Besides, even vertical, his friend didn’t seem to have much more luck flagging down a car. He squinted against the early morning sun.
“You really think someone will turn up?”
“Yeah,” Joshua warmed his fingers with his breath, “It’s quarter to eight, relax”
“That’s supposed to make me relax?”
Joshua turned back to the deserted highway: “Stop whining, man. I told you to bring a jacket”
“I told you to bring a jacket,” he mimicked, then slapped his disgustingly wet knees.
“Well, you need to see it this way: We get to see the sunrise!”
“This isn’t the Caribbean. This is fucking Oregon. It’s forty degrees, Joshua”
His chuckles rang through the air. Between the gold on the horizon, the seagulls’ screams and the waves crashing softly, Tyler could pretend to enjoy his crouched position for another minute.
Then, another car passed by without sparing them glance.
“Fucking assholes!” Joshua yelled against the dwindling rear of a grey Opel Kadett. Fingers tugging on his hair, he fell down next to Tyler, who welcomed him with a smirk: “Didn’t I tell you?”
Joshua took his hands to the grass. “There will be another”
“Before or after we freeze to death? They probably think we’re some kind of junkies”
“So stick out a thumb!”
“Why me? You go stop them!”
Joshua rolled his eyes, his clever retort already on the tip of his tongue – before he was cut off by the shrill horn of a parked Volvo blaring though the calm air.
“Do you guys need a ride?” asked the woman peeking through the wound down side window.
Her pitch-black hair gave her a wild appearance as it stood up in all directions, while her deep brown eyes pierced though the men crouching on the roadside.
“Yes,” Tyler yelled and jumped up, “Absolutely yes!”
“Thank you so much,” said Joshua as he heaved their luggage into the boot.
“Gracefully kind of you,” Tyler added, slamming the rear door shut.
Her smile was assured and bright, as she started the engine. Her handshake was firm and concise, before she put both hands back on the steering wheel.
“Heather,” she said, turning east, “Where do you want to go?”
“Phoenix,” Joshua turned to Tyler. The answer made her chuckle.
“Phoenix? Well, I can’t take you that far. How about Portland. Or Eugene?”
“You must be our rescuing angel”
She raised an eyebrow. “What awaits the gentlemen in Phoenix?”
“Marriage!” came the yell from the rear seat bench, before Tyler pressed his face through the gap between the front seats. “I’m getting married!”
“That sounds wonderful. Congrats! When’s the party?”
“In a week. We’ve been gone two and now we just hope to make it in time”
“Oh,” she waved him off, “Don’t worry. You’ll make it in three or four days. The roads have been kind”
Joshua knit his brow. “So, you’re...”
“Hm?”
“The roads have been kind – that’s a strange way of putting it. Are you some trucker?”
From her belly rang a gorgeous laugh – it made the sun shine from her eyes. When she shook her head, she looked like she had invented the word for beauty.
“God, no! I’m just driving east. Uhm, to my family. Rhode Island. I’m headed to the coast of Rhode Island”
Tyler gasped, his head still between the seats. “That’s quite a trip!”
“It’ll be worth it,” the melancholic ring in her voice was undeniable, but she recovered quickly.
Silence entered the car, as the lively sunlight spilled from the glittering roads into their hearts. It wasn’t long before Tyler had the sardine tin roaring with laughter again.
Wet asphalt and the sweet smell of conifers – a clear sky and the rushing wind. A red flash glaring Heather's vision.
The green frame of the forest and a little brown deer on the road.
The terrified squeal of the breaks, the dreadful impact and bright red blood on the orange paint. Heather’s heaving breath as she took the last one out of the big hazel eyes with a vermeil fizzle.
“Damn it.”