Bless the Broken Road

*Alice (and Miles)

Alice

"I'm a little teapot, short and spout, here is my handle..." Miles sings. Before singing the next line he gives me a look and grins, "Care to sing the next line?"

"Would you just shut up already! I think we're lost." I say, staring at the map. We've traveled at least ten miles by now and the sun is about to go down any minute.

"We're not lost, silly." Miles says. He reaches over and points to where we are. "We're here. We need to get here -" he brushes his finger up the map until it reaches a spot a few miles north "- whether the sun is down or not. Got it?"

I nod. "Alright. How many miles is that?"

"Three, four, or five. I don't know." Miles says. After seeing my annoyed expression, he says, "Imagine you're walking through a really long mall. Or, in your case, a really long corn field."

I give him a look. My legs are aching and I'm hungry. Last time I ate was five miles ago at a crappy truck stop. I've been alone most of the time, miles hardly showing his face. He said soon he'll have to leave. Leave me alone. I want to be happy but I'm scared of how I'll make it without his help. He's calculated how far I, personally, can make it in one day, where I'll be by night fall, and he's even gone back to my farm to see if my parents have noticed my absence.

"Why do you have to leave?" I ask. "You said you have to leave soon. Forever. Why can't you stay and help?" I kick pebbles along the road, folding up the map and tucking it in the pocket of my black dress.

"I told you, ghosts have a limit of how far they can go from their death ground. In my case, your farm is my death ground. We're nearly ten miles away from there. My limit comes when we reach fifteen. Which will probably be tonight or in the morning when we start again." Miles explains. "But lets focus on the positives. Like how awesome you look right now. Your hair is all...frizzy and your dress is all wrinkled. Very attractive."

I would have punched him but my fist would go right through him. "Shut up, ok? Just shut up."

"Gosh, feisty... I can almost see the steam coming from your ears." Miles says, staring at me.

I just scoff and look around me to ignore Miles. There's a ditch off the road and after that it's a woods that probably lasts for miles and miles.

I remember when I was little I found a rabbit in the forest by my farm. I wanted to keep it but mom scolded me and wouldn't let me go in the forest for a week. That was probably the most boring week of my life. I've always been curious, I wouldn't say adventurous but curious. The forest was my place to explore and get answers to my insane questions.

My mother has always been strict, always followed through with her rules. She's just like me, actually. She follows through. So do I. If I didn't I wouldn't be here right now, I'd be packing for boot camp while my brother cries over his lost dog.

My father and brother are exactly alike. Tall, skinny, dirty blond hair and green eyes like cat's. I'm just like my mother. She's a large woman, that's the one thing separating us. She has long, black, curly, thin hair that goes below her shoulders. She has a temper as well as an attitude, just like me. So, of course, we get on each others nerves.

It's like a game, really. To see who's better at having a temper and an attitude. Who can win the fight this time.

I hated life on the farm.

"Alright, chicka. You're tripping over your feet. I say we find a place to crash." Miles interrupts. I hadn't even noticed I was stumbling through the gravel. I didn't feel tired, but now that I think about it I wouldn't object to some sleep.

"Ok." I say. "Next truck stop is up there." I point ahead to the dim lights off the left side of the road.

No cars pass us by, this is a very low-populated area. Dad and I would go to a truck stop every Wednesday afternoon to pick up some fast food, as a treat to my brother and I. We barely have fast food like fries or cheeseburgers. It's like heaven when we actually do, that one day out of the week.

"Where are we going to sleep?" I ask, my eyelids drooping.

"You mean where are you going to sleep." Miles corrects me. "Well, you have money, don't you? Get a motel room."

"I don't have enough for a motel room and food for the rest of the trip." I say, counting the twenty dollar bills I took from my mom this morning. "And I think it's supposed to rain tonight."

"Look, kid, just buy a motel room for tonight, I'll make sure you get food tomorrow." Miles says, finally being serious.

"You're not even going to be with me tomorrow." I say.

"I never said I'd be the one to get the food, I'll just make sure you get it."

"Word-twister."

We get to the truck stop and I find a motel room. Miles follows me in but once I'm settled in, he leaves to check on my family.

I sit on the green bed sheets, staring at the white, dry-wall in front of me. I keep thinking that leaving my house wasn't the best idea, but I'd rather be here than in boot camp. I don't think I could have done it without Miles, I'll admit.

If it weren't for the fact that I would have gone to boot camp, I would never have had the guts to leave. I've wanted to leave forever, I just didn't know where to go. If it weren't for Miles I would be lost. I would have chosen to live in the woods, live off of dirty, river water and poisonous berries. I'd be dead in three days. I would have been to stubborn to follow the road, and too tired to keep going.

Miles has pushed me further than I would have bothered to go.

That night I fall asleep and dream of millions of ghosts following me until I get to the city. I keep looking back and every time I do I see more ghosts following in my footsteps. When I get to the city, there's even more. And soon they all come for me and surround me in ghostly whispers and moans.

I wake up, startled and drenched in cold sweat. I look around, seeing that there's a bag on the nightstand with a note taped to it.

The bag has bread and butter in it and a bottle of water.

The note says: Hey - Miles here. I possessed a human to come bring you food. Smart, huh? Yeah, he passed out after I left his pathetic body. Well, here's your food, I also had him write this note. Your family is looking for you, they found you missing this morning and are now searching for you like they were that stupid dog. Good luck, just in case you don't see me again. Just follow the road until you get to the city. -Miles

I can't help but smile. Despite the fact that my family is looking for me and it took them until morning to find out I was gone, he called that dog stupid and bothered to get me food.

I wish I could thank him. I wish I could tell him thank you for helping out and being there for me when he could have abandoned me anytime yesterday. "Thanks, Miles." I whisper to the empty air, knowing he's probably not here.

I clean myself up and then grab the map and money and put it in the bag with the food and water and leave the motel room. I check out and then hit the road again.

I never see Miles again. And after another day of walking in the summer heat and drinking all the water, I make it to the city.

"Thanks again, Miles."

Author's Note

I love this chapter, this one is my favorites. As the author, I like all the characters but Alice is going to be really fun to write about and it will be an interesting character development with her. Tell me what you think.

Reviews

[Jacques]

As a friend and reviewer - i love all the characters but i think i'm enjoying reading for Alice as much as you are writing for her . i love how you've written and developed her and the story she comes with and it's been an interesting road so far and i can't wait to see the new directions that the character can take and this is by far - one of the most best chapters i've read because it's a simple set-up basically but with so much heart in the wording and story .