(no subject)
Top Dogs
It was a cold night in June, abnormal weather from the very start. The small town of Clara, Nebraska was not known for much; no tourists ever came there. After the highways had been built, the town didn’t have much life in it. Shops were still open, but not necessarily making any money. The town had become deserted in just a few short years.
Four friends didn’t mean to end up in Clara, Nebraska, but they did. Driving as far as they could in one direction was something they did on a regular basis, but they usually stuck to the highway and didn’t dare go off the path for fear of getting lost. But something was different about this night.
There they sat in Harry’s old minivan that he had inherited, their minds wandering. There was Harry, a tall, lanky Vietnamese fellow, behind the wheel, jamming to the radio. Next to him in the passengers seat was Melissa, a friend he had met while in school, and they really enjoyed each other’s company, and she kept him in check. Behind Harry was Steve, a large fellow with curly dirty blonde hair and a knack for not paying much attention. In the seat next to Steve was Christian, the burnout. He was the only one who smoked, and was doing so. No one minded.
“You had to fucking take that exit. It’s a good idea you said. Where the fuck are we now Harry?” Christian said, not the least bit trying to hide his frustration.
“We’re making a loop. We’ll be back at the highway in no time,” Harry said back calmly. He didn’t take his eyes off the road.
“Don’t worry about it Christian, we’ll be fine, I mean, c’mon, we’ve gotten out of way worse situations before,” Melissa said, taking a big slug of the Dr. Pepper she had bought at the last gas station.
“Bull shit,” Christian muttered to himself. But it didn’t really bother him too much. Harry did things like this all the time. He took a hard drag off of his Marlboro red, and exhaled hard, like he was letting the frustration out. He felt better.
Christian looked over at Steve, who was content to play his Gameboy. His eyes never strayed from the glowing screen. The beef jerky he had bought was now merely a wrapper at his feet.
“It’s fucking dark in here. I can’t read a god damn thing,” Christian said aloud.
Everyone just rolled their eyes. They hated when he acted like this. He didn’t care about things most of the time, but when he was making a point of it to single out every little thing, he made sure to do it a lot.
“Don’t worry about it. Just smoke your cigarette and you’ll be happy,” Steve shot back, keeping his eyes fixed on the Gameboy. “Not like you’re actually gonna read it anyway, seeing as you don’t know how to read.”
Harry and Melissa chuckled in the front. Steve kept his eyes on the game. Christian decided to let them win this round.
“Yeah well… you suck,” Christian said half-heartedly.
They all started to laugh. It was true, up until a few years ago Christian had been unable to read. He had had a strange learning disability that prevented him from reading correctly, but then she had come along and helped him out. The laughter died down. They all fell silent. They knew Christian was thinking about her. Harry didn’t take his eyes off the road. Steve was glued to his Gameboy. Melissa decided to turn on the radio. Nothing but static. It had grown dark outside.
They all went to the same school, little place called Northwest University. Located in Vocation, Texas, it was where they all now carried on. The four had decided to get an apartment together, just because they didn’t want to live with strangers. It was a four bedroom place, pretty nice, with a plenty of space for each of them. You could walk through the place and know who slept where, just by the smells.
Harry’s room smelled of rice, since he kept a rice cooker in it for when he was staying up all night and needed something to eat. He loved filling in the asian stereotype, and loved it whenever someone would ask why he had it in there.
Melissa’s room smelled of all sorts of wonderful aromas. She burned candles of all types, because they kept her calm she said. She had recently taken a liking to the sugar cookie smelling candles, because it gave Steve and Christian false hopes on a regular basis.
Old soda and beef jerky was the odor that emanated from Steve’s cave. He stayed on his computer a lot, and liked to have things easy to get to. So he kept a lot of them right next to him
Christian’s room reeked of cigarettes and marijuana. Mostly the cigarettes were all that flooded out, but from time to time they’d walk in and he’d be at his bong, music blaring. No one minded. From time to time they might even join in.
But that wasn’t where they were. They were on a back road in Harry’s Caravan feeling restless. A sign in the distance reflected back the head lights, blinding Harry for a moment, making him swerve the car.
“God damn it Harry, don’t do that!” Christian barked.
“Sorry. But anyway, looks like we’re coming up on… Clara. Clara, Nebraska. Wow, we must really be in the middle of nowhere.” Harry said.
“Clara? Sounds like a place in a movie where people get killed. We should stop there!” Melissa said excitedly.
And so they did. All the windows were up in the Caravan, and it didn’t look like anywhere on the street was open. All the lights inside the buildings were off, but the street lamps, one at every corner, were on. They stepped out of the van, Harry just about fell over.
“What the hell is that smell?!” he exclaimed.
“Smells like… something burning. Something really gross burning.” Christian said, almost matter of factly.
“Well, it stinks, and it doesn’t look like anything is open. We might as well get back in and keep going.” Harry said.
They had meandered a bit down the street, but were in no way ready for what sight greeted them when they turned around.
“Uhhh… it’s gone.” Steve said.
“Gone? What do you mean it’s gone? Cars don’t just disappear Steve.” Christian said before turning around. “Holy shit it’s gone.”
So there they stood, standing on a street with no open shops, and just a few streetlights, with the smell of something they didn’t want to know about burning in the distance.
“Well, no sense in not smoking a cigarette then.” Christian said, then reached in his pocket, retrieving his pack and lighter. He pulled out one of his reds, put it in his lips, and went to flick the lighter on. But something stopped him.
A flash of light. A dull hum. And with those two swift actions, Clara, Nebraska ceased to be.
White light flooded his head, and slowly Christian opened his eyes. He looked left, he looked right, looking for anything that looked like his friends. But all he saw was white, far into the distance any way he looked. His arms slowly came up to his eyes, and rubbed them, then reopened them. Where was this?
Suddenly, a familiar feeling. This smell… this heavenly smell… he closed his eyes, searching hard in his mind for where he had experienced it before. But before he could remember he felt a presence. He was not ready for what he saw.
In front of him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair was silver and long, flowing back. Her skin was pale, but not too pale, and her eyes shimmered in the most radiant blue he had ever seen. In that instant he felt as though he had seen someone like her before… but it was too faint.
“Who… who are you?” he asked, his mind still reeling.
She said nothing. She simply smiled, and floated toward him. He was speechless, he suddenly couldn’t say anything. Her arms floated up, cutting through her silver flowing hair like a knife. She smiled, and closed her eyes. She moved in close, her arms and hair enveloping him. She moved in close to his ear.
“Not yet,” she whispered.
And with that, he opened his eyes again. There he was, lying on now nothing but dirt. He stood up, brushed his legs and shoulders off. He looked around. The sun was coming up, he could see it on the horizon. Everything rushed through his mind in an instant. The smell, the abandoned shops… what had happened? It was gone. Nothing was there.
He looked around frantically. Where were they? What happened to them? Where was Harry? Where was Melissa? Where was Steve? He didn’t see them. Something was wrong. What could’ve happened last night? He was lost.
A cough cut the silence that had surrounded him. What? Who was it? Frantically, he ran towards the sound. Or, he would have, but he fell the instant he tried to run. Dust in his face, he looked up. Someone was over there. He concentrated hard to try and stand up. He stared at where the sound had come from. Out of nowhere, he saw Harry’s body rise up. What had just happened?
He fell down and passed out. Had he lifted Harry off the ground? But… but how? It all went black, and that’s all he knew.