The Artist Apocalypse

Chapter Two: Through The Woods and Cities

               ARG's Summer Diary: Entry #1, August 18th, 2023.

            It was a drizzly day when we left, and it was still drizzly when we crossed the state border two days later. A normal trip from Michigan to New York usually wouldn't take this long, but with a minivan full of rowdy teens, many stops had to be made. Stops at gas stations, mostly. You know, gotta get snacks and gas, or as BB has lovingly been calling it, "car liquor". She's the type to make a joke out of everything, but when things get serious, so does she. It's scary, but quite admirable as well. Sometimes you need a bit of realness in your life rather than some kind of beautiful bullshit. So if you ask her about the little fender bender we had on our way here, she would tell you it was completely Kiwi's fault for being a distracted driver. And well, if you ask Kiwi, she would tell you that she was distracted by BB's questionable taste in music. You see, the majority of our trip, BB was in the passenger seat, and that's all because she wanted to DJ for our trip. Normally we would all be fine with this because BB's taste in music is actually pretty good, but she was in one of her moods where all she wanted to do was listen to super obscure music that sounds like music your great grandmother would listen to if you were both high on acid. Amber was begging for her to turn on something else, anything else, but BB refused to listen. I swear, those bandages she keeps over her face definitely impair her hearing. I'm not sure why she doesn't just stay in her mutated form, rather than having bandages blind her. 

        Anyways, I'm getting off track. I tend to do that quite a bit when I'm writing things down, you'll have to forgive me. 

         We arrived in NY earlier this morning, but haven't quite reached our destination yet. See, Amber, DL, BB, Kiwi, Kid and I are going to stay in my great aunt's house in upstate New York while she's in Madrid, with her permission of course. We're meeting up with our friends Peachii and Blinde, who are current residents of the state. It won't just be us though. There's actually quite a lot of my friends coming from across the country, but they won't be here for a few more days. Zonzu will be meeting with us tonight, though. Looks like Amber is getting tired of driving, so I'm gonna go ahead and take her spot. 

Talk to you again soon.

             I flipped my journal closed just as Amber pulled onto the side of the road. "ARG could you please-" "Yeah, I got it." I cut Amber off before she could finish. I unbuckled myself and climbed out of the back seat and traded places with Amber. She's been driving for about two hours, so I figured I could handle driving the rest of the way. Buckling up again, I placed my hands on the wheel and took off, not even checking to make sure that everyone was buckled and whatnot. Honestly, I was just ready to get out of the damn car and into the house. Unfortunately, I still had to wait almost an hour until we'd get there. Big oof. Do you ever get really tired of being in the car? I sure do. It's annoying being in a cramped space full of friends who like to argue with each other or go entirely silent, leaving only the quiet buzz of whatever came up on BB's playlist next. That's another thing I hate. Silence. But luckily for me, and the ears of everyone else in the car, BB had decided to take a nap. Score. Without hesitation, I unplugged her phone and inserted my summer mixtape. A few minutes passed, and I don't know if it was just me, but the mood throughout the car seemed to improve after the change in tunes. BB could suck it up. Well, when she wakes up that is. Being a music student the majority of my life, it was difficult to keep myself from tapping my foot while driving. We can't really afford another accident or another ticket. I settled for tapping the fingers of my left hand on the wheel instead. 

              A few moments passed like that. A nice steady pace with some quality music, and the smell of citrus coming from the air freshener. I liked being able to listen to music like that. Feeling like you're alone, but not lonely as you drive down the twisting roads of the forests of upstate New York. It was almost peaceful enough to fall asleep. But that was ruined by the whining of one of the passengers behind me.