Kulikovia
31-10-2008, 18:19
The Hitchhiker
Headlights beamed across the road, illuminating the cracked and poorly repaired pavement. The truck dodged pot holes left and right. The night's air was cool to the face. Matt Stohler kept his left arm out the door, tapping the side in tune with a Creedence Clear Water Revival song, his favorite band. The oldies grew on him because that's what his Dad always listened to. During those numerous long awkwardly silent drives, he'd tune into the oldies station to fill the void, his father that is. He was heading to a friend's house for the weekend. Halloween was Saturday but Tim Spencer's parties were legendary or in some terms infamous for their duration and wildness.
In the back he had all the supplies, some bottles of vodka, cases of beer, his costume, and other stuff. Hollie was going to be there as well, so he heard with her new flame. Matt learned to ignore her the best he could manage. Hollie was the center of attention and she knew it. He learned late that she was a shallow party bitch.
Along the route, there was some static interferrence with the radio. He twisted the transistor and hit it a few times, this normally worked but this time it remained staticy. Dammit, this is just what I need. He huffed and simply turned it off and kept driving. The trees lining the road were very close, the state transportation department was notorious for their lack of responsibility with road maintenance. Including tree trimming. This stretch was known for several incidents.
As the truck made a sharp bend, the high beams caught a figure along the side of the road. It was a person standing along the side, not making any attempt to move away from the edge or waving him down. Matt didn't normally pick up hitchhikers. Though, as the truck neared, it became obviuos that the person was a girl. He passed her by but slammed on the breaks. Well, I guess I can be a nice guy. What's the harm? It's about ten miles to the nearest town. Plus, she looked kinda cute for the brief second he saw her. Matt looked into the side mirror to see the girl simply standing there, motionless. She was illuminated by the rear lights. The girl finally turned to look at the mirror. He couldn't see her face now but knew she was looking at him, thinking about taking up the offer.
"Hey!" He called out, "Need a lift?!"
There was a few moments of silence and the girl finally turned and walked towards the truck. She stopped at the door, he knew the passenger side didn't open, side swiped a guard rail a year ago and it fucked up the door a little.
Charlie reached across the seat and opened the door and the woman slid in quietly. Her eyes never faced any direction accept forward. It suddenlt became bitterly cold. The valley was known to get rather cold in the evenings around this time, but this cold was different.
"So, do you go to school here?" Matt inquired, pulling back onto the road, flicking on his high beams. They were about twenty minutes away from Indiana University, alot of young kids from the area went there, as did Matt. Maybe she was on the way to a party and got lost too.
"I did" She simply replied.
The truck headed towards a place known as 'tree alley'. On either side of the road, trees overlaped each other and their branches spidered out like a canopy, blanketing the sky. It was an often beautiful sight, especially during the Fall as multicolored leaves danced across the road and fell from overhead. He came to the dire realization that this girl wouldn't be the most talkative passenger he ever had. Maybe she'd nervous? Being picked up by a stranger at night. Anyone, even him could see the danger in that scenario.
Out the corner of his eye he saw how her body hardly moved, eyes front as always, silent. The cold was annoying. He rolled up the window and hit the heater, putting a hand in front of the vent as the aging heater kicked in, churning out warm air.
"That's the ticket, nice and warm" He laughed, desperate to break the ice, "You are good? Or is it too hot?"
"No, I'm fine" She said, gaze fixated on something. He looked back to the road and saw nothing note worthy, just the plain road. Matt pondered if there was something more.
"Are you alright? Something wrong?" He asked.
"No, I'm just not a talkative person"
"Where's your car? I didn't see any on the way here, someone dump you?" He kinda laughed but gauged her lack of a response and quickly quieted. This girl upon closer inspection had medium red hair, dressed rather warm for the weather, a scarf drapped around her neck, purple in color. She was actually wuite beautiful, he strained keep his eyes off her and on the road.
"You could say that"
"My name's Matt Stohler, what's yours?" Matt asked, struggling to keep a conversation going.
"Jenny" Jenny simply replied, her voice was faint and distant, sweet to the ears.
"So, Jenny; where you headin" Matt asked, shiftingt gears.
"Branstone Park, there's going to be a party there"
Matt reflected that name for a second, recalling it to memory, "I know that place, it;s on my way so I can drop you off there"
Finally, a smile cracked those stoic lips for a fleeting moment, "Thanks"
"Ah-Hah!" Matt noticed, "You do smile"
"Sorry, I'm not in a good mood right now. I am grateful for you saving me but I'm still mad" Jenny replied, the smile disappeared.
"At what? You get ditched by your boyfriend?"
"Something like that, he broke up with me just before you showed up"
Matt raised an eyebrow, "Where is he now?"
"Branstone Park, where the party is" Jenny's voice was monotone.
"Aren't you afraid that he'll be there? Your boyfriend did a fucked up thing. Say, I'm heading to a different party, wanna come with me instead?"
There was silence
"No thanks, I need to go to Branstone Park, where the party is" Jenny sounded like a broken record. He frowned on the inside, persuading a lovely young woman failed horribly. She was just not interested in his advances. So, the rest of the car ride folowed along the lines of awkward silence. Unluckily, the radio still didn't work and that cold nipped at the tip of his nose. After about fifteen minutes, they entered Branstone, a small sleepy town. Cloud cover obscured the moon from sight. He made the needed turns and pulled up to the large black iron gate for Branstone Park. He saw no cars or anything, the gate was locked tight.
"Where is everyone?" Matt asked
"They're all here" Jenny replied, her voice more faint than ever. Matt looked over to see the seat empty, a purple scarf draped over the headrest.
"What th-" Matt exclaimed, jumping in his seat, "Where did you go?!"
There was no answer, just him and the cool night...
Headlights beamed across the road, illuminating the cracked and poorly repaired pavement. The truck dodged pot holes left and right. The night's air was cool to the face. Matt Stohler kept his left arm out the door, tapping the side in tune with a Creedence Clear Water Revival song, his favorite band. The oldies grew on him because that's what his Dad always listened to. During those numerous long awkwardly silent drives, he'd tune into the oldies station to fill the void, his father that is. He was heading to a friend's house for the weekend. Halloween was Saturday but Tim Spencer's parties were legendary or in some terms infamous for their duration and wildness.
In the back he had all the supplies, some bottles of vodka, cases of beer, his costume, and other stuff. Hollie was going to be there as well, so he heard with her new flame. Matt learned to ignore her the best he could manage. Hollie was the center of attention and she knew it. He learned late that she was a shallow party bitch.
Along the route, there was some static interferrence with the radio. He twisted the transistor and hit it a few times, this normally worked but this time it remained staticy. Dammit, this is just what I need. He huffed and simply turned it off and kept driving. The trees lining the road were very close, the state transportation department was notorious for their lack of responsibility with road maintenance. Including tree trimming. This stretch was known for several incidents.
As the truck made a sharp bend, the high beams caught a figure along the side of the road. It was a person standing along the side, not making any attempt to move away from the edge or waving him down. Matt didn't normally pick up hitchhikers. Though, as the truck neared, it became obviuos that the person was a girl. He passed her by but slammed on the breaks. Well, I guess I can be a nice guy. What's the harm? It's about ten miles to the nearest town. Plus, she looked kinda cute for the brief second he saw her. Matt looked into the side mirror to see the girl simply standing there, motionless. She was illuminated by the rear lights. The girl finally turned to look at the mirror. He couldn't see her face now but knew she was looking at him, thinking about taking up the offer.
"Hey!" He called out, "Need a lift?!"
There was a few moments of silence and the girl finally turned and walked towards the truck. She stopped at the door, he knew the passenger side didn't open, side swiped a guard rail a year ago and it fucked up the door a little.
Charlie reached across the seat and opened the door and the woman slid in quietly. Her eyes never faced any direction accept forward. It suddenlt became bitterly cold. The valley was known to get rather cold in the evenings around this time, but this cold was different.
"So, do you go to school here?" Matt inquired, pulling back onto the road, flicking on his high beams. They were about twenty minutes away from Indiana University, alot of young kids from the area went there, as did Matt. Maybe she was on the way to a party and got lost too.
"I did" She simply replied.
The truck headed towards a place known as 'tree alley'. On either side of the road, trees overlaped each other and their branches spidered out like a canopy, blanketing the sky. It was an often beautiful sight, especially during the Fall as multicolored leaves danced across the road and fell from overhead. He came to the dire realization that this girl wouldn't be the most talkative passenger he ever had. Maybe she'd nervous? Being picked up by a stranger at night. Anyone, even him could see the danger in that scenario.
Out the corner of his eye he saw how her body hardly moved, eyes front as always, silent. The cold was annoying. He rolled up the window and hit the heater, putting a hand in front of the vent as the aging heater kicked in, churning out warm air.
"That's the ticket, nice and warm" He laughed, desperate to break the ice, "You are good? Or is it too hot?"
"No, I'm fine" She said, gaze fixated on something. He looked back to the road and saw nothing note worthy, just the plain road. Matt pondered if there was something more.
"Are you alright? Something wrong?" He asked.
"No, I'm just not a talkative person"
"Where's your car? I didn't see any on the way here, someone dump you?" He kinda laughed but gauged her lack of a response and quickly quieted. This girl upon closer inspection had medium red hair, dressed rather warm for the weather, a scarf drapped around her neck, purple in color. She was actually wuite beautiful, he strained keep his eyes off her and on the road.
"You could say that"
"My name's Matt Stohler, what's yours?" Matt asked, struggling to keep a conversation going.
"Jenny" Jenny simply replied, her voice was faint and distant, sweet to the ears.
"So, Jenny; where you headin" Matt asked, shiftingt gears.
"Branstone Park, there's going to be a party there"
Matt reflected that name for a second, recalling it to memory, "I know that place, it;s on my way so I can drop you off there"
Finally, a smile cracked those stoic lips for a fleeting moment, "Thanks"
"Ah-Hah!" Matt noticed, "You do smile"
"Sorry, I'm not in a good mood right now. I am grateful for you saving me but I'm still mad" Jenny replied, the smile disappeared.
"At what? You get ditched by your boyfriend?"
"Something like that, he broke up with me just before you showed up"
Matt raised an eyebrow, "Where is he now?"
"Branstone Park, where the party is" Jenny's voice was monotone.
"Aren't you afraid that he'll be there? Your boyfriend did a fucked up thing. Say, I'm heading to a different party, wanna come with me instead?"
There was silence
"No thanks, I need to go to Branstone Park, where the party is" Jenny sounded like a broken record. He frowned on the inside, persuading a lovely young woman failed horribly. She was just not interested in his advances. So, the rest of the car ride folowed along the lines of awkward silence. Unluckily, the radio still didn't work and that cold nipped at the tip of his nose. After about fifteen minutes, they entered Branstone, a small sleepy town. Cloud cover obscured the moon from sight. He made the needed turns and pulled up to the large black iron gate for Branstone Park. He saw no cars or anything, the gate was locked tight.
"Where is everyone?" Matt asked
"They're all here" Jenny replied, her voice more faint than ever. Matt looked over to see the seat empty, a purple scarf draped over the headrest.
"What th-" Matt exclaimed, jumping in his seat, "Where did you go?!"
There was no answer, just him and the cool night...