as she turned and drove out of her old neighborhood.
She’d chosen to go to a small town she had visited when she was a teenager, there were fond memories wrapped up in that place and it was only an hour’s drive from the city. Laurie had always promised herself that one day she would go back and relive her youth. She remembered being there one summer with her parents, she’d laid in the sun by the lake all afternoon and counted the clouds as they drifted overhead. In the evenings they buddied up with other families staying close by and had barbeques at dusk. She’d had her first kiss that summer with a boy who was staying at a lodge near theirs. He’d followed her around the back of the play park and into the woods where they’d wrapped their arms around each other and swapped spit for half an hour. She couldn’t remember his name but she remembered the t-shirt he was wearing. A black one with an alien head on the front. She had vague memories of him telling her about Area 51 and she had deduced he was a nerd and hadn’t spoken to him again. She was a bit too quick to judge back then, she thought in retrospect. She loved thinking of that summer because she didn’t have anything in the world to worry about back then. It was that feeling that drew her back there now. The promise of simplicity.
As she pulled off the highway she recognized the roads immediately, even though it had been ten years since she’d been there. She put on her high beams and followed each bend and dip cautiously. She knew there were a lot of animals in the forests around those parts and after the night she had had, she really didn’t need to hit anything. Soon the old familiar sign came into view in the distance. Blakestone Ridge . She was sure it was the same sign that had been hanging there all those years before, rusted and swinging on an angle by two chains of slightly different lengths. She looked down at her dashboard and saw that it was coming up on three in the morning. She had stopped on the way to fill up with gas and get her head together and it had suddenly dawned on her that there was no motel that was going to take her in at that time of night. In the city maybe it wouldn’t have been a problem, but out there in the practical wilderness she was going to have her work cut out for her finding somewhere to stay the night. She was exhausted and needed a warm bed, both for her physical comfort and her emotional stability.
She slapped her hands down on the wheel and bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to do. She was slowly moving along Main Street trying to be sure not to miss any possibilities. It was deserted and each shop window was darkened and closed down for the night. Her heart started to thump in her chest. She had forgotten just what a small town this was. After the girl had turned up at her store and scared her half to death with tales of Brad being abusive and practically trying to kill her, she had fled without thinking her plan through properly. And she had been so proud of herself for taking decisive action. She could have been better prepared, but at least she was out. She pulled to the side of the road and turned off the engine. The clock ticked over to 03:04. It was going to suck if she was going to have to sleep in her car, she thought. The streets were completely empty and it appeared everything was shut for the night. She looked over her shoulder and out the back window and saw nothing but dark storefront there as well. Well, it would be light in 3 or 4 hours, she figured.
How could I have been this stupid though ? She thought.
She was about to admit defeat and crawl over the partition into the back seat when bright headlights came over the road and flashed into view. She held her hands to cover her eyes, they were so bright. The car was travelling in the opposite direction, and it was crawling along just as slowly as she had been a few minutes earlier. Being that this was a small town, and feeling a
She’d chosen to go to a small town she had visited when she was a teenager, there were fond memories wrapped up in that place and it was only an hour’s drive from the city. Laurie had always promised herself that one day she would go back and relive her youth. She remembered being there one summer with her parents, she’d laid in the sun by the lake all afternoon and counted the clouds as they drifted overhead. In the evenings they buddied up with other families staying close by and had barbeques at dusk. She’d had her first kiss that summer with a boy who was staying at a lodge near theirs. He’d followed her around the back of the play park and into the woods where they’d wrapped their arms around each other and swapped spit for half an hour. She couldn’t remember his name but she remembered the t-shirt he was wearing. A black one with an alien head on the front. She had vague memories of him telling her about Area 51 and she had deduced he was a nerd and hadn’t spoken to him again. She was a bit too quick to judge back then, she thought in retrospect. She loved thinking of that summer because she didn’t have anything in the world to worry about back then. It was that feeling that drew her back there now. The promise of simplicity.
As she pulled off the highway she recognized the roads immediately, even though it had been ten years since she’d been there. She put on her high beams and followed each bend and dip cautiously. She knew there were a lot of animals in the forests around those parts and after the night she had had, she really didn’t need to hit anything. Soon the old familiar sign came into view in the distance. Blakestone Ridge . She was sure it was the same sign that had been hanging there all those years before, rusted and swinging on an angle by two chains of slightly different lengths. She looked down at her dashboard and saw that it was coming up on three in the morning. She had stopped on the way to fill up with gas and get her head together and it had suddenly dawned on her that there was no motel that was going to take her in at that time of night. In the city maybe it wouldn’t have been a problem, but out there in the practical wilderness she was going to have her work cut out for her finding somewhere to stay the night. She was exhausted and needed a warm bed, both for her physical comfort and her emotional stability.
She slapped her hands down on the wheel and bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to do. She was slowly moving along Main Street trying to be sure not to miss any possibilities. It was deserted and each shop window was darkened and closed down for the night. Her heart started to thump in her chest. She had forgotten just what a small town this was. After the girl had turned up at her store and scared her half to death with tales of Brad being abusive and practically trying to kill her, she had fled without thinking her plan through properly. And she had been so proud of herself for taking decisive action. She could have been better prepared, but at least she was out. She pulled to the side of the road and turned off the engine. The clock ticked over to 03:04. It was going to suck if she was going to have to sleep in her car, she thought. The streets were completely empty and it appeared everything was shut for the night. She looked over her shoulder and out the back window and saw nothing but dark storefront there as well. Well, it would be light in 3 or 4 hours, she figured.
How could I have been this stupid though ? She thought.
She was about to admit defeat and crawl over the partition into the back seat when bright headlights came over the road and flashed into view. She held her hands to cover her eyes, they were so bright. The car was travelling in the opposite direction, and it was crawling along just as slowly as she had been a few minutes earlier. Being that this was a small town, and feeling a
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