{"id":106,"date":"2020-06-09T04:19:53","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T04:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/?p=106"},"modified":"2020-06-09T04:19:53","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T04:19:53","slug":"june-9th-the-longest-day-by-spencer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/?p=106","title":{"rendered":"June 9th- The Longest Day by Spencer"},"content":{"rendered":"

– for Mvernet<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hutch has lost all track of time. How long has he lain on this rocky hillside, pinned beneath his car? Stones dig into his back, dirt cakes his shirt sleeves. Has it been two days or is it three? Maybe even longer. His head aches. He has no idea how long he was unconscious before waking to his predicament.<\/p>\n

He wonders if, after everything he\u2019s been through in his relatively short life, he\u2019ll die alone on this brush covered, forsaken hillside. Helpless beneath a hunk of twisted metal. He smells of sweat and blood and urine. An ignoble ending for someone who\u2019d once been called a white knight. Hutch\u2019s mirthless laugh bursts forth as sob and he closes his eyes against the afternoon sun.<\/p>\n

Someone approaches singing a hymn. Colonel Sonny McPherson – a would-be savior in a faded khaki uniform. But Hutch quickly realizes Sonny is a man lost in time. While Hutch begs for help to ease the pressure on his leg, the Colonel dreams of glory and a war that has long since ended. He proudly declares Hutch a captured German spy and ambles away.<\/p>\n

Sonny McPherson can\u2019t help Hutch. The confused old man can\u2019t even help himself.<\/p>\n

Hutch\u2019s throat is raw from calling for help. His lips are swollen and cracked from lack of water. His eyes burn from looking up into the sun. Still, Hutch prays for one more hour of daylight.<\/p>\n

His leg no longer tortures him the way it had when he\u2019d first awoken to his dire situation. In fact, it\u2019s gone completely numb. Hutch tries not to think on what that means. He fights to hold his fears at bay. Even before his police training, he was good at staying calm in times of crisis. But he knows his options are dwindling. He is unable to pull himself free from beneath the crushed car frame. His shouts just echo back to him. His gun is out of reach. The police radio crackles and pops ineffectually.<\/p>\n

What if he dies here? What if?<\/em> The idea seeps into Hutch\u2019s head the way cold wind enters a room, sneaking in through the smallest crack, no matter how hard Hutch tries to block it out. He\u2019s not ready. There\u2019s so much he still wants to do. He has yet to make peace with his father. He hasn\u2019t given his mother the daughter-in-law and grandchildren he\u2019s seen reflected in her eyes.<\/p>\n

He tries to focus on the snake sunning itself on a rock ten feet away. An ant crawls across his pant leg. A bird flies overhead, a momentary shadow against the setting sun.<\/p>\n

No longer able to stop it, Hutch\u2019s mind wades through a swamp of missed opportunities. A hundred more regrets.<\/p>\n

He thinks of Starsky. Where every best moment, every deepest disappointment, every challenge overcome, began and ended. Where is he now? What is he doing? Is he worried? Angry? Is he looking for him?<\/p>\n

What will Hutch say to him if he gets another chance?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hutch is out there somewhere and he\u2019s still alive. Starsky can feel it deep in his bones. The way he can sense the honesty of a snitch or a loaded gun at his back. But for how long? It\u2019s up to Starsky to find him. Today of all days, time is a precious commodity.<\/p>\n

Starsky follows every lead no matter how tenuous as the clock ticks. He hears of a hitman hired to kill a cop and confronts the degenerate\u2019s girlfriend, Carla, who turns tricks for money. Starsky pulls up a chair to face the battered woman. <\/strong>\u201cSomeone very very very important to me is missing.\u201d He leans in, their knees almost touching, and speaks with the quiet intensity of an archangel. His very presence demands that Carla feel something other than numbness. That she remember what it was like to love and be loved in return.<\/p>\n

And for just one second, looking into Starsky\u2019s eyes, she does. \u201cHotel Garvey.\u201d Carla reveals where the boyfriend\u2019s holed up.<\/p>\n

Leads dissolve. Shadows lengthen. Still, Starsky doesn\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n

A new tip takes him to Colonel Sonny McPherson, the aging warrior who fights battles only he can see. Still living for honor and glory. Starsky stiffens and salutes. He explains that the German spy the colonel has captured may be the key to the war.<\/p>\n

The key to the war. A hope for the future. Given Starsky\u2019s urgent tone and deference, how could it not be so? The soldier blushes and puffs out his chest. He points to exact coordinates on his map. Old and useless no more. Glory hallelujah.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The sun kisses the horizon. Starsky races against the coming night and Vic Humphries — a man intent on finishing the job the car crash left incomplete.<\/p>\n

A few minutes more, a few minutes more,<\/em> Starsky breaths as he presses his foot on the gas pedal. The car bucks in response. Around the next bend he brings the Torino to a screeching halt.<\/p>\n

Starsky flings open the door and races down the hillside, catching Humphries then letting him fall. He isn\u2019t what\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

In the waning light, Starsky sees Hutch’s flipped car and beneath it, a twisted body. The last rays of sun illuminate familiar golden hair.<\/p>\n

Starsky scrambles around the car and slides down in the dirt beside Hutch. He gently lifts his partner\u2019s face and holds it between his hands. Edges of moonlight reveal purpled bruises and streaks of blood. Hutch blinks up at him and manages a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made it, partner,\u201d Starsky whispers as twilight finally arrives. They don\u2019t mind. The night is no longer a threat.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve survived summer\u2019s longest day. Tomorrow will bring a new dawn. They vow not to waste it as Starsky leans in ever closer and they share one perfect kiss.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– for Mvernet Hutch has lost all track of time. How long has he lain on this rocky hillside, pinned beneath his car? Stones dig into his back, dirt cakes his shirt sleeves. Has it been two days or is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fic","category-sfw","category-slash"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241,"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/solstice.starskyhutchcalendar.net\/2020\/calendar\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}