001
The air rushing in from the car window danced across Audrey’s face as she looked out on the life she was leaving behind. The autumn colors blurred together, a hodgepodge of glowing reds and golds glinting from the sun overhead. Her father was silent.
They were closer now, though still a good three hours away. To ease the building pressure in her temples from the altitude and long drive. She was able to convince her father to get a book from a gas station awhile back. The regret sank in a few pages in as she realized it may not have been the brightest idea to choose the book purely off the front cover. The whole spectrum of colors dimmed as the sun faded into the earth and the mountains sunk into the waves of the horizon. Only a few miles left, still nothing from her father. The car started to slow. Audrey picked up her book, acting like she was unaware of the declining speed. A harsh bang rattled the fords interior console. The shock left her with a long paper cut on the base of her palm. “Yes?”
He let out a soft sigh. “Looks like we’re going to be here for a while. I’m going to pull over, get out of the car; check for nearby gas stations.”
“Click” the seat belt shot up with a metallic clang. “What happened?”
“Just do what I say and get out of the car.”
Indigence wrapped her words. “I was just confused.”
She clasped the handle. The force of the gesture stabbed at her cut. The door swung open; the cold air grabbed at her exposed skin stabbing at her flesh like small needles. She would graciously except a sweater right about now. The star speckled night swallowed her gaze, the intersecting dots forming a tapestry on a cloudless canvas. Almost like that thing she learnt in art, pointillism! She was so encapsulated by the differing environment from her old house in Alabama. The deafening honk from the teal ford explorer snapped her back into focus. Making sure not to trip. Audrey got to the edge of the street; Her dad’s car pulled over to the side probably due to the fact that they just drove about fifty miles with half a tank. The ghostly trees wrapped around the road reaching toward them with their shadows, shrouding the ground in black. The deep wood called behind the trees going on for miles whilst the dirt road curved, driving a path through the wood. Finding relief in an old oak she sank to the floor putting her bag on her lap and her back resting against the tree. Riffing though her overnight bag she located a map. Her parents had plotted out a route to Alderson, a town right in the middle Greenbrier and Monroe counties. She always wanted to live somewhere cold though she felt ill-prepared with her thin jacket. Along with the direct route, her mom plotted the rest stops, sure that her husband would forget. She was right. Luckily two miles up the road was a gas station. Sadly, it was the end of July in a mountainous region of North Carolina and the ground was peppered with a thin layer of snow. Her dad got out of the car, trekking through the brush.
“We lucky?” He said announcing his presence with disdain.
“How does two miles work for you?” Her father trotted away the grass crunching under his foot fall.
Yelling back her father shouted “Get up! Your already tired?” Staggering to her feet she started to walk.
Audrey was spaghetti. She could normally walk a good few miles, though once the cold sank in she could barely move. The late night weighed on her, casting a gloomy mist over her thoughts. The gas station glowed in the night. Furthermore, the structure was plastered with peeling grey paint and a constant hum emanating from a heater. A red stripe cut through the monotony wrapping around the walls of the building. A large pillar read “$1.40 a gallon” covering an illegible beat-up logo. Windows set into the walls of the building looked in upon a variety of food items and a distasteful looking 30-40-year-old. Probably someone her dad would get along with. The door swung open, her father a few paces behind her tried to speed up inconspicuously, attempting to get into the warmth of the store. “What you cold?” Her father brushed past.
“Close the door!” The man shouted rudely.
The warm air opened Audrey’s lungs letting out a grateful sigh to the heater. Her father moved up to talk to the man grabbing out his wallet. The man’s hazel eyes glinted fixated on the wallet. Not interested in another conversation about sports with a stranger, she moved to the back of the store. The building was laid out with five isles of various food stuffs and a small out cropping in the upper left-hand corner for the cashier. Sweet and savory lined the shelves. Colorful posters and decals were, set to the windows providing a more colorful atmosphere. Though this was all dampened by the cold industrial flickering lights. Not feeling particularly hungry she walked out the back door.
Locating a pay phone, she reached into her bag receiving a quarter and two dimes and slotted them into the machine. “2.. 2..9 297..7190” putting the phone to her ear she looked to the woods; they glared back. The crunching of leaves and swishing of a nearby stream; ghosts roaming the grounds. Pines and oaks reached the heavens whilst mountains broke through the earth’s crust. By now she doubted her mom would pick up, it was around twelve. Her mom had made the executive decision to drive to the new house to make sure that everything was in order. Bet she really missed out on the riveting conversations with her husband. Audrey was now really wishing she had said something and gone with her mother instead.
A small square, a 6 by 6 barren outcropping with no flora went unnoticed on Audrey's first glance though now that it came into focus it looked out of place. Putting down the phone; leaving it hanging off the wire, she walked towards the oddity. A pail warm light emanated from a lavender door in the center of the clearing. Trees bent away trying to run, though rooted to the ground. Where did you come from? Cracking open the back door Audrey shouted “Dad?!” No response just the humming of the heater. They’re probably just filling the tank. “I’ll be right back!” she shut the gas station door. Returning outside. Short foot falls lead her towards the clearing.
