A long drive and a little gas.

Loneliness, Depression & Relationship Forum

Help Support Loneliness, Depression & Relationship Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DanL53

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 12, 2019
Messages
91
Reaction score
0
With one quarter of a tank of gas and as the sun came up over my left shoulder I realized I had no idea why I was driving, where I had come from, or anything really.  I was on a two lane road that I never did recognize nor see an identifying sign.  I was listening to the radio and it was playing all my favorite songs without a single commercial.

I was in a good mood.

You can imagine it was the desert, or the lonely plains of the Midwest.  It doesn't matter as it seemed like every time I looked out the window I saw something different.  Even saw a Kangaroo once.  

I know I was looking for two things.  A gas station.  And that sign post up ahead, the one that reads "Twightlight zone!".  Wasn't seeing either.

I just about never saw anything of mankind or man made except that road.  Except once I saw a brown sign, slowed down, it said, "Hysterical Marker 1/2 mile."  Half a mile later there was a sign, a picture of a guy with his finger pointed at me, and a caption balloon over his head, "HAHA!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"  Hysterical.

So finally with the tank still on one quarter full I saw a gas station.  I pulled in, and the pumps had yellow bags over them and a sign was taped to them, "No gas."

I went inside.

He was a thin man that a slender man would call skinny.  Age spots on a bald head where his hair used to be.  Baggy eyes.  Bent neck like a turkey vulture.

I said, "How far until the next gas station?".  

A long pause while he appeared to be deciding how best to be no help at all, "Where you headed?"

So I pointed, "That way."

"Aint no gas stations that way for a few hours.  You got a full tank of gas?", Now how would I have a full tank of gas?  There were no gas stations the other way for at least a few hours!

"No.  I have one quarter of a tank."

So Mr. Helpful continued, "You need more gas to make it to the next gas station."

That put me in a bad mood.

I got back in the car and continued driving, hoping he was wrong because I knew I couldn't get back to where this all started!  Then it occurred to me, and I turned around and went back to No Gas Station.

"How did you get here?", I knew I had Slim on this one.

He looked at me and said, "How, what now?"

"I said", I said, "how did YOU get here?"

"I drove", "From where?", "That way!", he pointed at the way I was heading.

Now I had him, "And how are you going to get back?", "Drive!", "You'll run out of gas!"

"I've got extra gas in gas cans in my trunk."

I was in a worse mood, "You work at a gas station which has no gas and you bring extra gas so you can drive back and forth to and from the gas station?"

"I've got soda and chips!"

So I bought some soda and chips and drove that way because I knew I couldn't go back.  You are going to ask why I didn't try to take his extra gas.  He wouldn't sell it.  And I don't know but it was one of those, "Go ahead!" type moments when I figured I'd run out of gas and Slim would come by and have to give me a ride.

But I made it to the next station!  And I still had one quarter tank of gas! 

Now you might be thinking, same place..."Twighlight Zone"...Same old Slim waiting inside.

Nope.

Just one of those things where when you haven't been somewhere before it seems like it takes forever to get there.  And there is no explaining Slim except that he works alone in a gas station and barely ever sees anyone and who knows why he says what he says.

So I got my full tank of gas and was back on the road.  Somehow the sun was nearly setting, shining in through my driver's side window and making me squint.

And on the radio, "On a dark desert highway........", and I started looking for a place to stay for the night.  

End.
 
That was entertaining  :D the 'hysterical' sign was inspired! It was like a dream brought about by all the frustrations/exasperations of trying to make ones way in life.
Trusted to luck and self reliance and got there! Good style and inventive, keep at it  :D
 
“He was a thin man that a slender man would call skinny.”

I had to stop and read that a few times - there’s some simple genius in that line! That whole paragraph about Mr. Helpful shines - you write well. 😊
 
winking-thumbs-up-smiley-emoticon.gif
 

Latest posts

Back
Top