Stitches

1: Crashing Into The Nightmare

—Travis—

July 23rd, 2023 4:35 AM

The lonely stretch of road sat in darkness. What seemed like an army of oak tree trunks surrounded Travis on each side. His lack of sleep left him wondering if he'd taken the wrong lane at the juncture and entered some dark fantasy forest world.
The worn, cracked stretch of pavement felt endless if not for the occasional road sign that rose out of the weed-infested graveled shoulder. Or rather, what remained of the sign that nature hadn't covered yet in its slow advance on the land that man had taken from Her and paved over.

Travis always had issues driving on the highways. Even with GPS, he would still somehow get lost. Since turning off at the juncture, his route became many twists and turns. Trees encroached on the road once surrounded by grassy fields. Travis felt as if they were creeping in on him, like a predator closing in on its prey.

His anxiety worsened when his phone entered a perpetual state of recalculating. another headache created from the winding, woodsy detour.

"Fuck, well, eventually I have to get out of this forest." His eyes went to the dashboard. Like his navigation, Spotify had fallen victim to the trees and left him in silence, save for the purr of the engine and the occasional jostle from a rough patch of road. With nothing to lose, he powered on the car's radio to only get a static buzz over the speakers.

A sigh left Travis's lips. Why couldn't he catch a break? The woman he planned to make his fiancée had cheated on him. It all happened so quickly. He had been so excited to see her. The moment he opened the door to her dorm room, his heart crumbled like the cracked asphalt he was driving on.

Her lack of remorse was the worst part.

Travis's thoughts raced. Why didn't he just stop at one of the many hotels posted on the highway signs? Maybe if he hadn't been so distraught, he would have made that decision. There was also the impending storm. Travis wanted to get back home and sulk as he watched the rain, enjoying the soothing sounds as both he and the sky wept a torrent of tears.

His original plan of him and Amy riding out the storm in her dorm was now long gone. 

The few signs he had come across were for speed limits and sharp turns. As he continued to turn the knob in the hopes static would give way to music.
He passed a pair of signs, catching a quick glimpse of them.

DEER CROSSING

NEXT 5 MILES

With more fiddling, the radio came alive with a woman's voice before static overtook it. "This... 96.1..." Travis paused, then turned the dial back to the station numbers he had heard. "... Dan sent in a request for the song..." Travis hit a pothole, and as the car slingshot from the rough terrain, he knocked the knob and the static returned.

"Ugh." About to reach his limit, Travis jerked his hand back to the knob and finally got the station to play.

"Enjoy the song, Dan!" the woman said. At the first beats of the song, Travis felt his heart sink. Of all the songs, it was this one.

"Yeah, I'm gonna take my-" A shout filled the car and drowned out the radio.

"Fuck you, Amy! You and whoever was in there with you!"

Travis seethed at the reminder of their relationship and the song she used to play on their road trips together, each line only making him more enraged.

"'Til I can't no-" 

His rage hit a peak. "Fuck you too, Dan!"

Travis cursed at everyone he felt wronged by. He focused on the road when a plink sounded in front of him. He stared at the droplet of water on the glass as it went upward in the breeze. A second plink hit the windshield, only to be followed by a barrage of rain plastering his windshield.