The Tinted Sky

Motel Off The Highway

I pulled up to a small motel off the highway. The sun was starting to peak through the clouds and I shook the girl awake. She stared at me with those big eyes of hers and blinked slowly. For a child she was so quiet and it seemed like she was observing and studying everything I said and did. I got out of the car and she followed behind quietly not asking any questions about where we were or what we were going to do. 

The motel was definitely seedy. The paint was chipping on the walls outside and there was a man standing outside of one of the rooms smoking a cigarette. I held the door for the girl to go inside and my stomach suddenly dropped. What if she decided she wanted to go back home? I mean she was only like 10? Maybe 11? She could scream she could tell someone I'm a stranger and then I'd be screwed. How much jail time did you get for kidnapping? I wasn't sure but I knew it wasn't a light sentence. Me stealing the only daughter of my late wife was not a good look. I'd be questioned for other things besides kidnapping. I stood frozen in the door way watching the girl move in the small room where a bald man with glasses and a thin mustaches sat behind the counter reading a newspaper and smoking a cigarette. 

She stopped and turned around to face me, clearly waiting for me to make the next move. I sighed in relief and smiled at her, next time I'd leave her in the car when getting a room, it was better for me that everyone think I was traveling alone anyway. I walked into the small avocado green room and plastered a large smile on my face. 

"Hey I'm looking for a room for the night, with two beds please" The man didn't even put down his newspaper as he robotically told me the rates for a night. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the cash and he reached over and grabbed, his eyes never went to my face he just counted the money out placed it in the cashier and grabbed a key. As he was giving me the key it was the first time he emptily glimpsed at my face and I grabbed them and quickly smiled, he was already looking back at his newspaper. 

Me and the girl headed back outside into what was now the full blast of the sun.  The motel looked even more broken down in the light of the sun. Our room was number 62 and we walked quietly. stopping when we found the number. You had to jangle the key around a little to get the door to open, and when the door did open pieces of peeling paint fell from the doorway. The room was just as I had expected it to be. 

The walls were painted a medium tan color and the comforters on the bed were a dark brown. The rugs were rough and had strange stains on them, they were the same color as the comforters on the beds. I worried slightly about whether bed bugs would be a problem and I peeled the comforter off the bed along with the quilt in order to check the corners. After a five minute deep inspection the bed came up clean and I decided it was safe to lay on. 

The girl was already on the bed beside the bathroom laying quietly, staring up at the ceiling. 

"Do you want to watch some t.v.?" I asked, lifting the remote control from the nightstand beside my bed. She looked at me quietly and nodded. I wasn't sure if she was scared, or maybe she was just always that quiet but I tried to not let it worry me. I turned on the t.v. and switched it to a kid's channel that was playing some kind of cartoon. "Is this good?" I asked and she looked at the t.v. staring for a moment and then turned back to me and nodded. 

I got comfy in the bed taking my shoes off. 

"Hey I'm going to take a nap, and then we can go get something to eat. Sound good?" The girl nodded not turning her gaze away from the t.v. I closed my eyes and dreamed about the same thing I'd been dreaming about for months. Mara.