campfire | joshua

two

as joshua was driving, he would look out the window from time to time, admiring the scenery outside as he was getting near to where he was going, which was to the beach. it was safe to not fully focus on the road as most of the time, he was the only one driving on the road.

he was even tapping his steering wheel as the upbeat music from his radio plays.

he was having a lot of fun despite being alone. he got used to it and for a fact, he doesn't really know how it feels like to be with someone during road trips or traveling. talk about not knowing the unknown loneliness.

his window was even open so he could enjoy the fresh salty breeze. his face was soft, and peaceful, and nothing but happiness while he was listening to his favorites songs, yet when he saw a familiar person walking beside the road, his brows, almost instantly, knitted together.

he knew immediately that it was the same lady from the convenience store. he remembered her white shirt and jeans and even the way how her hair was tied into a messy ponytail.

instantly, without a single doubt, he pulled over close to where she was.

while her, on the other hand, got so terrified for her life as an unfamiliar car stopped just beside her. she already jumped into the conclusion that she was about to get abducted, and she was still not ready to die. she may seem like a depressed person, but she was still sane enough to value her life.

however, her worry lessened and that former thought slowly shifted away when he somehow found the face of the guy inside through the open window, familiar.

"why are you taking a stroll in the middle of nowhere?", joshua asked and her brows furrowed in confusion. it was unusual for her to be asked by a stranger with that kind of question.

"i'm. . i'm not taking a stroll. . but. . ", she paused for a few seconds, while he found it so easy to patiently wait for anything that she could say. ". .why do I find you a bit familiar? perhaps...have me met before?", she asked and, for some reason, he was taken aback by her sudden question which seemed not so surprising coming from her at all. yet eventually, he just chuckled, he found it quite hilarious that he had a minor embarrassing moment in their first encounter, but the person he embarrassed him into doesn't remember him.

"at the convenience store, earlier, I was the guy before you."

she thought to herself for a moment, and her face lit up a little as soon as she got to remember him. 

however, joshua, who was just watching her almost the whole time, felt his chest tighten for unknown reasons when he saw how her face warmed up by her slight smile.

"i'm sorry, I didn't recognize you."

"i—it's okay.", He did snap out from the haze, yet her smiling face won't just leave his mind.

"Uh. .", she started, he waited for her to continue, but no words followed. And so he reconciled himself, barely, and mustered up to utter words.

"are you really just walking beside the road? for no reason?"

she pursed her lips, contemplating wether she should tell him, a stranger, her pathetic reason for ending up like that. but for the record, she was more in the thought of telling him. she got that feeling and she doesn't quite know why.

knowing that it was already their second meeting, and that he doesn't seem like a bad guy (he actually looked the exact opposite) she wanted to trust him.

"well. . actually, I was dropped off here not that long ago, and there aren't really taxis in here, so. .", her eyes wandered around, and her shoes was its last destination. she literally felt so pathetic and embarrassed by her own experience though she didn't do anything wrong.

so much for a nobody like her. nobody meant that you're nothing to anyone, and that was her to most people she met in her who entire life, including that taxi driver who without a doubt dropped her off in the middle of nowhere without a rational reason.