The Road to Nowhere

Submitted by Tatum on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 14:38

          The road to nowhere. Or that's what it seems like anyways. Heading west on Interstate 10 with my mom, dad, brother, sister, dog, cat, and myself. Miles of empty land stretching out all around us. Small hills here and there. A lot of yellowish-greenish grass. Dry. Like no water has touched their roots in ages. My cat finally sleeps peacefully after an hour of meowing. My brother is immersed in his video game. I wonder if he will keep his neck down for that long, the whole trip. 10 more hours. 10 more hours. I can make it. I have to. I person can't die of boredom, can they? No. I have done this trip before. I will make it. I thank God every minute that our means of transportation are as comfortable as they are.

  The weather is not too bad. Then again, I am only guessing on one of my senses, sight. I can only look out the window and see the sun in the partly cloudy sky. It could be freezing for all I knew, or care. I have no idea where we are. Somewhere in Texas.   Even though my road trip today consist of nothing but empty hours, some believe that modern technology helps make long trips seem easier. In my mom’s case, it is a CD player. What would a 10 hour road trip be without 70's disco music?   My brother must have a high pain tolerance or something. His neck is still bent downwards, eyes locked in on his game.   Maybe our dry spell will end soon. We are entering rain clouds. It looks like this area could use some rain. I could use some rain, I know I wouldn't be able to feel the rain, but a change of scenery would be a nice, well, change.   Only three and a half more hours to go. So close. We have all changed positions now. My brother is driving (I guess he couldn't keep his head down for 10 hours), my sister is in the back, and my mother and I are in the middle. We passed the rain clouds with only a few drops along the way. I have to say that the outside is more beautiful now. Miles of empty land, yes. But you can start to see small mountains and the sun is beginning to set. The grass is still yellowish-greenish. The only difference is that as we head further west, there seems to become less and less of it.   I close my eyes for a short while. Almost willing time to go faster. Then suddenly the disco music turned into a carnival themed song. I open my eyes to a scene that I will do my best to describe.   My brother was wearing a clown suite and a rainbow wig and a big red nose. Instead of a silver minivan, I was sitting on a game booth with my sister, who was also wearing a clown suit. The only difference was that she was walking on stilts! We weren't in Texas anymore. Now, we were in a big open space full of rich, green grass. I saw a Farris wheel off in the distance. Two girls with balloons ran in front of me. I decided I wasn't going to figure anything out by just sitting here, so I got up and started my adventure.   The first thing I wanted to do was to find out where my parents were. I quickly found my dad, who was working in the magician's booth. Surprise! The only trick I have seen my dad perform was pulling a quarter out from behind my ear. So now that I knew where my brother, sister, and father were, I went out in search for my mother. I couldn't help myself, so I stopped and bought some cotton candy along the way. I found my mother in the last place I looked, also the last place I would have thought possible. I walked into a big red and white striped tent and saw my mom, fifty feet up in the air, walking the tight rope! I held my breath, watching her, until she walked the whole length of the rope. When she was done,  I turned to leave and ran smack into a guy selling popcorn. I fell backwards bracing myself for the hard cement. But I just kept falling. Into nothingness. I woke up with a jolt as my head bumped against the window. We were already home. I guess the road to nowhere had an end.
Author's age when written
15
Genre