Lonely Road

"Oh God Christian what have you gotten yourself into this time?" I think to myself as I drive down the freeway. Was just going to visit my old childhood friend friend in another state. Catch up on some old times, share a beer or two. Maybe even go out to open mics and do improv like in college. A nice week away from home, simple really. Now I have this complete stranger sitting beside me. A little boy.

He said his name was Joseph, although I had a hunch he was lying. A straight road for miles with only sparse pit stops. I had no reason to come down by the riverside dirt road other than the nostalgia of my friends and my shortcuts. I had no reason to be there but he, he had even less reason to be there! What is an eight-year-old boy doing alone on a riverside dirt road hitchhiking!? Miles from the nearest town, too.

He had a cheerful expression to himself which was unfitting, given his current scenario. He was a skinny fellow with brown hair partially hidden under a dirt-stained baseball cap. Other than his hat, he had a pretty clean and up-kept clothes. He had a compass watch on his wrist and wore a nice gold necklace with a weird pendant decorated with symbols I did not recognize around his neck. He also had a red backpack that seemed just a bit too big for him. Inside he said were two other sets of clothes, some canned food and a journal. I trusted him enough not to check. Seemed normal stuff for a hitchhiker to have and would barely fit in that bag.

First thing I asked him after he got in the car after his name was where were his parents and where was he going. He gave me an answer with words and a tone of voice that left me speechless.

"Oh... my parents aren't with me anymore, They haven't been for a while, so don't fret about it." sa he said this his cheerful demeanour left his face for a second but rapidly came back. He then said " and as to where I'm going? I don't know yet, maybe I'll just keep going until I find somewhere that I feel like a home."

He stayed silent after, that as if waiting for my response. Although truly I didn't have a single one to say. After a few minutes or seconds, I'm not sure, he started asking me stuff. Although it was it was a tad intrusive, I was glad he killed the silence. He asked who I was, where I was going, what was I like. After around an hour he said something that connected with me in some way yet also gave me a sense of uneasiness.

"You know, Christian, you remind me a lot of my dad, at least what I can remember about him." These words felt even more cheerful than anything previously said. This kid was a weird one to be perfectly honest.In a way, I was glad that I picked him up. Who knows what horrible people might have gotten him and the unspeakable things they could have done. Yet I was also kicking myself over the fact I picked him up because well, now I have a strange child with no parents in my car. Most kids in his position I would guess would be traumatized or gone to an orphanage. I thought maybe he was in denial, but no as we talked he seemed very bright and fully understood the concept of Death and other stuff that wasn't even in my mind at his age.

He fell asleep in the seat, and that's when I started panicking over exactly what I was supposed to do. I thought obviously going to the cops, but they wouldn't believe me. They'd think I was just some low life abandoning a kid or just getting rid of one I abducted or kidnapped or something. I decided the best thing to do was to just go to my buddies house and just ask him what to do. He's helped me through surprisingly worse stuff in College (don't ask). He started waking up after around an hour.

After this I stopped at a rest stop/cafe and we had some lunch. We talked some more about interests and the like.l I surprisingly developed a strong trust in this kid. He seemed not only smart but absolutely brilliant! He knew a lot about current events and Pop culture. We even talked about some movies that were out before even my own childhood.

We headed back to the car and once inside I asked him something I probably should have asked him before.

" So now, where do you plan on going? So far I'm just going to my friends house. Where are you heading?" Then he shut me up with an answer so not fit for a child.

"Nowhere really, I just want to enjoy the ride for as long as I can and see where life takes me."

I told him alright and we were off. We were around four hours from my buddy's house and the sun was setting. The kid and I kept talked the whole time. Building a strange bond but a strong one, as if we had always known each other. About an hour before reaching the home the strangest thing happened.

Night had already fallen and it was dark and I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds and when I opened them it was really bright. And the car wasn't on the road anymore! It was moving but through a white void. I turned completely stunned to the child and he said

"My mom died when I was born. I always just stayed with my father. The other day we were driving and we got into an accident. He died instantly and I was bleeding out. All I kept thinking was ' Oh please god let me spend more time with my dad' and I guess my time is over now( he was crying now) Goodbye daddy I was amazing spending time with you, even if its not the you I knew, It was still a blast."

He then hugged me and I hugged him back not noticing the surge of tears coming. There I held him and before I knew it he was gone. As was the void. The car was parked alongside the freeway. I just stayed there and wept, wept like a baby.

"Goodbye son, I guess I'll see you again someday" I whispered and I just wept some more...