Shane hardly got anymore sleep when they got back on the road; the weak winter sun was still too bright, and when the sun didn't show, the shadows of the thick clouds overhead were pretty disturbing. He wanted to talk to Jugatxi some more, but the scenery didn't allow him to.
Throughout Arizona there were mountains of rocks piled up on each other. They were a brilliant rusty red in color and looked as if they were about to tip over. Shane kept seeing a scene where the rocks kept rushing up to meet him and were about to crush him to death. It was almost as if in a dream. Shane was weary and whenever the road wound between two stretches of rocks he had to hold his breath to keep calm. He got a headache after a bit, but said nothing about it.
It wasn't until later that Shane got a few more hours of sleep. They had finally cleared all of the mountainous rocks. Jugatxi awoke Shane when they stopped for gas again. They each took care of their business inside and when they went back outside, there was a man on horseback. Jugatxi threw her food into the car and pumped gas and Shane did the same, except he approached the horse.
He approached slowly, unsure of what he was doing. The animal stared back intelligently. The horse seemed sort of impatient and stepped toward Shane when he stopped only a few feet from it. Shane reached out his hand and the horse leaned toward it, allowing Shane to pat its muzzle, and whinnied softly. Shane calmed a bit and pet the horse earnestly, gaining a little more confidence in himself. "I wish I had a snack for you," Shane told the horse softly. The horse blinked back at Shane almost as if saying "me too." With a final pat, Shane walked away from the horse.
Jugatxi was waiting for him in the car, she had been watching him. Shane felt a faint pulse of adrenaline flowing through him, adrenaline and a bit of sadness at having to part from the animal. He was flustered. "I liked animals?" he asked Jugatxi.
"You liked animals," she repeated with a nod.
"I fed the animals at the zoo because they deserve a break from all the yucky zoo food?"
Jugatxi smiled. "That's exactly what you used to tell me."
Shane felt good that he could at least figure out some part of himself. "Animals are cool," he told Jugatxi, a bit breathlessly.
"Yeah," Jugatxi agreed, and they took off again.
YOU ARE READING
Crash Course in Shane Mathias
Короткий рассказFollow Shane down the dark road and over the edge. Shane was in a car accident and the next time he wakes up is in the hospital without his memory. Even though he tries, he doesn't get his memory back. So his sister decides to take him on a road tri...
