The evening was brisk as the bus continued along the Highway to Wherever. Aria had lost track of the amount of time she’d been riding. It was just her and Pat, the driver. The two had barely talked up to that point, with that void being filled by the sound of the music playing through the speakers, as well as the air rushing through the windows.
Suddenly, Aria asked Pat, “For how much longer is the road gonna look like this?”
“Whaddaya mean?” Pat replied, “Plenty of details come and go. What the trees look like, how the roads sprawl, the scenery in the distance, you name it.”
“I dunno, that’s just not enough. Everything out there just started looking exactly the same some time ago.”
Pat let out a hearty chuckle. “Youngins like you gotta slow it down a notch sometimes. You can’t just start dismissing the little things all because you’ve grown out of everything you’ve been seeing from the start.”
Aria found the old driver’s usage of the term “youngins” mildly condescending. “Easy enough for the driver to say,” she said regarding his short spiel. Pat let out another short chuckle after that, and then the two stopped conversing. Aria continued to gaze out her window, still unimpressed by the sights that her driver had seemingly relished.
As she continued her blank gaze, the evening gradually transitioned to night. The blazing orange sunset was doused away by a deep, dark blue, with street lights acting as beacons in the darkness. As soon as it hit Aria that nighttime had fallen, she realized something.
Why was she riding on this bus so late by herself?
“Uh…” she nervously said, “Pat?”
“Yes? Don’t be bashful, I’m here for ya.”
“Where…are we going?”
“Say what?” Pat replied, “Girl, you asked me in the wee hours of the morning for a ride on the Highway to Wherever. Gonna be a long ride unless you’ve got a destination.”
“Huh? Oh. I…” Aria started, “I thought I gave you one. I guess not. Sorry.”
“Well where do ya wanna go? I can’t drive forever.”
Aria started tearing up. “I…I just wanna be free.”
Pat was about to say something in response, but instead quickly pulled over to the side of the road. After that, he said, “Well, if you wanna feel free, you can’t just keep clinging to the ride, y’know? Freeing yourself starts with you finding your way out of whatever it is holding you back. This old hunk of cheese can’t help you with that.”
“But I don’t know my way out,” Aria replied, “I’ve got nowhere to take solace from what I’m running from.”
“It’s called the Highway to Wherever, yet you still think you’ve got nowhere to take solace?”
Aria let out a very audible sob. “What do I know anymore?”
Pat paused for a moment, and then said, “Tell you what, I’ll keep on driving, and be on the lookout for whatever might strike you as ‘somewhere’. How’s that sound?”
“I’m not too enlightened by that,” Aria replied, “but I guess I have no choice. Maybe nowhere can be somewhere.”
The ride continued after that. The only difference now was that the two had communicated a plan.