Water In My Lungs

Fog

The static of the radio was horrendous, switching between frequencies every channel they tried to pick up.  Estelle searched desperately for her auxilary cable with both eyes glued to the pavement in front of them.

"Let me look for it, this static is driving me nuts," she said, swatting Estelle's hand away from the glove compartment.

Estelle focused on the road, turning up the heat and muting the radio.  They rode in comfortable silence as Connor looked, both exhausted from the interrupted sleep.

"About the man..." Estelle began, voice quiet.

"I swear I saw him."  Connor's eyes flickered over to her, making a brief bout of contact before settling on the road once more.  "I honestly didn't think anything of it at the time, just some creep on his way back from the pub."

"Did he seem drunk?" Estelle asked.

"He was totally still. He just stared. It was like looking at a painting." Connor wagged her head dismissively, unsatisfied with the description. "Maybe he was just there to mow the grass or something, stack wood. Who knows."

"Oh yeah, in the middle of winter?"  Estelle licked her lips and laughed.

"It was just weird," Connor mumbled, trailing off as she pulled down the mirror above her, wiping away mascara smudges under her eyes.  "On a lighter note, we're going to look really good for our new neighbors."  They both laughed.

"I don't think our nearest neighbor is in a five-mile radius."  Estelle liked the idea of a large open yard, with no random passerby's and quiet nights.  She loved Ireland's marshland and history.  The only thing that had ever worried her was finding a new job, but she'd lined one up at a local coffee shop. 

  

She glanced at the flickering light of the time on her dash, "Shit, I forgot to get gas."  The tank wasn't empty, but nowhere close to full enough for the trip that they were making.  It was a trip they'd made a handful of times, not near enough to have a confident idea of when the next gas station would be.

"I think there's a gas station over the Ironwood bridge." 

  

Estelle squinted her eyes ahead of her, the fog hadn't settled in the least.  It crowded over the lake like clouds.  Estelle nodded, cringing as they crossed the narrow structure.

The water beneath them was usually still in the winter, bleary with coldness.  In the summer, it was mild and clear.  Today, it was furious, slapping the rocks in rapid waves as the water forced its way downstream.  Even the snowfall had been out of character for the area.

Estelle followed instructions from an uneasy Connor, who watched the water.  The tension followed them until they'd made their way over the bridge and onto the rain soiled dirt road once again.

Once they pulled in front of the aging gas station, admiring the way the grey of the painted walls blended almost perfectly with the clouds up above, Connor made no time in removing herself from the car. She made her way into the grocery store, a slight perk in her step as she began to finally awake from her morning stupor.