Indigo drove down the darkening Nevada highway, windows down and radio blaring. The sun had set behind the mountains to the west long before night should have fallen, but the desert sand was rapidly cooling around her already, the refreshing briskness weaving its way into the air as she cruised along the desolate stretch of road. This was her fifth year going to the festival, and by now, she knew where all the speed traps were. At twilight, they were all about ready to check out for the day. No one drove the desert at night. No one who didn't know what they were doing.
She drew in a deep breath, appreciating the break from the sweltering summer sun. Her eyes had begun to ache from it, even through darkened lenses. It was why she preferred to drive at night, at least in part. The isolation from traffic was also an otherworldly experience. Mountain peaks in the distance rimmed the horizon, jutting up at odd angles like black teeth against the dusky sky. The only lights for hundreds of miles in any direction were her own headlights, blazing a path ahead in the fading light.
Some fifty miles later, night had completely fallen and the stars overhead blanketed the sky in a dizzying matrix that defied all perception. Infinite expansion out into the cosmos above made the pale desert landscape seem infinitesimally small by comparison. During the day, it had seemed so huge, almost never-ending. Now, under the planetarium of the universe, everything felt microscopic. Indigo slowed the car and killed the headlights. Darkness consumed the vehicle, seemingly transporting it and the woman in it to some imaginary plane where time stood still and the universe spilled its secrets into the welcoming vessel of her mind. She took another deep breath. This was harmony. Absolute peace. And yet, it was only part of why she made the annual pilgrimage from her home city to the untamed wilds of the Mojave. She yearned to be somewhere so primal every time her feet hit the asphalt on her way to her hourly job. This was her break from reality, and it soothed her soul.
Suddenly, the car jolted, reverberating from some impact she'd been too distracted to see. Indigo switched on her headlights and pulled the car quickly to the side of the road. Grabbing a flashlight out of the backseat, she switched it on and searched the road behind her for the poor, suffering animal she was certain she'd hit. The beam swung back and forth. Nothing. No potholes, no tortoise or stray pronghorn lying belly-up on the side of the road. No tracks leading off in either direction. She checked under the car. Nothing.
Indigo turned off the flashlight and tossed it back into the piles of clothes and props in the backseat before turning the key in the ignition. The car started up without any protest, and she began to think that perhaps it was nothing after all. She buckled her seatbelt and coaxed the car back into motion. Glancing down at the dashboard, the fuel gauge read near-empty. It had been over an hour since the last sign indicating a gas station. She figured the next one couldn't be too far off.
Windows rolled up to save gas, she drove through the night with the radio on low, her eyes scanning the distance for the faint twinkle of light that would give away civilization. Eventually, a soft yellow glow came into view and she let out a sigh of relief. The needle hovered less than a millimeter from E, and as the streetlights came into sight, she could feel the engine beginning to falter.
Normally, the first major structure in a desert town like this one was the gas station. She'd managed to drive a quarter of a mile into the town and still she saw no sign of a Shell station or any of its ilk. The engine coughed its last and she began to coast down the street. Up ahead was a diner, its neon OPEN sign flashing invitingly in the window. Indigo pulled her car to the side of the road and parked it there, hoping she could push it to wherever the nearest pump was. She pulled her phone out of her bag in the passenger seat. No service. She hadn't expected more than a bar or two, and even with that, waiting for a Google search to load would have taken half an hour. She reached for her wallet and got out of the car, putting the phone in her back pocket and locking the doors behind her.
The ball over the diner door jingled merrily as she walked through. There were no patrons inside, but a bored-looking waitress stood behind the counter, working on a crossword puzzle. She looked up at the sound of the bell but said nothing.
"Can I use your phone?" Indigo asked, pointing to the old payphone down the hallway. The waitress nodded.
The diner was silent except for the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead and the low whirr of the ventilation system. It was almost soothing enough to put her to sleep where she stood. Indigo shook off the thought and reached for the receiver, placing a quarter in the slot before picking it up. There was no dial tone. She jimmied the cradle. Still no tone. She took the phone away from her ear and called around the corner.
"Hey, I think your phone is dead."
There was a pause before the waitress cleared her throat and called back. "Works just fine for me."
Indigo chewed on her lip. She placed the receiver back in the cradle and popped a second quarter in the slot before picking it up again. The line was still silent. She sighed and hung up the phone again. Clearly, it didn't work. She stuffed her wallet back in her pocket and walked around to the front of the diner, taking a seat at the bar counter.
"Can I get a cup of coffee and a slice of pie?"
The waitress looked up from her crossword and gave a small grunt before pushing off and disappearing into the back. A short while later, she appeared with a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie. Indigo thanked her, pulling the coffee over and taking a sip of it, black. The warmth of the stout liquid and its caffeine cargo coursed through her, giving her back the life she'd spent driving through the nothingness for hours. It was a calming drive, but it did have its drawbacks.
Indigo tucked into her slice of pie before venturing her next bit of conversation. "I ran out of gas and had to park my car out front."
The waitress looked up but did not turn her head away from the puzzle book.
"I couldn't find the gas station."
The woman shrugged and gave another grunt before returning her gaze to the crossword and readjusting her pen. Indigo stared at her for a moment before making up her mind to finish her food and answer her own questions from there on out. Downing the rest of her coffee, she took a ten dollar bill from her wallet and left it on the counter beside her empty plate. Neither she nor the waitress said another word as she headed for the door. Above the bell, a neon-rimmed clock displayed the time. It was ten after one in the morning. Indigo heaved a sigh and pushed the glass door open, stepping out into the waxy glow of the streetlights.
There had been no trace of a gas station or a cross-street in the direction she'd come from. Down the road ahead, the light was too dim to make out the faces and purposes of the buildings along the way. She started walking.
What must have been nearly half an hour later, Indigo saw a police station looming in the dark. Feeling a sense of renewed hope, she skipped up the steps and pushed open the heavy front door. Inside, the lights were on, but the reception desk was unoccupied. She peered down the hallway on either side and called out.
"Hello?"
She held her breath. There was no response and no sound of movement from anywhere in the building.
"Hello?"
Hushed shuffling echoed down the hallway to her right. She peered down its poorly-lit length and saw a silhouette lean out of a doorway. Her mouth opened to ask about a gas station when two incandescent yellow eyes appeared in the center of the silhouette's head. Indigo turned and ran.
Back out on the sidewalk, about a block away from the police station, Indigo leaned against a cold metal streetlamp, trying to catch her breath. Across the street was a bank, closed for the night. In front of it stood a large-faced clock tower. Its hands were arranged at a tight angle, reading ten minutes after one o'clock. Indigo shook her head and stood up. She had to keep walking. Somewhere in this town, there had to be a gas station.
Most of the buildings were dark, their signs out and their interiors invisible against the glare of the streetlights outside. There was no one else out walking. Still continuing down the main road, she eventually found a convenience store. Inside, a clerk was hunched over the counter near the register, apparently fast asleep. She pushed her way inside.
"Excuse me?"
The sleepy clerk lifted his head off of his arms. His eyes were sunken and tired.
"Are the gas pumps around back?"
He stared at her blankly for a moment. "What gas pumps?"
Indigo hesitated for a moment, uncertain how she had been unclear. "Gas pumps? You know, for cars?"
"Have you seen any cars?" The man's voice was raspy and deep.
"Oh... no." She backed away from the counter and opened the door behind her. "Thanks, I guess."
Back outside at the edge of the hazy white and red light of the convenience store sign, Indigo stared into the crevices between the yellowed lights of the inanimate town. She hadn't seen any cars. Perhaps they didn't drive, like an Amish community. The idea seemed sensible enough until she remembered that the Amish also didn't use electric light bulbs or run diners. Not knowing what else to do, she kept walking, figuring she might find another pay phone. If nothing else, she could wait until morning and ask someone who was awake what the best solution might be.
Her feet were starting to hurt. In the near distance, the streetlights appeared to fade out of view. She walked toward them. Sure enough, there came a point where the pavement ended, dissolving into the desert sand. Up ahead was nothing. The glare from the yellow lights drowned out the sky above, making the desert look, by contrast, like a starless void. She looked back down at her feet. Taking the toe of her sneaker, she scuffed at the boundary of the asphalt where the sand washed up onto it like a dry beach. The tarred stones crumbled underfoot, disintegrating into sand themselves.
Indigo turned around and looked behind her. The town was gone, its yellowed lights and only car with it. She stood now in the middle of an empty desert, sand on all sides, mountains like teeth in the unreachable distance. The stars overhead extended forever into a yawning oblivion. She took out her phone. There was still no signal and the battery was at ten percent. The time read 1:10 AM.
She drew in a deep breath, appreciating the break from the sweltering summer sun. Her eyes had begun to ache from it, even through darkened lenses. It was why she preferred to drive at night, at least in part. The isolation from traffic was also an otherworldly experience. Mountain peaks in the distance rimmed the horizon, jutting up at odd angles like black teeth against the dusky sky. The only lights for hundreds of miles in any direction were her own headlights, blazing a path ahead in the fading light.
Some fifty miles later, night had completely fallen and the stars overhead blanketed the sky in a dizzying matrix that defied all perception. Infinite expansion out into the cosmos above made the pale desert landscape seem infinitesimally small by comparison. During the day, it had seemed so huge, almost never-ending. Now, under the planetarium of the universe, everything felt microscopic. Indigo slowed the car and killed the headlights. Darkness consumed the vehicle, seemingly transporting it and the woman in it to some imaginary plane where time stood still and the universe spilled its secrets into the welcoming vessel of her mind. She took another deep breath. This was harmony. Absolute peace. And yet, it was only part of why she made the annual pilgrimage from her home city to the untamed wilds of the Mojave. She yearned to be somewhere so primal every time her feet hit the asphalt on her way to her hourly job. This was her break from reality, and it soothed her soul.
Suddenly, the car jolted, reverberating from some impact she'd been too distracted to see. Indigo switched on her headlights and pulled the car quickly to the side of the road. Grabbing a flashlight out of the backseat, she switched it on and searched the road behind her for the poor, suffering animal she was certain she'd hit. The beam swung back and forth. Nothing. No potholes, no tortoise or stray pronghorn lying belly-up on the side of the road. No tracks leading off in either direction. She checked under the car. Nothing.
Indigo turned off the flashlight and tossed it back into the piles of clothes and props in the backseat before turning the key in the ignition. The car started up without any protest, and she began to think that perhaps it was nothing after all. She buckled her seatbelt and coaxed the car back into motion. Glancing down at the dashboard, the fuel gauge read near-empty. It had been over an hour since the last sign indicating a gas station. She figured the next one couldn't be too far off.
Windows rolled up to save gas, she drove through the night with the radio on low, her eyes scanning the distance for the faint twinkle of light that would give away civilization. Eventually, a soft yellow glow came into view and she let out a sigh of relief. The needle hovered less than a millimeter from E, and as the streetlights came into sight, she could feel the engine beginning to falter.
Normally, the first major structure in a desert town like this one was the gas station. She'd managed to drive a quarter of a mile into the town and still she saw no sign of a Shell station or any of its ilk. The engine coughed its last and she began to coast down the street. Up ahead was a diner, its neon OPEN sign flashing invitingly in the window. Indigo pulled her car to the side of the road and parked it there, hoping she could push it to wherever the nearest pump was. She pulled her phone out of her bag in the passenger seat. No service. She hadn't expected more than a bar or two, and even with that, waiting for a Google search to load would have taken half an hour. She reached for her wallet and got out of the car, putting the phone in her back pocket and locking the doors behind her.
The ball over the diner door jingled merrily as she walked through. There were no patrons inside, but a bored-looking waitress stood behind the counter, working on a crossword puzzle. She looked up at the sound of the bell but said nothing.
"Can I use your phone?" Indigo asked, pointing to the old payphone down the hallway. The waitress nodded.
The diner was silent except for the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead and the low whirr of the ventilation system. It was almost soothing enough to put her to sleep where she stood. Indigo shook off the thought and reached for the receiver, placing a quarter in the slot before picking it up. There was no dial tone. She jimmied the cradle. Still no tone. She took the phone away from her ear and called around the corner.
"Hey, I think your phone is dead."
There was a pause before the waitress cleared her throat and called back. "Works just fine for me."
Indigo chewed on her lip. She placed the receiver back in the cradle and popped a second quarter in the slot before picking it up again. The line was still silent. She sighed and hung up the phone again. Clearly, it didn't work. She stuffed her wallet back in her pocket and walked around to the front of the diner, taking a seat at the bar counter.
"Can I get a cup of coffee and a slice of pie?"
The waitress looked up from her crossword and gave a small grunt before pushing off and disappearing into the back. A short while later, she appeared with a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie. Indigo thanked her, pulling the coffee over and taking a sip of it, black. The warmth of the stout liquid and its caffeine cargo coursed through her, giving her back the life she'd spent driving through the nothingness for hours. It was a calming drive, but it did have its drawbacks.
Indigo tucked into her slice of pie before venturing her next bit of conversation. "I ran out of gas and had to park my car out front."
The waitress looked up but did not turn her head away from the puzzle book.
"I couldn't find the gas station."
The woman shrugged and gave another grunt before returning her gaze to the crossword and readjusting her pen. Indigo stared at her for a moment before making up her mind to finish her food and answer her own questions from there on out. Downing the rest of her coffee, she took a ten dollar bill from her wallet and left it on the counter beside her empty plate. Neither she nor the waitress said another word as she headed for the door. Above the bell, a neon-rimmed clock displayed the time. It was ten after one in the morning. Indigo heaved a sigh and pushed the glass door open, stepping out into the waxy glow of the streetlights.
There had been no trace of a gas station or a cross-street in the direction she'd come from. Down the road ahead, the light was too dim to make out the faces and purposes of the buildings along the way. She started walking.
What must have been nearly half an hour later, Indigo saw a police station looming in the dark. Feeling a sense of renewed hope, she skipped up the steps and pushed open the heavy front door. Inside, the lights were on, but the reception desk was unoccupied. She peered down the hallway on either side and called out.
"Hello?"
She held her breath. There was no response and no sound of movement from anywhere in the building.
"Hello?"
Hushed shuffling echoed down the hallway to her right. She peered down its poorly-lit length and saw a silhouette lean out of a doorway. Her mouth opened to ask about a gas station when two incandescent yellow eyes appeared in the center of the silhouette's head. Indigo turned and ran.
Back out on the sidewalk, about a block away from the police station, Indigo leaned against a cold metal streetlamp, trying to catch her breath. Across the street was a bank, closed for the night. In front of it stood a large-faced clock tower. Its hands were arranged at a tight angle, reading ten minutes after one o'clock. Indigo shook her head and stood up. She had to keep walking. Somewhere in this town, there had to be a gas station.
Most of the buildings were dark, their signs out and their interiors invisible against the glare of the streetlights outside. There was no one else out walking. Still continuing down the main road, she eventually found a convenience store. Inside, a clerk was hunched over the counter near the register, apparently fast asleep. She pushed her way inside.
"Excuse me?"
The sleepy clerk lifted his head off of his arms. His eyes were sunken and tired.
"Are the gas pumps around back?"
He stared at her blankly for a moment. "What gas pumps?"
Indigo hesitated for a moment, uncertain how she had been unclear. "Gas pumps? You know, for cars?"
"Have you seen any cars?" The man's voice was raspy and deep.
"Oh... no." She backed away from the counter and opened the door behind her. "Thanks, I guess."
Back outside at the edge of the hazy white and red light of the convenience store sign, Indigo stared into the crevices between the yellowed lights of the inanimate town. She hadn't seen any cars. Perhaps they didn't drive, like an Amish community. The idea seemed sensible enough until she remembered that the Amish also didn't use electric light bulbs or run diners. Not knowing what else to do, she kept walking, figuring she might find another pay phone. If nothing else, she could wait until morning and ask someone who was awake what the best solution might be.
Her feet were starting to hurt. In the near distance, the streetlights appeared to fade out of view. She walked toward them. Sure enough, there came a point where the pavement ended, dissolving into the desert sand. Up ahead was nothing. The glare from the yellow lights drowned out the sky above, making the desert look, by contrast, like a starless void. She looked back down at her feet. Taking the toe of her sneaker, she scuffed at the boundary of the asphalt where the sand washed up onto it like a dry beach. The tarred stones crumbled underfoot, disintegrating into sand themselves.
Indigo turned around and looked behind her. The town was gone, its yellowed lights and only car with it. She stood now in the middle of an empty desert, sand on all sides, mountains like teeth in the unreachable distance. The stars overhead extended forever into a yawning oblivion. She took out her phone. There was still no signal and the battery was at ten percent. The time read 1:10 AM.
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