Air of Night

"You have now reached Cedar City."

It seems as if I have to muster all my strength from the air around me as I hastily gather up my few belongings. I stand up from the uncomfortable plastic seat, and make my way off the bus, avoiding all eye contact. The night's breeze chills me to the bone as I walk towards the faint neon sign. Shrugging on a loose sweater, I quicken my pace as police car sirens blare in the distance. They're coming for me. I know it. No, they won't get me. They can't find me here.

I push open the door and a bell chimes signaling my entrance. My tennis shoes squeak on the shiny floor. It seems as if I'm the only one here in the small truck stop diner, when I'm really accompanied by two men in the corner reading newspapers and sipping coffee. "Can I get a small coffee and a bagel please?" I quietly ask.

"That'll be $3.50," she tells me uninterested. I rummage through the first pocket of my backpack looking for my money. After paying the lady with bills and coins, I grab the paper bag and move over to a lonesome booth in the far corner of the diner. I set my stuff down and make my way to the back. I rest my hands on the bathroom's cold sink.

I look up to the mirror and see a bruised and broken girl, and the hopeless look in her hollowed eyes is unforgiving. I put my hands under the warm water. I feel the water run past my fingertips, and I gather some in my hands and splash my face with it. I have to stay awake for the long journey ahead. I head back to my belongings just in time to see someone heading out the door with my paper bag. I let out a deep sigh, and sit down. There's no use in trying to get it back. There's no point in anything anymore. I lean my head against the wall, my blurry reflection present in the diner's windows.

Outside, night encompasses everything. Air itself seems to be hollow, nearly not seeming to exist at all. I clutch my backpack to my chest as my eyes start to close. The seat across from me puffs as a body sits down on the cheap cushioning. My eyes snap open.

"Hey, are you okay?" An unfamiliar man asks me. His piercing green eyes take me by surprise. His tousled dark brown hair gives off the impression of being laid back and carefree. His face gives him off as a man in his 30s. He flicks off a piece of a straw wrapper from the table.

"I'm fine," I say.

"What's your name?" he asks me, his brows scrunching up with a questioning gaze.

"Who are you?" I ask hesitantly.

"Me? Well I'm your new friend. My name is Willis, but since your my friend... You can call me Will," he says with a smug smile on his face, "Now how about you tell me your name, honey?"

"Charlie," I told him removing my bag from where I had it pulled tight against my chest.

"Well Charlie, I'll say you are the most prettiest girl I've ever seen, and I've seen quite some good lookers," he spoke adding on a playful wink of the right eye. "Are you here by yourself?"

I hesitated answering. My mother always told me, be careful when around people you don't know. But then again, she never cared for me much. Neither did father. If they did, I wouldn't be stuck here in some city in Utah. I wouldn't have done a lot of things if it weren't for them. And this guy seemed okay, he hadn't been anything but nice.

"I ran away," I told him.

Will's eyes widened in surprise and I dont know if I imagined it, but I saw his smile widen the tiniest bit. "Well isn't that something. Where'd you come from?"

"Aspen" I said while rolling up the sleeves on my sweater.

"It's really pretty there. That's quite some distance away though, why'd you come here?" Will asked and then called over a waitress, "Can I have a coffee and- what do you want darling?"