Mute

The New Beginning

        Somewhere in Nevada- 1992

     "I might as well say it now. I'm lost." Of course I was. I had been driving for more than 3 hours aimlessly with a map that had more useless legend symbols than useful ones. How could I had been so careless with a map that told me where I was going to find my next story? I sighed and pulled onto the side of the road, my radio still blaring static. I looked to the map, the whole thing seeming more and more like a children's coloring book instead of what it was supposed to be. I saw nothing but road, nothing too important at least. But a road is the only thing important right now, right? "Blasted map anyway!" I threw it into the backseat and looked to my watch. 8:58 in the evening. Great. Not only was I running low on gas and lost, but It was nearing my habitual bedtime.
     I groaned. This is gonna be worse than I thought. I left my mother's house at 5:00 and still haven't reached a single place I wanted to stay at. The past few motels I had looked at seemed covered from ground to ceiling in roaches, or spiders, or whatever disgusting crawling things you can think of. Not cool. I drove back onto the road and kept driving for what seemed like forever until I drove into a small town. A town I had never heard of before. Cardensdale, Nevada.  Cardensdale. Sounded pleasant. And honestly, it looked pleasant. The place was all houses, a mall it seemed, a few restaurants here and there. But what really got me was the view. Trees were surrounding the area, making it seem almost in the middle of nowhere. I suppose "seem" isn't exactly the right word. It was in the middle of nowhere. And I didn't know how to feel about that.
     I pulled into a small gas station. I call it small considering the fact that it only had two pumps and the building was maybe the size of an apartment. I began putting gas into my small cheverolet and looked to the building. It was, again, no bigger than a small apartment, and seemed to be empty, but the lights were on. I eventually was able to go inside and found that there was someone behind the counter restocking the lottery tickets. I waited patiently beside the counter and began getting my wallet when the small elderly woman looked to me. Her nametag showed her name was Kassie, her shoulder blade length brown hair was on the verge of turning gray. Her wrinkles were somewhat visible under her well done make-up, her green eyes  sparkling with life still. I took in her features for a moment, trying to see if I could tell anything about her personality with just looks, but found nothing before she smiled a beautiful and warm, ear to ear smile. "Well, hello. Traveling through, miss?" I tried to smile that wide too, but ended up just giving up after my cheeks began to hurt. "Yes, ma'am. I have some gas at pump 2."
     I gave her the amount of money for the gas, and went to walk away when she asked "Where are you heading, exactly?" I looked back. "I don't exactly know. I just am going through trying to find work." She motioned me to come closer, and I walked back to the counter, unsure of what to think. "I can get you work here. Is there anything you're looking for?" I was taken by surprise. I was looking for specific work. I'm a writer in training. At least, that's what my mom had always said. "Not really, I suppose." Her smile slowly left her face, and she seemed to turn serious. Warm, but serious. "Where are you staying?" I shrugged, "Motels and my car." She shook her head, her eyes seeming to become saddened. "You can stay with me, if you'd like. I have enough room for another person." I think I stared at her for a moment. I had no idea what to say. I was kind of freaked out. A gas attendent, a complete stranger, just offered her home to me, a young woman of 23 looking for a job. "That's really not needed. I am just going through anyway."                  She sighed. "Are you sure? I have enough room for you. I won't make you pay for staying. A young woman like yourself would be fine here." I thought about this. I could finally settle down here. I could possibly get a job here, start my writing career here. I could possibly start fresh. A new beginning, a new way, new friends. A different type of future. But Kassie was a stranger. I'm a stranger to her too. Why would she do this? What makes me different than any other customer? "It won't bother you to take me in? Just for a day or two or something? Maybe even a week, but I can leave by Saturday." She smiled that beautiful smile again before continuing with, "Not at all. I work for another 15 minutes. Then we can go to my house together." I felt strange, yet, I felt I made a good choice. I need a rest from the driving anyway. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterall. I nod and walk out to my car. It wasn't until she started walking towards my car that I had realized that she doesn't even know my name. What a good way for a Sunday night to go.