arms—but knowing I was
still alone, a deep sadness gripped my heart and wouldn’t let go.
Even though there was still a good couple hours of daylight
left, I no longer had the desire to keep going. Not today.
I couldn’t.
I’m not sure where I had pictured myself sleeping when
nightfall came, but camping in a gas station certainly hadn’t occurred to me.
The door had been left ajar, and seeing the candy bars and bottles of soda made
my decision easy, despite the automotive and stale coffee smells.
I pushed the rack of greeting cards away from the big glass
window and spread out my sleeping bag on the linoleum floor beneath it. That
way the moonlight would brighten up my dark existence once the sun completely
disappeared from the sky.
Callie tested her boundaries, walking with a little more
ease as she got used to the harness and leash. I had tied one end to the bottom
of a magazine shelf so she couldn’t get too far, and watching her coming around
to being a bound animal instead of a completely free one lifted my heart a
little, as weird as it sounded.
I placed my back against the wall and popped a handful of Skittles
into my mouth before taking a big swig of warm Sprite. It didn’t taste as great
as it had before all the end of the world nonsense, but I finished both of them.
No need to be wasteful.
Besides Poptarts, soda, and Skittles, I hadn’t eaten much of
anything—nothing substantial anyway. The freedom to eat what I wanted without
anyone to harass me or wag their finger in my direction began to take its toll.
The sugar rush was awesome. The coming down part, not so much. My stomach ached
and my head hurt a little, so I slid a little further down the wall and rested
my cheek against my knees.
I would try to eat something more nutritious later, like a
bag of pretzels or some stale nacho chips—both available for a limited time at
the local convenience store. Yay, me. I should have busted open a Ready
Meal right then, but that required being in the mood to eat the dried mix with
warm bottled water. And with a belly filled up with Skittles and Sprite, the
very idea of eating an MRE didn’t sound appetizing at all. Spewing seemed most
likely.
Callie meowed, and I managed to slide an open tin of cat
food in her direction, which shut her up. I had no energy to do anything more,
so slipped off my boots and crawled into the sleeping bag. It wasn’t quite time
for bed, but the desire to disappear in sleep outweighed the desire to keep my
eyes open.
Suddenly, I felt really, really tired.
The hard linoleum of the floor cooled my cheek and felt
amazing against my hot skin. Part of me wanted to strip to nothing and spread
my entire body over the dirty floor to absorb the coldness, but the rational
part, the lazy part, stayed in the sleeping bag and shifted back and forth
between sweating and shivering.
The sun poured in through the large window, and had actually
done so for hours, but I couldn’t manage to rise from the uncomfortable spot on
the floor. My head hurt. My body ached. I wanted to keep sleeping.
Callie licked my face and meowed over and over, refusing to
be ignored, until I finally pushed myself up on my arms. My left arm hurt, and
warmth radiated from my elbow to my shoulder. I managed to sit upright with my
back against the wall. Callie rubbed against my legs as I removed the nasty Band-Aid
on my arm. Yellow pus oozed from the cut and a deep redness surrounded the
entire thing. It felt warm to the touch and it looked worse than it ever had.
The cut hadn’t seemed like a big deal two days ago, nothing a
Band-Aid couldn’t handle, but now as I inspected it a little more, I wondered
if it hadn’t actually needed stitches. Stupid high school locker. Thankfully, I remembered having received a tetanus shot with my immunizations
before starting tenth grade, so I wasn’t going to die a painful death, though
my arm hurt like hell and made me think otherwise.
I poured some bottled water in a
still alone, a deep sadness gripped my heart and wouldn’t let go.
Even though there was still a good couple hours of daylight
left, I no longer had the desire to keep going. Not today.
I couldn’t.
I’m not sure where I had pictured myself sleeping when
nightfall came, but camping in a gas station certainly hadn’t occurred to me.
The door had been left ajar, and seeing the candy bars and bottles of soda made
my decision easy, despite the automotive and stale coffee smells.
I pushed the rack of greeting cards away from the big glass
window and spread out my sleeping bag on the linoleum floor beneath it. That
way the moonlight would brighten up my dark existence once the sun completely
disappeared from the sky.
Callie tested her boundaries, walking with a little more
ease as she got used to the harness and leash. I had tied one end to the bottom
of a magazine shelf so she couldn’t get too far, and watching her coming around
to being a bound animal instead of a completely free one lifted my heart a
little, as weird as it sounded.
I placed my back against the wall and popped a handful of Skittles
into my mouth before taking a big swig of warm Sprite. It didn’t taste as great
as it had before all the end of the world nonsense, but I finished both of them.
No need to be wasteful.
Besides Poptarts, soda, and Skittles, I hadn’t eaten much of
anything—nothing substantial anyway. The freedom to eat what I wanted without
anyone to harass me or wag their finger in my direction began to take its toll.
The sugar rush was awesome. The coming down part, not so much. My stomach ached
and my head hurt a little, so I slid a little further down the wall and rested
my cheek against my knees.
I would try to eat something more nutritious later, like a
bag of pretzels or some stale nacho chips—both available for a limited time at
the local convenience store. Yay, me. I should have busted open a Ready
Meal right then, but that required being in the mood to eat the dried mix with
warm bottled water. And with a belly filled up with Skittles and Sprite, the
very idea of eating an MRE didn’t sound appetizing at all. Spewing seemed most
likely.
Callie meowed, and I managed to slide an open tin of cat
food in her direction, which shut her up. I had no energy to do anything more,
so slipped off my boots and crawled into the sleeping bag. It wasn’t quite time
for bed, but the desire to disappear in sleep outweighed the desire to keep my
eyes open.
Suddenly, I felt really, really tired.
The hard linoleum of the floor cooled my cheek and felt
amazing against my hot skin. Part of me wanted to strip to nothing and spread
my entire body over the dirty floor to absorb the coldness, but the rational
part, the lazy part, stayed in the sleeping bag and shifted back and forth
between sweating and shivering.
The sun poured in through the large window, and had actually
done so for hours, but I couldn’t manage to rise from the uncomfortable spot on
the floor. My head hurt. My body ached. I wanted to keep sleeping.
Callie licked my face and meowed over and over, refusing to
be ignored, until I finally pushed myself up on my arms. My left arm hurt, and
warmth radiated from my elbow to my shoulder. I managed to sit upright with my
back against the wall. Callie rubbed against my legs as I removed the nasty Band-Aid
on my arm. Yellow pus oozed from the cut and a deep redness surrounded the
entire thing. It felt warm to the touch and it looked worse than it ever had.
The cut hadn’t seemed like a big deal two days ago, nothing a
Band-Aid couldn’t handle, but now as I inspected it a little more, I wondered
if it hadn’t actually needed stitches. Stupid high school locker. Thankfully, I remembered having received a tetanus shot with my immunizations
before starting tenth grade, so I wasn’t going to die a painful death, though
my arm hurt like hell and made me think otherwise.
I poured some bottled water in a
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