The dark clouded sky seemed to dance above Clementine as the
shadowed car sped down the abandoned highway. She wished she could
become a cloud and drift away from the ropes that bound her, drift away
from her cruel world, but she was as much a part of the earth as the car
that contained her.
There were other children
in the van too. Other hostages. But she couldn’t bear to look at them.
She couldn’t look around at anything in the car around her. She could
only look at the clouds and the cities and the mountains outside. How
she longed to go outside. How she longed to smell the sweet air of the
forest.
The car smelled like bleach. It had other chemical
smells, but she couldn’t identify them. She didn’t want to know either.
And it was cold. Her fingers were numb. So were her toes. The only thing
she could hear was the low hum of the engine as the car drove farther
and farther from the safety of her home. Before, many of the others had
been screaming. But the men driving the car threatened them. All were
silent.
Clementine didn't know where she was going. She hardly
understood anything. But her heart pounded in her chest. Her mouth
tasted sour. She felt like crying, but she was too drained to do much of
anything. She leaned against the window, and hoped with all her might
someone would see her. Notice her. Help her. But there was no one
outside except for the street lights and the dashing lines of the
desolate highway road.
~~~
They were going so fast. So far. She
didn't know how many hours had passed. It could have been minutes. It
could have been midnight. Nothing was recognizable to her outside. It
was all road to her. Endless, hopeless road.
Would she stay there
forever? Sitting in a dark van driving down the moonlit streets for as
long as she lived? Longer? Would her skeleton rest where she lay? Would
she ever see her family again?
~~~
Bands of red light crept up
along the horizon. Dawn. Her dreary eyes shut, and the last thing she
saw before sleep stole her was the everlasting highway.
She didn't know if she would wake up.
But
maybe it didn't matter. She wasn't sure life had anything left to offer
her except for the dark van and the highway with no bounds.
With no end.
With no light.
The highway of darkness.
Points: 89
Reviews: 20
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