Going Home

A bus breaks down on the side of the highway, and three friends get stuck on their way home.

They were a little over an hour away from the city when the bus broke down.  They’d gotten the cheapest tickets on the cheapest bus they could find, yet were still surprised when they jerked to a stop and the driver announced that the engine had failed.  Somewhere in the back of their minds they knew it was partially their own fault for choosing a bus company they’d never heard of, but that didn’t stop them from getting angry.

“I have a haircut at four,” Annie said, “how long is this gonna take?”

“Can’t you reschedule?” Jake sighed.  

“I don’t want to.”

“Well it’s only one-forty, you’ve still got plenty of time.”

“But I’ve gotta go home and shower first, I can’t go to the salon smelling like this.”

“Then why’d you schedule an appointment right after the trip in the first place?  Why couldn’t you get your hair done tomorrow? Is this why you were in such a rush to get back?”  

“I was not in a rush-”

“You insisted on leaving before noon.  I wanted to swim--”

“You can swim in the city any time!  We have beaches!”

“It’s not the same, Annie!  This--”

The fight was interrupted by a loud groan.  Both parties turned their heads to the source of the noise, Branden, who was slumped against a tree with his hood pulled over his face.  “Can we not do this right now?” He asked through a yawn.

Jake and Annie looked at each other, muttered vaguely conciliatory things under their breath, and fidgeted awkwardly, not sure how to hold themselves.  

Annie was the first to break the silence.  “You look tired, Branden.”

“Ya think?”  Branden had clearly been trying to sleep, but when he heard Annie’s voice he opened his eyes, looked about, and straightened up.  “I couldn’t sleep last night.”

“Why not?”

“No clue.  I just stayed awake for hours, laying there, listening to the waves.”

“Sounds kinda nice,” Jake said.

“Yeah, kinda.  Sleeping would’ve been nicer though.”

A few quiet moments passed.  Annie played with her hair, trying a ponytail, then a bun, then taking it all out and starting on a braid.  Branden leaned back against the tree and pulled his hood over his face again. Jake picked at the grass and looked around.  The bus had broken down on the side of the road. Annie didn’t want to sit inside, said the stuffy bus smell was giving her a headache, so they had gotten off and sat in the grass, a few feet from the door.  They were right on the edge of a straggly forest, and through the trees Jake could see the silhouettes of houses. He thought the forest might’ve been pretty if it hadn’t been right next to a highway. Although it wasn’t really much of a highway-- in the time since they’d pulled over, no other cars had gone by, and Jake wondered if they were lost as well as stuck.  Maybe they should’ve gotten a better company like Annie wanted.

“I’m gonna miss the sound of the waves at night,” Annie said, bringing Jake out of his reverie.

“I’m gonna miss the stars,” he added.  

“I’m not gonna miss the sand,” Branden muttered, half-asleep.  “It got everywhere, and it wasn’t fun to sleep on. I missed my bed.”

“Don’t be such a big baby,” Annie said affectionately.  “I thought it was really freeing, sleeping out in the open.”

“I’ll take my bed over that any day.”

“So what will you miss, Branden?”

Branden stayed still for a few moments, looking as though he was deep in thought, then said, “the fire.”  Jake and Annie lost it. “No, I’m serious. It’s not a joke, I’m gonna miss the campfires every night.”

“You know...” Annie said.

“Oh, you’re done laughing now?”

“... I think we still have some marshmallows.”  She turned around and fished in her backpack for a while, then pulled out a mostly empty bag of jumbo marshmallows, which she tossed to Branden.  He opened it, shoved two in his mouth, and passed it to Jake.

“See,” he said, his words barely audible over his chewing, “this would be so much better if we had a fire.”

“Fair enough,” Annie shrugged, “but this is still pretty good.”

For a few minutes the only sounds were chewing and crunching plastic, and in the distance, the driver on the phone with AAA.  Jake looked back out at the trees. Yeah, he decided, the highway really ruined them. People drove by, spewing smog and throwing s**t out the windows of their car, and now the ground was covered in trash-- broken bottles, empty cans, and plastic bags that had spent months in the sun and were now bleached and illegible.  Someone really oughta clean it up.

“Hey, guys, remember...” Branden paused to finish chewing.  “Remember the first night we got there?” Annie and Jake nodded wistfully, as though this memory was years, not days, old.  When they had first gotten to the beach, it’d been hot and humid all day, the kind of weather where the air stuck to you and nothing seemed to help.  On the drive out, the bus had no AC, and Jake remembered how desperate they’d been to get in the water and cool off. They paid their camping fee at the kiosk, then asked the park ranger manning the booth where to go. He told them the bathrooms were to the left, so they went left, on and on, but saw only sand and water. Finally they gave up, stripped down to their underwear, and went in.

It began raining almost instantly.  The sky had reached its breaking point, and all the water vapor in the air condensed and came down in heavy drops.  They opened their arms, laughing and embracing the rain. They swam around and splashed each other, and Branden had finally caught up to Annie and was about to dunk her under the water when the lightning came.  The sky glowed white, brighter than they’d ever seen before, like God had turned on a giant floodlight. They all stopped dead, looked at each other, and practically flew out of the water. Soaking wet, they grabbed their clothes and their bags, stopping only to put on their shoes.  

“Now what?” Annie asked, a panicked tone in her voice.  “Now what do we do?”

Jake and Branden looked at each other hopelessly.  “Well, we can’t go in the water,” Branden offered.

“You’re USELESS!”  Annie made a loud violent noise, somewhere between a groan and a scream.  Swinging her backpack onto her back, she started running in the direction of the park entrance.  Branden and Jake shouted for her to wait, but she didn’t stop. They ran after her, feet slipping on the sand.

They caught up to her at the kiosk, where Annie had stopped to study an old map.  It'd been painted on the side of the kiosk in bright colors, but worn down by decades of rain and wind, it was closer to modern art than a map.

“I can’t read it,”  Annie shouted over the wind, “I don’t know what it says.”  She was out of breath and shivering so hard she could barely speak.  Jake thought he saw tears in her eyes, but maybe it was just the rain.  

Branden put his arm around her to comfort her while Jake examined the map.  “I think I know where to go,” he said, pointing at a little red cross not too far away.  He looked over at Annie and Branden who nodded.

“Just do it, man,” Branden said.  “Take us there.” Jake led the way as they walked along the sand, too tired now to run.  At every clap of lightning or thunder they would stop and look around, as though waiting for a signal.  Then they’d start again, Jake up ahead, Branden and Annie following with his arm still around her shoulders.

They were beginning to give up hope when they saw a light in the distance.  Jake looked back to make sure the others had seen it too. They had, and all three of them shouted and laughed and started running like mad.

It was a shack, but it was enough.  The door was locked, but through the window, they could see people, not much older than themselves, sitting around talking.  Jake banged his fist against the door, and a guy with the tanned, muscular body of a lifeguard opened it. He took one look at them and burst out laughing.  “Had a nice swim?” He asked. They just stood there, shivering, not sure what to say. “I’ll find some blankets.”

They ended their day swaddled in blankets that smelled like the back of a closet, sipping watery hot chocolate and listening to the lifeguards tell ghost stories.  They fell asleep on the floor, curled up into balls, and when they woke up the next morning, the sky was clear and the lifeguards were gone.

“Yeah, I remember that night,” Jake said.  “Annie really thought we were gonna die.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Annie replied, “I was scared like any other normal person would’ve been.”  Jake nodded sarcastically.

“Remember the lifeguards?” Branden added.  “Remember how hard they laughed? I mean, imagine, you’re just minding your business and all of a sudden three kids, dripping wet, basically naked, come barging through your door-”  

The sound of tires on asphalt quickly brought them back to the present.  They all turned to see a new bus inching forward. It stopped with a loud mechanical woosh, roughly ten feet behind the old bus.  The driver got out, spent a few minutes talking to the original bus driver, then announced that everyone should get on the new bus, which would be making all the stops as usual.  

“Guess that’s us,” Jake said, gathering his stuff and standing up.  

“Guess it is,” Annie replied quietly.

“Do I detect a hint of sadness in your voice?”  Jake faked shock. “I thought you had a very important appointment to make.”

“No,” Annie sighed, “not important.”

“No?”

“No.”  As they boarded the new bus, Annie added, “The city kinda sucks in the summer.  There’s no escape. It’s so hot and everything smells.” She looked back at Jake, who was shoving his bag up into the overhead bin.    

“There’s always the beach,” he offered.

“The beaches kinda suck.  It’s not the same.”

Jake smiled.  He knew this was Annie’s way of apologizing for making them come home early.  It had been their last trip for the summer, maybe their last trip forever. They’d be starting school in the fall, in three different states, and despite all the promises and lofty declarations, none of them could be sure they’d stay in touch.  Making grand claims was easy enough, but not many friendships survived the first year of college.

“Look, guys,” Branden said, “it’s pretty easy: stay inside, blast the AC, and play some Smash Bros.  That’s the ideal summer. That’s what I’m gonna be doing for the next two weeks. Let’s not get nostalgic about s**t that hasn’t happened yet; just drop by anytime.  It’s not that hard.”

“Alright,” Jake said, “offer accepted.”

“Nice.  Just not today.  Today I’m taking a nap.”

“And I’ve got my haircut,” Annie said, with a gentle, semi-ironic laugh.  “But tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.  For sure.”

“Tomorrow.”

Author's Note

This is my first story in a few years- I'd love to hear your general impressions, whether you found the characters/plot/style engaging, what you think I should improve on, etc.