"I can finally see some sunlight. Even though it’s brief, it’s there, peeking through the tall grass around us..."
Burritos are universal ice-breakers.
“Death… death… w-what is, what is death, anyways?!” he blurts out in the Del Taco. A couple of truckers turn their heads.
“Heh, I think we know what death is.”
“Then what is it?! What is the deciding factor of the moment of your death?”
“That’s the thing though, there isn’t a reason or a factor that we can put our puny little human fingers on, because then that would make us feel better, that would make us believe in God, right?”
“Are you saying we don’t believe in God?”
Please God, don’t let this guy be Mormon.
“Well, I certainly think that there is an unfathomable universal force guiding us entities along our way, but I also think that nature and science can’t be denied, and that when our time is up, it’s up. That’s it.”
“Okay. I agree. And I agree about a star wizard being God… but why that exact moment?”
“Sure, that’s confusing, I agree, I don’t know! But why anything then! Why are we together right now?”
He sits back.
I continue. “Why couldn’t we have hung out last week? Or the week before? Perhaps in high school? Or, or… shit, you could’ve been my prom date.”
He chuckles.
“And trust me, I think anyone would’ve been better than me third-wheeling another couple.”
“I don’t know…”
I take a deep breath. You got this, my inner Beyoncé whispers.
“I might just be really drunk saying this, but… this night has been one of the best nights I’ve ever personally experienced.”
“No.”
He stands up.
“Come on.”
His hand extends out. Oh my God is this an invitation to HOLD HIS HAND OH MY GOD NO.
I keep my composure, stand up, grab his hand, and we walk out to his dark green 2001 Honda Civic.
—
I can finally see some sunlight. Even though it’s brief, it’s there, peeking through the tall grass around us. The sky is still a dark navy blue, but with accents of a more pale hue, fading towards the horizon. It’s quite beautiful, and it’s something I wish I could see more often.
“We’re not that far away.”
“Okay…” I whisper.
I didn’t wear the right kind of shoes for this. Of course the one night a random guy wants to take me somewhere special in the wilderness I wear ankle boots with just a bit too much heel… but I have a feeling I’ll be okay with the blisters.
We find this gorgeous tree, ancient in appearance and grand in scale. Its branches hang low and create a canopy. sticking out of the landscape like a pimple. This slight increase in elevation gives us a view of our town that we couldn’t see anywhere else.
We sit against the base of the trunk.
He chuckles.
“And trust me, I think anyone would’ve been better than me third-wheeling another couple.”
“I don’t know…”
I take a deep breath. You got this, my inner Beyoncé whispers.
“I might just be really drunk saying this, but… this night has been one of the best nights I’ve ever personally experienced.”
He takes a sip of his Sprite.
“Yeah, uh… me too.” He looks up. We both laugh.
He adjusts his jacket and sits up straight. His eyelids expand in order to wake himself up.
“Okay. This night isn’t over.”
“It isn’t?” I murmur.
“No, no… not even close.”
“B-but, it’s like, 3:45 or something… I feel like we should get back—“
“No.”
He stands up.
“Come on.”
It sits on top of this little hill sticking out of the landscape like a pimple. This slight increase in elevation gives us a view of our town that we couldn’t see anywhere else.
We sit against the base of the trunk.
“Man… I’m surprised that there’s a place in this town where I can look beyond all of the bullshit and actually appreciate the view.” he gasps.
“I didn’t even know this patch of land existed.”
“No one really does. I mean, technically this land belongs to the school next door but we may as well enjoy it before it turns into a parking lot or something.”
“Yeah… that seems to be the trend, huh. Turning innocent patches of land into parking lots. Because you know we need our parking. Otherwise… we would have to WALK.”
“Walking is so lame. Why do I have legs? I just want to replace my legs with a Segway.”
“I would bejewel my Segway legs so hard. Custom chrome wheels, maybe a stereo system…”
“Because you can’t have basic Segway legs. Everyone would judge you and be like, ‘oh, there goes another peasant with basic factory Segway legs… Thank GOD I’m not like them.’”
I laugh, suddenly realizing that I’m so tired that laughing requires an incredible amount of energy. I slide down and pull out a cigarette.