the beginning

     “Glad I set up shop early, damn sun sets in Oklahoma.” He said as he took the last couple pulls off a crumbly stale cigar. It begins to fall apart as he rolls it between his finger and thumb,
     “They don’t make them like they used to. Shaun would tell me I didn’t add enough water to the bag, I’d tell Shaun that it doesn’t fucking matter when the shops humidor probably quit working 2 years ago!” He tosses the cigar on the ground angrily as he struggles to get out of his fold out chair.           The last few years has been rough on him and his body was telling him daily. He straightens his body and stretches out his arms while stiffing the rest of his body. Then out of nowhere, he lets out a stretching yell. “AGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” and laughs. “Ha ha ha, good ole Mongo, scaring up the wildlife again” Off in the distance roosting birds in the trees fly off squawking at him.
      He folds his chair up, carefully places it in its sleeve, and lowers it into the RV. He hears a sound off in the distance and knows they will be in his area anytime now but he’s not in a hurry. As long as the sun stays out he knows he’s safe. “Ha, safe, that’s a thing that we haven’t actually seen in years.” He mumbles to himself as he looks off to the sunset. “As long as you keep burning my dear, so will I. Well damn, there you go off to the other side of the world and I’m not even buttoned up yet, bitch.” He gives one last wave to the sun and slides down the ladder to the inside of the RV.
      As he is locking the last of the four securing pins he hears them again but this time he knows they have watched him. “Damnit, they seen you get in!” He said as he looked into the mirror. “Now they’re going to be tearing at Beast all night. Well, at least I’m in Beast instead of some stock P.O.S. out there. HA! HA! HA! Plus I got me some of those noise canceling headphones so I don’t have to listen to those damn nails scratching at the steel again.”
      He walks around doing one last safety check in his live in tank, turns out all the lights, and gets settled in his easy chair for the night. “Well ole girl, once morning comes we’ll be headed to Ohio to the plant to see if we can get you a bigger engine, and maybe some more steel plating. But until then, you keep me safe one more night and I’ll make sure your dash is polished like you like.” He said as he clicked on the red lights, pulls up his blanket and waits.
     THUD! THUMP! SCRATCH! THUD!
     “Shit” he exclaimed as he jumped at the first sound. “You’d think I’d be used to that after 2 damn years.” He settles back into his chair getting comfortable under his blanket. As he interlocks his fingers behind his head he listens to the rhythm of the thumping and scratching and thinks of the old days as he drifts off to sleep.