Jeffers

A legendary long-haul trucker suffers from premonitions of death as he considers his existence in a future controlled by AI.

Photo by Zetong Li on Unsplash

Jeffers C. Burkhard was born with a butler’s name. Although he had never performed a single act of butlery.

Jeffers C. Burkhard was a truck driver. A long-haul load man. For 31 years he hauled loads, loads of granite, aluminum, sheep’s wool, tungsten, if a load needed hauling Jeffers hauled it.

He found his vocation the summer he turned 18. Jeffers loved to think. And no better thoughts were had than when long-hauling loads on the roads. The clarity of a Wyoming sunrise, the renewal of a Saratoga rain. The snows of Minnesota and the Missouri mud always proved a cognitive delight.

Jeffers wasn’t exactly well-read, but instead well-informed. He crawled the AM radio like a spongy centipede. After his second raise, he subscribed to Sirius. Talking head pontificators filled his mind brimful, yet never distracted Jeffers from the road. The road was Jeffers’ domain. His wheelhouse. His realm of brilliant expertise.

Until one day, the road spoke to Jeffers.