Colored Full Of Trauma (Freshly Started Revision)

The Journey To Her

"Backpack? Check.
Headband? Check.
Water? Check.
Snacks? Big check."
Ight, Tommy-Boy is ready for adventure!"
He exclaims excitedly, snapping his headband down as his flash of yellow engulfs our feet in rollerblades.

"Uhh, Tommy, can you remove these for me please?" I ask, clenching my phone as I wobble.

"And miss the show?" He smirks, shimmering the crystal on the bottom of his rollerblades that stay on, as mine fade. "Fine, for youuu."

"Thank you. Okay, so it's Saturday, 9ish, and Crystal Clear Maps says that we should be there on foot a little past noon. So as long as we- Tommy, save the water," he screws the bottled lid back on. "As long as we take the main service road and make it to the hotel before it's overbooked, we'll be back with time to spare before Monday."

"Yeah, yeah, mom. However, if you have anything else to say, we might make it there by next year."

"As soon as I see a semi and you're close enough to push into the road, you're gonna regret that," I sneer. He laughs it off rolling away. Through the horns and battered sidewalks, towards the glistening sunlight, we set off.

.

"So this is where you work, huh? Do you enjoy it?"
A large display of wooden flowers, taking the form of a bouquet through a delicate variety of paint rests on the front of the little pet shelter. 'Maisie's Miniature Mutts Full of Love. (Cats too!)' is etched into an oak sign hanging below it. The authentic beauty is what made me walk inside in the first place.

"Yep. I love every single animal here."
We stand at the end of the long gravel driveway.

"Well, I wouldn't mind getting to love that one, is she astray?". My eyes and brain blink in unison, before they catch a glimpse of Maisie herself, stepping away from her old Buick and heading inside.

"Ohhh, indeed she is," I smirk, glancing at him.
"But I can't just give you her number, you'll have to ask her yourself on the way back."

"Consider it done."

"I'd say you have a decent chance, you're her type, minus the you part." I pat his mid-back as I continue walking.

I pace forward a couple of steps, realizing that the scraping hum of his wheels isn't behind me. "You coming?" I turn to ask.

I catch him drifting off into the city's skyline as he stands perfectly still, watching it. Every car leaving to be buried under the eastern mountain's shadow, coming closer to us.

"I've never really just... noticed how humongous the Jupiter statue is."

"That's Saturn."
I correct.

"It could be Uranus for all I care, it's massive."

How could I not chuckle at that?

A car flutters by as I step closer to him, admiring the brightness bouncing off of the planet, casting darkness under the ring, and falling onto the buildings below. The way it meets his yellow hoodie looks like the sunlight in itself. I can't see his face, but I can tell by the shape of his sideburns that his mouth is risen.

"Alright bastard, we've got places to be," he wheels around and passes me.

Okay big guy, but I saw that.
I shake my head with a warm smile before following.

.

Our shadows sink beneath us as we curve the mountainside, winding with the road as we catch what little shade can be found between the sparse trees, leaving plenty of room for the leaning sunflowers to spread in abundance. An RV or two slows past us, families who are probably in no hurry to go off-road on their road trips. Keeping up with him only gets harder once the stone trail tilts down the mountain base, chipping into fragile chunks as weeds and the dried plains take over the vast horizon. Traveling alongside us, a barbed wire fence dips into shallow creek beds and continues as a whole.