Strange Beings

.Stop One.

We were able to get a good fifty miles out of the city before pulling into an old gas station to refuel. We hadn't seen more than five cars in the hour that had passed, and frankly, who would want to be in Maine in the first place?

It occurred to me that this was the only main highway to the state of Maine which left the ocean within view, and frankly, that was something to be excited about. It meant that Harry and I had to be on the right track, that Macy came this same way, because if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was being landlocked.

"You sure she came this way?" Harry asked as he filled up the tank at the pump.

I nodded, then explained why. He nodded as if he knew this, but he couldn't have: Macy told me, as we had been driving to her family home in upstate New York. It was on that trip that she told me that she couldn't stand the town, couldn't stand it that there were no bodies of water in sight, just a forever of grassy lands as far as the eye could see.

"I guess we ought to figure out some way to actually track her," he said, eyes far away. "I say we ask people as we go, like, at hotels and gas stations and grocery stores."

"How smart would that even be? Going around, flaunting the fact that our best friend is wandering around Maine, I mean."

"Not very," he said, but returned with another set of precise words, "but it's our only real shot. You got any good pictures of Mace?"

Too many to count, I thought. "I think so, though they might be a little outdated." Two years. We used to take photographs everywhere we went together. After all, it was the passion she had decided not to pursue. I had pictures of the both of us, and also multitudes of just that strange being, all by her lonesome. She was beautiful in the quiet, and it was always so odd.

"Find the best one to show her face, then we'll keep that one on hand at all times for quick asking."

On the way farther north, as we traveled, I scrolled through so many images of Macy. I couldn't find the right one. She was always too elusive, but when she did reveal her face, it was magic unto the camera and the viewer.

Of course, there was one that stood out. Lighting dim, she never looked more like Macy.