Twin beds in a raggedy old motel lie waiting for someone to occupy them. The sun had decided to sleep hours ago yet the Texas heat is as draughting as ever. The power to our air conditioning had decided to sleep too. Not to mention the windows, which were stuck at useless heights. Making the the hot air stay inside the car, and the outside air stay unbearably out.
Traffic had slammed to a halt about 30 mins. Outside of Houston when a cattle carrier overturned, spilling disoriented livestock across I-45. Local police stopped traffic in both directions while Texas Rangers on horseback worked with local volunteers to round up the frightened cows. The 250 miles between us and our destination in North Dallas stretched temptingly northward, but with no way to get there, Cara and I sat in the car most of the day with the sun pounding down on the roof, from the limitless, empty Texas sky. The motel room was a little better as I slid between the graying, frayed sheets, trying to find a cool spot on my pillow and wondering why the room had no ceiling fan.
“Katie? Where is the cooler?” She said, her voice muffled by the pillow.
“Over by the armchair.”
Three bottles lay on their sides, half submerged in the cloudy, lukewarm mystery liquid at the bottom of the cooler, floating among the remains of Popsicles, lunch meat
sandwiches, and sodas.
“Sure Cara, but we’ll have to get some more tomorrow, and ice this thing up again before
we leave. I’ve never seen anyone drink so much water.”
“Gotta stay hydrated. Got any straws?”
“Just drink it from the bottle”
“But...there is dirt on it still.”
“You’ll be fine. Just rinse it off. We’re going to sleep. We have a big day ahead of us.”
“Katie?”
“Yes?”
“Today, it reminded me of an episode-”
“Go to sleep, Cara.”
“Good-night, Katie.”
“Night, Cara.”
The sun had awoken the sisters once more. The thinly populated sky, losing it’s blue to the heat, was melting overhead and Cara would clamour for a drink, focused on getting
her proper amount of water. Yet suddenly, Katie felt a jolt run through her leg, and a
voice that she knew only belong to one person.
“Katie! Get up. You have to get ready for school. Mom wants you downstairs.”
