Chapter 25 - Licking the Envelope

Walking along the edge of the trail, the mule saw nothing but a steep drop-off into the canyon below. He dropped his load on the trail and continued on his way. Flies buzzing in the mule’s ear quickly left the tasty innards of the ear for the tasty droppings on the trail. Hikers would later pass the road apples and marvel in the smell’s staying power. The mule’s breakfast was clearly visible in the fresh green chunks of body waste. Bits of hay and other plant matter poked out of the firm clay-like clumps. However, the freshness and odor of the warm manure could not compare to the stark reality of the headless rider stiffened into place on the mule’s saddle. The mule was not aware of the dead weight he was carrying, but continued on along the trail anyway.
The rider’s head was many miles below the current position of the mule and his dead body. The steel cable that snapped and whipped the rider’s head off was dangling harmlessly from the bridge. It was an unfortunate series of events that led to the rider’s current situation. However, he did not really care at the present because he had passed on to the world beyond if such a world ever existed.
Singed and smoking, the wreckage was the only evidence that an accident had taken place near the bridge. The earth was blackened and scorched with smoke still rising from the point of impact. Snow dotted the ground around the crash area and made the smoldering wreckage look almost cozy in comparison.
Across a the canyon, behind a rocky ledge was a man concealed by his desert camouflage fatigues and simply constructed, desert concealed hide-out. The man was observing the entire area with a pair of high powered binoculars. He broke away from the close-up of the scene and wiped at his eyes with a baby-wipe. The man took a sip of water from his portable water container and stretched his neck. The temperature inside his hide-out indicated to him that the sun was at its maximum angle of attack for the day. When he went back to the binoculars, the most distressing event next to the accidental beheading occurred.
He saw a van moving downhill on a gravel road leading to the bridge. The van seemed to be moving at a slight angle away from the entrance to the bridge. He saw the front wheel catch on a huge rock as the van veered off of the gravel road. The van’s posterior flew up a few feet and bounced back down causing the van to begin wobbling out of control. The wobble escalated into a full-fledged tumble as it picked up speed moving without concern for life or limb. The van’s undulations ceased when it went over a ledge and fell weightlessly to the small river below.
The man did not expect to see what he saw, but it happened, and he stopped the recording and noted the time that the footage was taken with his digital video equipped binoculars. The digital video of the series of events was transmitted over a highly encrypted satellite communications link which was picked up at headquarters where a team of scantily clad female super-heroes reviewed it in detail before deciding that they all needed to take a shower together to help brainstorm a course of action. Lots of soap and shampoo were used to help them lather each other up. After a brief interlude, they towelled each other off and proceeded back to the situation room where they made a decision using their high-powered brains.