The Second Sunrise
Among many of the other particularly unusual events of previous months I haven't mentioned, one of the last things I saw as I walked along the black highway was the dawning sun.
After buying beer, water and a few snacks at the last stop still open for miles, I headed out into the night and walked the railroad tracks, the moon lighting that straight and narrow path with light blue.
"Have gun, will travel.", reads the card of a man; A knight without armor in a savage land! Keeping my mind occupied and my spirits up helped to dull the sharp pain streaking across my shredded feet and shoes. Until then, I'd never realized how much of a role the train actually played in Stand By Me. Such a great film. There are not two kinds of people - there are four, and all of them were good guys, despite their flaws. Ace was not human, and his dimestore hood an entourage of cheap whores.
I'd spent so long and so much time in front of a computer, thinking it was the only avenue for a modern-day loner, outcast, reject, but I was wrong. The Earth is still here. It's not corny, and definitely worth walking, no matter where you start from.
Grunts from the darkness snatch my head from the clouds, as I suddenly remember there are packs of wild pigs in this country. Bobcats, rattlesnakes, copperheads, coyotes, cougars, badgers, black widow spiders - Texas, not England. It's a little-known fact that Kansas is actually in the UK. I take the next exit back to the highway.
Becoming more exhausted with each step, I sit down in the median to rest, drink my beer and smoke an earned cigarette. Leaning back on the railing, I get a little too comfortable and nod off. I needed the rest anyway, so I let myself fall asleep to the lullaby passing by at 75 miles an hour.
At least a few good hours had passed, although I couldn't be certain as my phone was left back in Childress. I wake, shivering, and each passing car bumped up the chill factor. I'd better get up and move before I really do get cold.
It was only about 9 more miles to the next truck stop, and because the land is so damn flat in this area, I could see it long before I would actually get there. I wasn't so bothered about the distance, my bleeding feet, but the cold which I couldn't shake off.
"C'mon, where the fuck are you!?" I cursed the sun for being late, according to my biological clock. I began to glance over my shoulder with every other step. Once more, and again, again. But, I had no one to blame but myself, because I'd asked for it just a few weeks prior:
Where am I? I don't know I don't remember this place This isn't my home This isn't my family They aren't my friends I just wanna walk so far away 'til the night never ends And the sun forgets my name
Right about here is where I remind myself to be careful what you wish for. I'd also wished this world were at least a little more interesting. Where's the magic, where's the monsters, where's all the cool shit everyone else gets while we're stuck with the fucking Kardashians? I mean, the closest we got to Gandalf the White was Jimi Hendrix!
And so, with the next backward glance, my second-favorite pink dances on the horizon. Finally. I keep looking over my shoulder. Orange. Yes! Red! Hallelujah!
The sunrise just behind me inspired each painful step to carry me the 5 miles left to go. My elation was short-lived, for I'd walked at least 2 more and I wasn't getting any warmer. I stopped, turned around, and saw nothing but black sky, a strange, white narrow streak running all the way across it, parallel to the horizon.
I sighed, cursed, kicked an imaginary cat, and pressed on. Making it to my destination, I huddled up against the wall of the stop which would be opening soon. I can't walk anymore, only shake from head to toe. A trucker pulls in at the pumps to fuel, and I walk over to ask him what time it was.
"It's almost 4.", he said. Unbelievable. I huffed, and returned to the best wind-break I could find. I tried to sleep off the next 2 hours until the doors would open, but I could only shiver.
_________________ The universe is so large that, if life is not rare, a world much like Vanadiel probably exists out there somewhere.
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