The Longest Trail to Blaze

Day One.

I looked down at my son Mason, his eyes shone back at me with fear spelled out in them in big bold letters. I glanced over to my driver, an older female in her late thirties methodically fiddling with the crumbling steering wheel. Pieces of it flaked off into the woman's lap littering her torn overalls with flakes of light gray debris. "You live around here?" She inquired, I looked up from my lap and felt my blood run cold as her hand grazed mine, brushing up my thigh and landing next to me on my seat. "No" I replied sharply, the woman stared at me a moment before returning her gaze to the road and watching me out of the corner of her eye. "I don't live anywhere" I continued after a moment of silence. "You got a name?" "Michael" I replied. "That's an awful lovely name, quite fitting for you" she said with a hint of flirt in her tone. I turned my eyes to the window and watched the vast Texas sky through the tree tops of the overgrown backroad we had been on for what seemed like a lifetime. I felt Mason jump as the lady swore and swerved off the road into the grass. "Damn Hogs" she muttered as a Boar darted into the woods illuminated by the headlights. She touched my leg, "you okay sweetheart?" "I'm fine" I replied coldly as she resumed the slow drive to my housing for the evening. "You mind?" She asked removing a pack of cigarettes from the door panel. "Not at all" I replied lowering my window and filling my lungs with the fresh country air. She lit her cigarette and continued to pretend to watch the road while keeping a close watch on me. She sped up to 80 when the road returned to asphalt and glanced at the GPS mounted on her dash. "Where am I taking you again darling?" "A warm place for the night" I replied keeping my eyes on Mason. She pulled into the empty parking lot and looked at the abandoned nursing home with a look of disgust. "This the place?" I nodded and gathered my things, "I can take you back to my Apartment, you don't have to give me anything for payment out the gate we can work that out later." I exited the vehicle and shook my head, "no thank you, drive safely please and have a nice night" I said over my shoulder walking to the broken window I called a front door. I climbed through and watched her from the pitch black interior as she sat in the lot for a minute before throwing the old truck into reverse and leaving. I walked the crumbling halls to the room I called my own. Opening the heavy wooden door with a loud creek and walking into the room furnished with two rusty bed frames and a sleeping bag. Mason whined as I set him in the corner and walked to move the heavy frame in front of the door as a makeshift lock. "I know buddy, I'm tired too, let's get some rest tonight okay?" I turned off my phone flashlight and pulled Mason close. Closing my eyes as the pitch black enveloped me and forced myself to rest for the night.