Pocatello, Idaho, USA

“Thank God, finally!” Nina’s voice came tinny from the crappy speaker.
“Hey,” Heather laughed.
“Lori!” She heard Nina yell in the distance, “Heather’s on the phone!”

“Hey,” came the second voice, “where are you now?”
“Uh... Somewhere in Idaho. Sorry, I didn’t pick up yesterday. Some fucking creep kept chatting me up”

Heather upped the wiper speed.

“Gross”
“Yeah, don’t worry about me. How’s Portland?”
“Not much different than a week ago. Martha’s getting married”

“No! Shut up,” Heather laughed. It felt good, warm to hear Nina’s voice again. If she inclined her head just a few degrees, she could pretend to rest her cheek on Lori’s bony shoulder. She wanted to close her eyes, pretend Nina’s permanent magic smell of cinnamon would lay on her tongue. The creeping cold of the car vaulted her out of the spell. Best not to close her eyes on the road.

“You know, Nina is in Hartford soon”
“Yeah,” Nina laughed humourlessly, “For the pan-american wizard council. Some paper pushing bullshit.”

“Hm,” grumbled Heather. “First time since my dad’s funeral?”
“Yeah”
“When?”
“In two months”

Heather swallowed. Suddenly, the roads appeared darker. She cleared her throat, her voice coming out in a high pitch: “And you’re glad to be in town again?”
“God, no. Hartford stinks. But I miss the Chinese place, the one next to your old apartment”

“Yeah. I miss that place too... Listen, I mean, If you see my sister...”

The asphalt passed in a blur. Yellow lights dotted the horizon. A sliver of baby blue appeared in the distance, where soon the sun would blind her eyes.

She sighed: “Well, you probably won't, but if you do…”
“Most likely not.”
“Yeah, right. Sorry, that was stupid.”

The roads rumbled on. Her fingers fiddling with the seatbelt.

“We’ll tell her you called,” Lori interfered, ever the diplomat.
“Yeah. Yeah! You can do that. Please do that. Did she call you? Did you hear from Evelyn at all?”

And it was quiet, again, but maybe that was just the speaker; her phone being ancient and the connection spotty. It would probably only take a second before their voices would filter through: “I… no, not yet,” Nina hesitated, “But I wanted to call her anyway”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t push”
“It’s okay, Heather”

And there it was, the first ray of sunshine, glistering through a low-hanging road sign. Heather had missed her, the night too crowded alone. Brightly she stood straight, promising a new beginning, dripping wet, sticking out a hand.

No. Heather did a double take. This could not be right.

“Uh, wait actually, let me call you back, yeah?”
“Heather? What?”
“Bye! Bye, Nina!”

Both feet stomping into the pedals, the car came to a squeaking stop right next to a woman scowling through the rain. Heather frowned, rolling down the passenger window. No. Not a single speck of light to be seen on the horizon! What a strange concoction.

The woman shivered heavily. Without saying a word, she ripped the door open and dropped down onto the leather seat with an ugly squelching sound.

“What a stupid fucking idea!”

Heather’s lips escaped a chuckle.

“You find this funny, huh?”

Clutch, break, accelerator and her baby rolled on eastwards.

“Relax, no. I just thought the modern traveller checked the weather”
“I am not responsible for the weather!”
“No, and neither am I. You could be a bit nicer to your saviour”

“Yeah, sorry,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes, “My God-sent guardian.”

Silence followed and if Heather thought it had been awkward with Nina and Lori, she should have kept her thoughts quiet as not to jinx it.

“And where are you going?”
“Eastwards”
“How far?”
“Far”
“Okay, let me out when we’re in Utah”
“Sure”

She smelled acidic, Heather noticed then. A faint but piercing odour burning through the space between them. She kept her eyes fixed on the road.

“Thank you,” the woman sung small after a while.
“You’re welcome”

Then, a hand was hesitantly stretched out over the centre console. Heather shook it.

“My name is Elmira,” she smiled. It looked a little alien before she decided to retract her tongue from where it was wedged between her teeth. Her eyes were dark and warm and Heather nearly lost herself in the strange pull of her face, before she tore her eyes away. The vague after-image flickered over the dark roads.

“Heather. Nice to meet you,” she squeezed her hand once more before putting it back on the steering wheel.

When Heather turned her head, Elmira was still staring at her. It was uncanny, really. Her eyes flying over Heather's features, and Heather unable to tear her view away for long.

With force and self-restraint, she pressed out the next words: “So, what's in Utah?”
“Work”
“What kind of work?”
“Informatory work”

Okay, Jesus, Heather thought. “Sure. Informatory work. Why... there?”

“Fuck if I know,” Elmira laughed, “I'm going to take it as a vacation”
“As a vacation?”
“Yeah,” she turned to Heather with a questioning look, “That's what you people do, no? Vacations, trips, hitchhiking?”
“Sure, it's what 'we' do. You're not from here, are you?”

For a moment, they breathed in unison as the sun finally, finally crept up the horizon.

“No,” Elmira said eventually, “I travelled kind of far”

In the distance, wind farms passed by; little red dots reflecting in the fogged-up windows. Heather pointed to the radio: “You don't mind, do you,” she asked and Elmira shook her head.

Another day, another road, another passenger. And the blinding sun greeting them as they passed state borders.

“This is heaven,” she whispered.
“This is Utah,” Heather laughed, set the signal and parked the car to the side of the road.

“You know, I could drive you to the next bigger city...”
“No,” Elmira smiled, “This is perfect.”

Heather shrugged: “Okay” But Elmira hesitated, her hand clawed into the door handle.

“You think I have everything?”
“You didn’t come with a bag”
“Right”

Heather sighed. “I’m not going to kiss you goodbye”

Then her fingers moved, swinging the door open and crawling out into the rain.

“Thank you, Heather, again,” she said before slamming the door shut, “I'm positive we'll meet another day.”

She couldn't help but smile. “I'm sure of it.”

With a last look, Elmira disappeared into the shadows of the roadside, while Heather's orange Volvo drove on into the red morning sun.