An old highway in the middle of the desert. No other cars in sight, and the highway seems to go on for an eternity. Night is quickly approaching and the sun is setting in the East, the same direction we’re driving.
It’s amazing how far an old, beat-up El Camino can take you. All it takes is a little love and some duct-tape.
Our stuff is thrown haphazardly in the back, most of it grabbed in the confusion following sleeping in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We can thank the security guard for the dent in the back. We didn’t even bring a tent, we just sleep in the car.
On the back of the front seat, we’ve written the names of all the towns we’ve been to, the list is getting pretty big. We’ll have to start writing on the back seat, soon. The fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror are casting dancing shadows on our faces.
Speeding down that highway, my girlfriend is snuggled against my shoulder, lying across the front seat. Her arm around my waist, I can feel her breathing against my chest. I’ve got no clue what city we’re headed to next, I just picked a direction and started driving.
My best friend is in the back, sprawled out across the seat, trying to get some sleep. Every once in a while, he’ll roll over and ask where we are.
“I don’t know.”
He’ll just lean over the back of my seat, nod knowingly, and lie back down. It’s been a long day for all of us. I’ve still got another few hours behind the wheel before my best friend and I will switch. My girlfriend rarely drives, she can barely reach the pedals.
Before we left, girlfriend made me a mix-tape, full of songs I really like. I reach over, as the car disappears into the night, and hit ‘play’.
The tunes carry me on, through the night.