When is a Ghost Town Not a Ghost Town

Dean pulled into the hotel when he saw Garth headed around behind the structure with a golf bag. 

“Sam, did you just see Garth?”

“No, Dean.  I’m going to go pick up some food at the restaurant and I’ll meet you at the room.”

Dean nodded and watched his brother walk to the parking lot next to the motel.  He turned and walked behind the structure.  There was no doubt they were in a wilderness.  The land behind the motel was made of clay that crumbled when touched and there rocks and boulders everywhere.  In the distance were tall hills made of the clay and rock with mountains of igneous rock on either side of a valley filled with the same clay, rock, and boulders.

 

Shaking his head, Dean walked through the area behind the motel and saw travel trailers parked in one area.  There was mine shaft over 800 feet down that was covered and had a large plague.  Next to it was the elevator car the employees rode up and down the shaft. 

Walking further, the hunter saw Garth setting a tee into the clay and trying to drive a ball.  The tee kept falling when the clay crumbled.  Finally the man surrounded the tee with rocks and tried again.  The ball flew into the air followed by a shower of rocks.

Dean walked out to the area and stood behind the other hunter.  He looked out at the golf course.  He assumed it was a golf course.  The sign said it was an 18 hole course. 

“Hell, Garth, where’s the grass?”

The thin man jumped and turned around. 

“This is Terlingua, Dude.  There isn’t any grass.”

“How in the Hell can you play golf on course that has no grass?  It’s full of rocks and a clay that crumbles when it’s touched.  How many golf balls have you lost out here?”

“I thought I’d play a round and pick up all the balls everyone else loses.”

“That’s not how you play golf, Man,” Dean replied as he looked at a strange club in Garth’s bag.

“What kind of wood is that?”

“Oh! That’s for killing rattlesnakes.  They don’t allow guns on the course.”

“Rattlesnakes?”

“They have a Mojave rattlesnake here that is known as the Two-Step.  It bites you and you die after two steps.”

 “Well, Garth, you have fun.  I’m…I’m going back to my room,” Dean responded nervously.  He took small steps, watching every inch of ground on his way back to the motel.

He entered the room and saw his brother sitting on the bed with a pizza and two six packs of beer.

“You okay, Dean?”

The older brother stood there, trying to figure out what he had just seen.

“Sam, I think this place is an escaped mental hospital.”