storytime
Had an idea. Let’s write a story. I’ll start it off and then someone else add a comment that continues the story and so on and so on. Could be funny, serious, dramatic, long or meaningless. Could actually be fun…ok, let’s get started.
Whir-r-r-r-r-r! and then silence. I guess that is the best way to describe the sound that the car made before it coasted to a stop on the side of Hwy. 212. Hwy. 212 got its State Route identification in 1972 when this stretch was projected to be busier than Route 66, but it never panned out. It has taken the last 30 years for the trees to reach almost half of their original height before the business speculators cleared the land for the coming economic boom that was sure to come, but of course it didn’t. As I put the car in park, I realize that I don’t see any signs of…people. I must be on a stretch that doesn’t have anyone. Opening my door I am pretty surprised that the only sound is a gentle breeze. No cars passing by, no sounds of people, just wind. Doesn’t look like anyone really uses this road anymore seeing the grass is starting to grow about an inch or two between the cracks in the asphalt. Popping the trunk, I find that there is no gas can. Come to think of it, I’ve never owned a gas can. Without any idea of which way to go…I spot a small iron gate beyond my car that looks like it has definitely seen its better days and a rocky path leading through the overgrown bushes until a sharp 90 degree turn to the left ends my view. Without any other real option I grab my keys and my jacket and start walking toward the gate.
Now it’s your turn.
Walking towards the gate the thought entered my mind that perhaps my optimism was getting the better of me. What could REALLY lie beyond the sharp angle in front of me, when nothing else seemed to exist in this place. Beyond the rusty gate, I turned the corner, not expecting to see much of anything. But, wait, could it be a mirage? I saw what appeared to be distant figures moving in the distance. Probably aimless wonderers like myself. Well, at least there would be people to be stranded with. I turned the corner and headed down the road that would lead to an unexpected adventure. For who would ever expect that an adventure could begin in so desolate a place! And so on I walked into a small crowd of people, who, to my suprise, knew exactly where they were headed.