Beyond the Ashes

Traveling Thoughts

Since grandma lived all the way in Wyoming, we had a long drive ahead of us. It was good that we were going to her house which is in Cheyenne, because there aren't many fires there at all. I tried to remember what I had seen on the little piece of paper, what had made me drop it. I couldn't remember anything. It baffled me that our whole flat screen TV had burned to ashes, but this little piece of paper was in perfect condition. Perfect. I tried to think of what could've caused the fire, but nothing came to mind. Maybe the piece of paper was the answer to all my questions. But it couldn't be. It's impossible that a random piece of paper could mean so much, and i knew that, but something inside me didn't believe it. We had passed the "Welcome To Nevada" sign a while ago, and i still hadn't figured anything out.

"Are you hungry?" asked my mom. "Yeah, kinda" I replied. I really wasn't, but i needed to get out of the hot car. Hopefully, wherever we stopped would be colder. After a few minutes, we pulled into a McDonalds parking lot. As I walked in, I shivered as the temperature changed drastically. It was freezing, and i liked it. My parents walked up to the counter, looking up at the menu. "What do want to eat, Sam?" I thought of what the smallest thing on the menu was.. "I'll take a chicken snack wrap" chicken nuggets would probably be less food for me to eat, but i hated them with a passion. I walked off to the bathroom, to wash my sweaty hands. I opened the door, and carelessly walked to the sink. i hit the soap dispenser with my palm, and the foam drained out. There weren't any paper towels (of course), so I turned to the stall to get toilet paper. It was occupied. Sadly, I had to use the air dryer. As the machine blasted on, the toilet flushed, the door opened, and a short lady walked out, leaving her hands unwashed. The door closed behind her. Since my hands weren't dry yet, i walked into the stall, and ripped off a large amount of toilet paper. On my way out, I barely noticed the credit card-size paper taped to the door of the stall. I pulled it off the yellow door, and scanned the words written on it. Something about it was extremely farmiliar. I'd seen this somewhere before. "Sammy! Are you here?" Quickly, I crinkled the paper, shoved it into my pocket, and walked towards the voice of my mom.