An Orange Skittle Road

Jason stared out at the road, the road that stubbornly refused to reflect the excitement he willed it to show.

The road ahead was stubbornly refusing to reflect the excitement Jason willed it to show. The rain had declared war with the wipers just twenty minutes after he left Detroit, driving his desperation. He wished it would go away because he felt he had enough to worry about already. For every mile he drove farther down the interstate, the uneasy feeling grew stronger. What was he doing? For a brief moment he contemplated the opposite side of the median, but no, he had to go. Even if he had returned he wouldn’t be any better off back at home than he was now. He would have to face the consequences of what he just did, and the alcoholic nature of his parents would undoubtedly be brought to light. Then who knows where he would end up? At 17 he would be tossed around the system till he was legally an adult. No, this was better. He had choices this way.  

As the rain began to let up, and the hours spent on the road grew, his anxious feelings in turn began to shrink. Jason didn’t have a destination in mind, but knew that the $6.000 he had brought wouldn’t last forever. He continued like this, for days, driving till he ran out of gas, refilling, repeat. That is until, while at a small rest stop just outside of North Dakota, the gravity of his situation struck him. He had run away. He has run away and stolen his dad's car in order to do so. He needed to stop and think about what he was going to do.. 

He wasted five dollars on a couple bags of skittles, to contemplate what he was going to do over. As he searched through the maps in the backseat of his pickup, he absent-mindedly tossed every orange skittle out the window. He had always avoided eating anything artificially colored orange. Skittles, M&M’s, etc. ever since the third grade where his class had attempted to show 1,000 in orange skittles, he had hated that teacher. So ever since then he hasn't eaten any orange colored candies. 

He eventually just threw out the maps, and got back on the interstate. This time when his gas tankk was close to hitting empty, he decided to stop. He ended up in a small town with a population of about 5,000. He decided to settle down here, in Fiddlebrook, ND. As he pulled into town, he spotted a help wanted sign in the Convenience store off to the right. He pulled into the empty parking lot and sat there looking at the sign. He didn't notice it at first, but the sign looked old. As in it probably was there when the Convenience Center had opened. He finally got out of the car, and went inside. As soon as he entered a cheery voice welcomed him saying, “Welcome to the Fiddlebrook Convenience Center; we've got gummy bears, off-brand pops, and a crappy little corner we like to call our Coffee Shop!!” Jason was dumbstruck, unsure how to respond. There was two people behind the counter about his age. The girl was the source of the outburst, and the guy next to her was the one woken up from a presumably pleasant nap. Still unsure of what he should say, he pretended to browse through the meager selection that the store offered. From behind the counter he could hear them placing bets on what he would buy. He saw this as an opportunity and he said, “I saw your sign in the window and was looking to get a job here, how do I apply?” To his surprise both of the clerks burst into laughter. “So you’re the poor soul who is going to be joining us” 

Author's Note

Please leave a comment on what you thought, good or bad I would Love to know.
Thanks,
A Lonely Minute

Reviews

[Vasilees Sybissyl]

It was beautifully written and the plot was beautiful as well. I love the starting lines, they're beautiful. The idea was amazing and alarming.

I gotta say, the end was a great cliffhanger. Why is Jason a poor soul? Who are these people? Are you going to leave it for me to imagine, or do you have something in mind?

But nevertheless, I loved it. Keep up the good work!