It felt like a last stop on a long road to nowhere. Her windows were rolled down due to the broken air conditioner in the compact car. As she came to a halt at the pumps, a cloud of dust flowed into the cab, sticking to her perspiring skin. She took a swig from a warm bottle of water and spit it out on the ground, trying to cleanse the grit from her mouth.
The old man who sat behind dusty windows barely acknowledged her arrival. Peeling herself from the cheap vinyl, she trudged to the nozzle and pumped the last of what cash she had into the tank. Digging into her pockets, she left the monies in a tin can on top of the pump, nodding her head at the old man. He didn’t seem to care much. This merely confirmed her conclusions about life in its entirety. No one cared!
A few miles away, an appointment was waiting. A canyon had her name in it. She’d seen it in a movie and confirmed its location on a local map. A last glance at her phone showed no calls had come in; this was nothing new. Leaving the station, she decided now was the time to hear the perfect exit song; a tune to justify her confidence that this had always been the answer; to go out with a bang.
The car was old, with a cassette deck that no longer worked. She turned the dial left to right but mostly static came through. One station seemed to come in and out of tune. Disappointed, she added this let down to the heap which had been her life. Leaving the dial tuned into the only sound available, she began to drive faster. Destiny would not be delayed another moment. Now was the time; enough waiting for anything that had never happened.
Her speakers which had been crackling only static, suddenly exploded with clear words of music….”save me, save, me, save me, I can’t face this life alone….save me, save me, save me, I’m naked and I’m far from home”….tears filled her eyes.