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What we had was cataclysmic, and we destructed.
While we've been traveling across Arizona, this is by far our favorite place to be. We've been talking about heading to California soon, though. We still have talks of heading out toward Hawaii, and I think I'll make it there eventually. But I like not having a plan, no schedule, nothing to tell me what to do or when to do it. I live for me, and me alone.
Shauna and Trish walk up the stream, their shirts clutched in their hands and their naked breasts on display in the bright sun. It's extra hot today, the red mountains and dry air always making breathing a little heavy. Nothing like the sticky, wet humidity in Wisconsin. The air is dry here, making my skin chip and crack more than it ever has before.
Shauna stumbles on a rock, nearly going down into the water. Trish grabs her around the arm, helping her back up.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Neil laughs.
"It's hot today. I wish we could go swimming somewhere," Trish whines.
"Sun will be goin' down soon. Best stick near camp for the rest of the night. Coyotes will be comin' out," Willie says, walking over to the Winnebago and grabbing two cans from our stash.
We're five people, none of us knowing the next person, who met under unusual circumstances and found a bond.
I don't know where any of us will end up, but I do know that somehow, my life will never be the same after this journey.
I'm on the cliff. A cliff I can almost count as home with the number of times I've been here. It's sunny out, the first cloudless and clear day I’ve seen in a while. I look into the distance, seeing nothing but endless blue waters as calm as the night. Not a ripple in the water, not a wave cresting against the shore. It's almost eerie. I don't hear a sound. It's like I've lost my sense of hearing, except when I take a step forward, I can hear the rocks roll underneath my bare feet.
I stand on the edge, my toes curling around its sharpness. A gust of wind comes, no sand this time. Only a clear breeze that blows my long hair from the back of my neck, waving into the wind.
I inhale, tasting the saltiness of the sea on my tongue.
Bang, bang.
The sound comes out of nowhere, snapping my body into shock. I curl over, my body wiggling forward. My arms windmill around me, trying to keep my balance on the cliff, but it's no use. I tumble over the edge, a silent scream making it to the back of my throat.
And I fall.
I shoot up on my wooden bed, the night sky still and silent.
"What's the matter?" Willie asks, his arm curling around my naked waist. I look up at the stars, feeling the need to tell him, tell anyone about the dream that has plagued me for years. Roman and my parents are the only ones that know about it. I feel a little lost, a little alone at the moment.
Bang, bang.
Willie shoots up, snapping his body out of the bed in a flash.
"Gunshots!" he whisper-shouts.
My heart rate runs a mile a minute. For once, it wasn't a dream. The bang I heard wasn't fake, it was real.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.
Continuous shots fire off in the distance, and what sounds like a scream.
Not a coyote scream, but a human scream.
"Did someone just get shot?" I cry out.
Trish, Neil, and Shauna all clamber out of the Winnebago.
The gunshots cease, but the echo still lingers in the air. I can smell the gunfire, the powder making my nose wrinkle. They were too close. So close I don't hear any animals around. No coyotes in the distance, no snakes hissing in the night. The usual wildlife is the loudest in the dark, always lurking, looking for food or anything to stay alive.
"I want to leave," I whisper, tears flowing down my face. "Please, let's go."
"Everyone, into the van," Neil orders. We all scramble inside, and Neil shuts the door, locking it behind us. "We'll be safe in here."
"Are you sure about that?” Shauna asks, her voice shaky.Worried.
