Are You a Tour Guide or a Local? Part 2

Shawn woke up much earlier than expected for his 8am chauffeur ride to the airport. In fact, he didn't get much sleep at all. He tossed and turned all night. Finally able to crawl out of bed at an hour close enough to his departure, he got his suitcase out and made a final shake down of his list of worldly possessions to take. He took a shower and ate some breakfast while waiting for the door bell to ring. He flicked on the TV while eating his breakfast and listened to the talking heads praise the new president for stupid decisions he had made in the last week. He quickly turned it off knowing he would become more upset by watching. He finished his cereal and coffee and waited patiently. The door bell ring just as he was about to doze off from his lack of sleep the night before. 8:00 sharp the clock told him. Man, these guys are good! He walked to the door, opened it, and greeted the man standing at his door. It was not what he was expecting. Shawn was squaring off with a what appeared to be a homeless man. He had on some ragged jeans, shoes with holes in the soles, a navy blue t-shirt with some sort of church camp logo on it, as well as a John Deere hat. "Howdy!", the man said in a southern draw. "I'm Paul, and I'm the limo driver. C'mon and we'll get moving." Still confused, Shawn attempted to ask where the real driver was. "I'm it!" Paul proclaimed proudly. "Been working here for about thirty five years", he continued. There is no freaking way I'm getting into that limo without some ID from this guy. "Could I see your ID please?" Paul pulled out his driver's license and produced a company card as well indicating that he was in fact the limo driver. Oh well, let's get this over with. Shawn grabbed his suitcase from the foyer and started to walk to the limo with Paul. "Best be leaving that behind, Son. Where we're going, you can't take anything with you", Paul told him. This is getting weirder by the minute. Homeless guy shows up at my door, and now I can't take my suitcase with me on vacation. WTF?! "Why can't I bring it it?" "You won't need it" Paul informed him. "I'll make sure you have everything you need to be successful."

Shawn reluctantly left his suitcase behind, locked the door behind him, climbed inside the limo. They made the thirty minute drive to the airport where Paul gave the keys to the valet and walked Shawn to security. It seemed that Paul really had been doing this for thirty five years. Shawn cruised through security without the slightest hiccup and expected Paul to bid him farewell. Instead Paul got onto the plane with Shawn and accompanied him all the way to Africa. Shawn slept for most of the trip while Paul attempted to talk to him during his every waking moment about the glories of the waterfall. In and out of sleep for the whole trip, they finally landed. Paul once again guided them effortlessly through the airport, customs, and arranged for a taxi to take them into the wilderness that is Africa. Without any luggage making their way through the airport and into a taxi was a fairly easy task. Sitting in the back of the taxi, Paul and Shawn had quite the engaging conversation about where they each grew up and how they got to what they were doing today. Shawn learned that Paul had actually been living near the waterfall for a number of years. This would explain his raggedy-andy style clothing, and why it seemed that he appeared to float through everything that he did. The taxi broke down at least nine times during their trip. Each time the taxi driver made Shawn get out of the taxi and fix the car. This seemed an odd request since Shawn was hardly the mechanic and on vacation. Paul always got out and assisted him and showed him exactly what to do. They fixed the radiator when it started leaking. They fixed the battery when it stopped charging. They fixed the transmission when the ride got jerky. They fixed the exhaust when it wasn't being expelled properly. Anything and everything that could go wrong on a car they fixed, but the car still did not run on all cylinders. There was always something underlying that never allowed the car to run properly. Something was always broken. Nearly ten hours later on a drive that should have only taken two in a better condition vehicle, they stopped. Paul excitedly got out of the car and ran towards the edge of a cliff and jumped off. Shawn chased after him to keep him from jumping but it was too late. Paul was gone. Shawn was out in the middle of the desert with no guide and a taxi driver that spoke no English and could not repair his own car. What am I going to do now?

Stay tuned for the conclusion.