Into the Unknown

Diane Whitman

Just like every other morning for the past six months, I've had the same nightmare – spotting Shelby in the evening darkness, laying there on the ground in the park, pale and cold without any signs of life left in her. This morning, the same thing happens, except I wake with a cold sweat, which hasn't happened before. I don't feel quite the same.

Slowly, I get out of bed. In my old age, it's getting more and more difficult to maneuver. Some days I feel as if I might turn to stone.

Pulling my robe over my delicate self, I notice that Phillip isn't sleeping. All that's there is the outline of blankets when he snuck out of bed, which isn't his normal self. He has been odd these past few months though, keeping silent.

"Must be out taking a walk," I say, even though there's nobody around to hear me. The silence inside the house makes it seem as if my voice echoes for miles and miles.

Once I've put on my slippers, I make my way into the kitchen. I notice the coffee pot is still on; Phil has always preferred coffee over tea, but I still love him anyway. No matter how many times I've tried to convince him to convert, it always fails. I choose to pour the rest of the excess coffee down the kitchen sink since there's no way I'll drink that bitter stuff. It's never been my sort of thing. Instead, I make some tea and go back to my room, preparing myself for the day ahead.

Morning weather includes lots of fog this morning which I don't want to drive in. Through my bedroom window, I see Phillip's prized Tesla is still parked out front, basking in the sunlight through the morning moisture.

Instead of pouting by myself all day and becoming more depressed than my doctor thinks I should be, I choose to go and make a visit to my daughter.

"Miss All Electrical Tesla" does all the driving herself; it is absolutely wonderful what technology has been improved to nowadays.

The drive itself doesn't take very long. With simply just inputting Melissa's address, I let the car do all the manual labor. It notifies me that I'll be at my destination within 15 minutes.

As usual, there's no traffic on the roads. Princelan has never contained much, even within town, and in my opinion, it will never grow or expand much. The rural areas particularly seem to spook an uncountable number of people. Something always seems to frighten newcomers away from permanently placing themselves here, but I've never known what it could possibly be.

Once I get to Melissa's house, the car parks itself and tells me I've arrived at my destination, speaking with a robotic-sounding female voice.

"Thank you, love," I say, even though I'm not quite sure why. Personally, I have no affection for the car whatsoever.

"Hey mother!" I hear from the front porch. Looking up, I see there she is standing and holding the door with an ear-to-ear smile.

"Hello, my sweet daughter." Slowly and decrepitly, I walk up the porch, taking my time. Once I peck Melissa on the cheek, I'm already in a better mood than 10 minutes ago.

Inside, we get settled in the living room. Both of us have our cups of tea in hand, relaxed. Melissa has been kind enough to let her dear old mother have the comfy recliner, which was definitely not necessary, but I say nothing of the such to her.

"So, I saw you got a fancy new car, mother. When did you decide to get something like that?" Melissa chuckles at her own joke, knowing I would never buy a vehicle like a Tesla, even if I owned a million dollars.

I wave my hand as if shooing away a fly. "That thing? Your father won it in a lottery drawing, apparently. He talks about it all the time. I never hear the end of it."