sitting in a jail cell and wondering just what happened ..can kinda play tricks with ones mind,....My mind felt it was comming to THE END of its limits...things had been bad enough ....With the busted down van ...the lack of money ...and the lack of food to keep big ED fed ....and now sitting in jail ..no longer having the rights of total free will , It was hard to take...so I started to make a new reality ,...now for those who never done this kind of thing ,...All I can tell you is this DONT TRY THIS AT HOME...Leave it to the experts....my new tempory reality[and I thought it was a real reality at the time] went something like this,...I had been chosen for a higher calling ,..but I just couldent put my finger on what it was ,...or for that matter who was calling me into this mission that would lead to another question,..Ok back from the inner workings of my mind to the real reality ...we were in jail ,..and the people who were in charge of running the jail gave us some crackers and chipped ham sandwiches..and root beer too...it was our lunch they said ..and after lunch ....the took Kelly out of the cell and into the front of the place and I assumed , to question her...and then they took big ED out of the cell ,and then I sat there all alone for what seemed like forever...just me and my realitys ..and whitch ever one my mind would think was real ..real enough to see me to the THE END, of this ordeal...

interesting! No questions yet, but a compeling read....so what happened next?

After sitting for what seemed like like forever , i was forced to make some observations..over at THE END of the cell were the words carved into the paint ,the words FAILURE IS THE VERRY BEST TEACHER, IF IT DONT KILL YOU.....now mind you , words of wisdom were not something I had expected to see on the inside of a jail cell...I started to give more thought to those words ....they could only make there full impact on one who sat there...and sat there i did ...giving a little more thought to this idea of failure beeing something to make use of ...I have in my life have seen maney who new nothing of loss , and failure was only something that happened on a chemistry test..and then something came to mind ..of an old teacher that I had in grade school ..and her words ..she had been a below average student during her elementry school years ..and later in her life had made a decision to make something of her self..but her early failures were still with her ,in a way that there was a special empthy for anyone who struggled...i can remember one time ..my friend in second grade ..his name was hacker ...hacker started to cry ..told this teacher ..her name was mrs marcia....well, hacker said im stupid ...look every one is done with the math test ..and they are laughing at me because ..ive only just begun...mrs marcia gave hacker some more time and made the rest of us be quiet...and after hacker was done, she talked to us a bit ..and said ...now its time for another kind of test...i want you all to write how it felt to take the math test....well do you know what ..hacker was the only one of us to get the grade of an A on the ...how did it feel test...no one could write that it felt good laughing at hacker...and do you know what ..last I herd hacker was writing for the new york times...poor kid ...but mrs marcia ..she was something ..so those words ..after looking a little more, and thinking some ..became crystal clear...FAILURE THE VERRY BEST TEACHER...and there is much to be lerned eaven at THE END of the road...

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Maney times in my life , I have given thought to the question , just what is this beeing a human animal all about.....Now dont get me wrong ..beeing a human is ok with me ..but sometimes there seem to be a few things that are verry unique regarding humans given the compairson to the rest of the living things on earth..To make my point a little more clear , ill try the best I can to give a few examples..Humans on the whole are obsessed with measureing things ..when we are born it starts ..How much does the baby weigh..eaven before birth ..a mother may wonder how far along is the child ..a part of her forever , but non the less a new begining..Measurements some times can be nessessary ,..but also cruel...Have you ever herd anyone ever pass judgement on the energy that flows into a light bulbe..is it good ..is it bad ..well i guess some one measures it also ..and then you get a light bill...........There I sat , on THE END of the cot in the jail cell..thinking about beeing a failure ..but non the less , trying to lern something from my past.........Thomas A Edison once said that what some called his genius was really persistance...this thought gave me a little comfort...However on that day i wished old Tom had never invented the light bulbe ...maby he is not to balme in this case ..the fluorscent bulbe was the the culprit...the lighting was lacking ..and right at THE END of the cell block a flourscent bulb was making its final stand ..flickering between half dead and darkness..and making a sound like a cricket on a summers night...this verry bulb had absorbed two of my senses,sight and sound...I wish it would just burn out ..and after saying those words out loud ..did I mean the bulb or myself... In a kind of no mans land between half dead and alive ...Right then and there I resolved to make the verry best of what I had ..The best I could offer myself ,...and anyone who happened to be on the same road as myself ..I knew full well that my time in the cell was limited ..after all I really dident break any laws ..maby a parking violation for my busted down van beeing parked to close to THE END of the road...