Scars and past times

Chapter 5 Road Trip to Where

As the town slowly shrunk in the distance, my thoughts and emotions swirled in my head. What had I just done I thought to myself. For hours I stared at nothing but road and passing cars as I thought about the previous moments that just happened. My gas slowly shrunk down to 5 miles after 8 hours of driving to who knows where. I take some cash out of my wallet and exchange it for gas. It takes 7 minutes to fill up so I decide to leave the car and go inside the gas station. A small line of 2 adults and 1 family awaits the cash register holding some differ t assortments of snacks, candies, and gum. The adults of the family stare at my bruised and scraped face. I try to ignore them and rush into an abandoned isle. I look around the no organized isle at the mini muffins they had next to a stack of vogue magazines and a pile of maps. I pick up a magazine and look at the price. I set the magazine down and remember I have to save my money. I search my purse for spare change I can maybe use to buy some of the mini muffins scattered around the isle. That's when I realized I had no phone with me.

I hunt through my purse searching through every pocket and crevasse I saw. However, I saw nothing except for some makeup, old recites, and a couple of quarters which added to $5. I sighed at what I forgot and refused to turn around now. However, next to the magazines there was a pile of old maps that had some potential use in this trip to anywhere.

I pick up the stack of dusty maps and look at the many titles they had. Many of the titles were covered and crusted with dirt and dust. Scraping the crusted dust off with my finger nails, I looked at each map: MAP OF THE US, CALIFORNIA HUNTING SPOTS, LOCAL FISHING REGIONS OF NORTH DAKOTA, CAMPING SITES OF NEVADA, COLORADO STATE MAP, and MAP OF BEAUTIFUL WYOMING STATE. Each map had an American flag embroidery around the edges of the map. They were thin sheets of paper and made a crackling noise as you opened the map. Looking at the map US map, I looked for certain states I wanted to go and I was close by. Here's the problem though, where am I? I don't know what I am doing, where I am driving, where I am, or where I'm going to live. It was all a blur.

The family from the cash register had finally left and stopped staring at me. I grabbed the US map and brought it to the cash register. I set it down on the table and without looking he just said "$10.95 please." What if u bought something more expensive, would he still ring me down for $10.95? Who knows. I didn't pay him just yet and asked where we were on this map. He gurgled and frowned down at me as if I asked a stupid question. He turned the map to him and stared at it for a good 5 minutes. He then pointed to the tip of Nevada. He said "we're somewhere around here. Where are you going?" I shrug my shoulders and he returns a confused look. I walk back to the section I was in and stare at the map. I look at the different states and I give a soft sigh. I didn't know where to go and I look at the other maps. California would be fun spot to go. But it's so expensive. Maybe I could just stay in Nevada and look at small camping sites. Live in my car for awhile. I browsed over The North Dakota map and the Wyoming map and then I picked up the Colorado map. For some reason I liked the word Colorado. The way it rolled off my tongue made me smile. I stared at the the crumpled pieces of paper in sections which signaled mountains. I thought about what I packed and remembered I packed only a couple of jeans and some sweaters. I think I can do it. I grab the US map and place it on top of the Colorado map. I place the maps on top of each other so the Colorado map doesn't show. He then says $8.65 please and I shrug and pass the money over the counter.

As I exit the store with the 2 maps, I smile and enter the car. Buckling the seatbelt across my body, I look out to the road and then down to the maps. I open the US map and scan for the highway I was on. My finger finally landed on it and I smile. It now wasn't a road trip to nowhere, it was a road trip somewhere. And that road trip was to Colorado.