A Taste of the World
They were running out of gas, food and battery on their GPS. The night was growing dim; it would soon be dark. There hadn’t been cell phone reception for at least an hour. It was time to sleep.
John had just taken the driver’s seat for his shift when they lost cell phone reception. Although driving can get dull, the bright side about driving was that the countryside was gorgeous and you were awake to witness it. As the gigantic glass skyscrapers of the city faded, the behemoths that were the Stony Mountains came into view. Although the mountains were rock-laden, they too were reflective, for after a heavy rainfall, the sun glared off the mountainside just as if it were glass. No need for the city—not to mention the air tasted much fresher in the country. It was almost invigorating to simply breathe and be alive in the mountains. Their purple Volkswagen camper van certainly looked out of place in the rugged natural environment. The steamy rays of the summer sun had been glaring down on them all day, and to feel the night approaching (and the sun retreating) was almost a relief.
Almost.
“Look—Sam we’re running out of gas! We won’t be able to make it to the next town!” John exclaimed, flustered, a deep sense of urgency ringing through his voice, “We passed Leftfordstown 2 hours ago—Look at th-“
“Trust me John, I’ve been here before, the GPS isn’t always right”, spoke Sam, interrupting John.
“What, once?” Sarah stopped her card game with Cindy to deal with the crisis at hand, “Sam was probably 6 years old when he came here, he don’t remember a thing, Johnny.”
“Look, Johnny. We don’t have enough gas to get back to Leftfordstown. We’re going to have to walk there, we can make it to this place, I promise. You guys gotta put some more trust in me—after all, who found us the van?”
“Yeah, and who paid for it Sam? Anyway, look here a sec. I don’t wanna die up here in the mountains. It’s nice and all, but I’ve got my whole life to live buddy. So tell me, do you really know shit about this place?”
Sam started to say something, but in his hesitation Sarah cut him off.
“Johnny, he don’t know anythin’! We oughtta go back, we go out there and you know what happens? 3 weeks later they find a purple camper van in the middle of the mountains and they never find the bodies. You know why? Because we starve, and we get eaten, we don’t know what’s out there! We go, we d—“
“Look Johnny! There’s an inn! We can turn in there,” Cindy piped up, “this might be our place for the night!”
“I don’t know, Cindy. We don’t know how much further it is from that turn-off, and it’s not on the GPS, that’s just a sign for the inn somewhere down at the end of the road” John replied.
“The GPS isn’t always right John—besides, look it just died! Let’s go!” Cindy’s voice seemed to be on some sort of navigational path to righteousness.
John took the turn-off.
* * * * *
The trip seemed like a great idea at the beginning; they had just graduated the boarding school they were sent to, finally escaping to see the world. Just the four of them, it was perfect at the beginning—they had money for gas, food, everything they needed. John’s parents had bought and refurbished the old Volkswagen camper van, which Sam did find, and now the four of them were off on their self-dubbed ‘journey of self-discovery.’
