Lynx Falls

Chapter 3

They were only two hours north of the city when the radio station began to fail. A bit of static mixed with overlapping voices from some other mystery French station. The first hour of this trip had been quiet as James sipped on his large black coffee and Hannah stared out the window watching farmers fields and fence post go by.

James made to turn the volume dial down. "I made us a playlist for the trip!" Hannah reached down to pull her charging cord out of her back to plug in. She'd spent a few days curating this playlist. It was a real masterpiece in her opinion. Obviously "Waterfalls" by TLC was first because duh they were hiking to a waterfall after all, but the rest were either classic hits, things she thought he might like based on music she'd heard him play and a few new ones she thought she could introduce him to.

"Ya I don't think so," James scoffed. "I don't really need to listen to Taylor Swift." "Oh," she half froze charging cord in hand, "I don't think I actually have..." but James was already pulling the cord from her hand and plugging his own phone into it. "That's not even real music," he added. She was a bit annoyed. Why did so many guys have a knot in their panties about Taylor Swift? You didn't become a millionaire, correction billionaire, by being a bad performer.

She waited to see what kind of music he thought was so much better than what she had put together for them. Much to her chagrin it was a podcast that was already partially finished. "What is this?" she asked after a few minutes of trying to put the pieces of the conversation together. "Freakanomics," he said as he pulled off to the side of the highway.

"What are we doing?" Hannah looked around to see if they were being pulled over. "Gotta whiz," James said opening the door. "On the side of the road?" Hannah wondered why they hadn't stopped at the little roadside gas station about five minutes back. "I'm a dude. The world is my bathroom," and with that he slammed the door and walked to the shoulder of the highway.

It was nearing the end of the podcast when Hannah asked what he wanted to listen to next. "It'll just roll into the next one. I downloaded like six or seven episodes for the trip.  "Cool, cool, cool, cool," Hannah mumbled under her breath.  "What was that?" James asked from the driver's seat.  "Cool," she repeated loud and clear and went back to staring out the window.

The next two hours crawled by with theories of economic reform droning filling the space inside the car.  Farmers' fields had given way to more and more trees.  The further north they drive the fewer vehicles they saw on the highway.  Hannah shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 

"Hey can we stop at the next gas station?"  "I hadn't really planned to stop until we needed gas.  Why what do you need?" "I need to go to the bathroom."  "You should have gone when I went."  "On the side of the road?"  He began to pull over and she sat up a bit straighter in protest.  "Can we just stop at the next gas station she pleaded again.  "Don't worry.  If someone drives by they only have time to see your face or your ass, not both." 

She supposed there was no use in explaining that girls wipe and like to wash their hands, but she was trying to be a good sport.  "You're gonna have to use the bathroom outside when we're hiking you know."  She slid out of the car and squatted down by the back tire.  It was hot on the asphalt and running vehicle.  She was done in record time terrified that a car would appear on the horizon at any second, but no cars came.

James smiled as she got back into the car.  "See! You survived."  "Yeah I guess I did," she tried to smile but it probably came out as more of a grimace.  James was fiddling with his phone.  Finally the podcasts were over.  Hannah braced herself for some music of some sort to help break up the last leg of this trip. 

Hannah loved music of all kinds.  She was the kind of person that was above genre and dabbled in everything, and yes James even Taylor Swift.  Her friends always put her on music duty and at a pub trivia night she could be counted on for any of the music questions.  There was one band though in particular that she really just could not handle and here it was, after hours of waiting to hear anything with a beat: The Dave Matthews Band. 

James tapped the steering wheel to the best singing along.  "Finally some music eh," he said smiling,  "I'd love to see these guys in concert."  Hannah nodded but he had already lost her attention.  She was focused on a large sign just four minutes from where she had just peed on the side of the road.   James checked the gas gauge, "I guess I better pull in here and fill up.  You never know up here.  It's like gas station roulette."