My Way Home Is Through You

Panic didn't set into Ray until the sun began to go down. As he watched the sky fade from orange to pink to violet, he began to feel queasy.

Something was wrong. He should have been back into town by now. Hiking from sunrise, he had only stopped to rest for ten minutes or so around midday. Ray was a fairly fit man, and quite healthy, so the total fifteen mile hike shouldn't have been an issue, and certainly shouldn't have taken him all day. The rain had slowed him a bit, until it had let up in the early afternoon, but even so...

Something was very, very wrong.

He knew well enough that the sheer amount of walking he'd done over the hours had amounted to at least fifteen miles, if not more. The only explanation was that he'd taken the wrong road last night in the Mustang. As twilight settled around him in a purple haze, he shivered, partly because his clothes were still damp from the day's downpour. He was also unsettled by the fact that he had been camped out, helpless, all night on an unknown road. The more he thought about it, the more disturbed he became.

Not a single car had passed him all day. At first he had attributed this to the rain. Now he wondered if this might not be one of the many smaller roads that had been abandoned years ago with the opening of the Turnpike.

Ray felt a trickle of fear slide into his stomach as he turned slowly around, holding his breath. For a moment, his imagination ran wild, dreaming of crazed men with chainsaws barreling out of the woods, and ghostly fiends sneaking up behind him.

But the only sound that greeted him was the chirping of crickets. He jumped in surprise when his own stomach rumbled with hunger.

This is not good, he thought to himself, feeling pitifully alone. A vision of Anna, frightened and upset, swam into his mind, and he felt his skin grow clammy. He prayed that she would get through this in one piece, and thanked God that Gerard had been the one to stay with her for the night. If anyone could keep Anna from breaking, it would be gentle, sensible Gerard.

Glancing up at the last streaks of pink in the darkening sky, he took stock of the directions. It didn't matter that the stars weren't out yet, because he wasn't sure that he would be able to pick the North Star out of the sky without the aid of a book, anyway. But he knew that the sun set in the west, and after a moment of contemplation, he realized that the direction he had been headed in was more or less to the north.

At least that's in my favor, he thought, knowing he needed to head northeast to get back home.

He stood for a moment, undecided upon whether he should continue down the road as he had been all day, or if he should turn back and try to return to the car.

On the one hand, the car was a safe haven to him, though he knew he wouldn't really be safe in it. But at least he would have shelter if it began to rain again, and he could lock the doors against anything that might be in the woods - be it rabid racoons or psychotic hillbillies, at this point, the thought of anything in the darkness scared him. He had no clue what might lie ahead of him on the road, and he trembled at the thought of continuing on.

But on the other hand, it was a hell of a hike to even get back to the car. It would probably take him all night just to make his way back. Because he hadn't eaten all day, his energy was low, and he wasn't sure just how far he'd be able to make it. He was also running on little more than steam at this point, since he'd had almost no sleep the night before, huddled in the car. The road ahead, however, had to end somewhere, and anywhere was better than here.

Well, practically anywhere.

Or, he thought as his feverishly tired mind became more jumbled, he could always try to find a low-lying, dry ditch to try to curl up in and get some rest. The idea was tempting for a moment, but his instincts told him it wasn't a good idea. He would be even more exposed like that.

Riddled with indecision, he stood in the middle of the road for a moment, feeling utterly bewildered.

He thought of Anna once more, and realized how badly his heart was aching to get back home to her. He knew he had to continue on, and, come what may, find his way back to her.

Without a second thought, he turned and continued down the dark, deserted road, with only moonlight and the thought of his precious little girl to guide him.