creative writing

american highway labyrinth

the road is long and winding, vanishing into forever on the edges of the flat disc horizon. all day the light glares back from worn-white asphalt, air blowing through open windows carrying the scents of life into isolation. you don't know whether you're running from the last place you've been or to the next stop, but you know that you're running. the infinite maze of american highway cut into reasonable slices by county lines is all you have. there's a man in a dodge who wants to know where you'll be next, so you go somewhere else instead. there's a man and he knows where you've been, so you don't go back there. you've unspooled your line across thousands of miles, golden thread of time stretched out eternally behind you. you stay ahead, just enough. you stop and ask for work at local diners, picking up shifts for gas and connection. everywhere you're someone new. you haven't been yourself in so long. you leave a piece of you wherever you've been and pick up something new in its place. you are a ship, and a problem. you will not be solved. there's a man in a truck and he knows you. there is a man in a truck and you're looking for him. there is a man in a truck and he hides a gun under the passenger seat. there is a man, and a knife, and guts spilled out on wet leaves. you think this might mean something. you are not a diviner. the entrails are silent. yellow lights slice thick darkness into digestible bites. you stop for gas, you stop for food, but you don't stop for long this time. you think you see lights coming behind you. you know the shape of his eyes better than your own now. the maze has some improvements. dead ends are clearly marked. your legs do not tire of the weight of you. there is music, and light, and comfort in that. you're standing at the edge of a low field. the scrub grass dances in a light breeze, carrying the scent of geosmin and chlorophyll to your hungry lungs. the light is kind in late august heat. the sunset holds the promise of endings. you weigh the consequences of a check engine light.