by Leela Ash
“Come on,” she coached herself, “once we’re there, you don’t even have to see them.”
She pulled her suitcase out from the bottom of the closet, heaved it up onto the bed and opened it. She would pack fast and then she would get herself to bed. She didn’t want to wake up cranky and then have to endure the car journey feeling even more annoyed and agitated than necessary.
She folded in the clothes and breathed a sigh of relief. She would switch off and try to forget her mother’s cruel words and the feeling of dread that she had inside of her. It had been a tough few months back at home, but this weekend, she was escaping it all and heading for the mountains. She could spend the entire week lying in the sun, basking by the lakes or even heading up in the lifts to the tops of the mountains to ski, hike or take in the views. She didn’t want to admit that she would much rather be lying on a beach somewhere, sipping a cocktail and being waited on by hunky men in tight underwear, but whatever this little mountain town had to throw at her, she would have to make it work.
She closed the suitcase and pulled it down to the floor. As she flopped down on the bed, her stomach was growling with hunger and all she wanted to do was sneak downstairs and take a plate of food, but she wouldn’t give her mom the satisfaction. Instead, she wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and closed her eyes.
Only one more sleep and then she would be out of there. Whether her family were in tow or not, she was going to make sure she had the best vacation ever.
2.
The open road stretched out ahead of them and Poppy lay her head lightly against the window, dreaming of being out there and being free. She had always romanticized of what it would be like to run far, far away, but she had never had the nerve. As she sat in the back of the car with her mother, she pretended that that was exactly what she was doing. She was no longer a lost girl on a family vacation, she was a woman on the run. A woman on the hunt for her destiny. A woman who knew what she wanted.
A little smile flitted over her lips and she closed her eyes, satisfied. It was a good feeling to pretend sometimes, but she only wished that it could all be real.
“So, the GPS says we’re about an hour out,” her dad said over his shoulder. “You gals okay to keep on going or do you need a rest break?”
Poppy just wanted to get there. She didn’t want to stop and drag out the painful journey any longer than necessary, but she had the feeling her mom may have other ideas.
“I could do with stretching my legs,” her mom said as she cricked her neck. “So, yes, let’s pull over when you can.”
Poppy rolled her eyes underneath her sunglasses and stifled a yawn. Up in front, James turned on the radio and some classic rock drifted through to the backseat. Their father tapped the wheel and hummed along to the tune.
Poppy spied the sign for the rest area before anyone else and debated not saying anything, but she knew it was pointless.
“Ahh, here we go,” her dad smiled over his shoulder as he slapped on the indicator and started to pull to the side of the highway and off onto a dusty road.
They pulled into the parking lot and Poppy looked around. There was a small gas station attached to a convenience store and an old looking block of restrooms out back near some woodland. She scrunched up her nose and tried to decide whether she should just sit tight and wait for them to return, but her legs were stiff and her mind was buzzing and she had to get out of there. She leaned over and opened up the car door, and as she stepped out into the afternoon sun, she stretched her arms high above her head and reached for the sky.
She hadn’t looked at the time when they had left home earlier that morning, but she could tell that they had already passed lunch time without a stop or pause in their driving. Poppy’s dad was like a man on a mission. He wanted to get his family to their destination, and then they could think about other things such as eating or taking a break. She was surprised that he had even suggested that they pull over in the first place.
“Right,” her mom said as she walked around the side of the car. “I’m going to the little girls’ room…” She giggled like a child and then hurried off toward the patch of woodland and the block of toilets that looked old and abandoned.
I’m not going in there, Poppy thought. She could almost feel the tickle of the cobwebs that were no doubt covering the ceiling and walls in there, and she shuddered. She was surprised her mother was being so relaxed about heading in there herself, considering how high maintenance she usually acted.
“God, just get me to our cabin,” James sighed as he leaned back against the car door next to Poppy. “I can’t take much more of being stuck with these two…” He yawned and scratched the back of his neck.
“Well, at least I’m not alone there,” Poppy laughed.
They watched as their dad talked to the gas station attendant and then walked slowly back to the car and started to fill it up.
“I wish I hadn’t said I would come,” Poppy whispered.
James looked almost offended and then half laughed.
“Well, at least it’s only a week,” he said. “Free holiday… You know what they say…” he raised his eyebrows. “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Poppy rolled her eyes again and she had the distinct feeling that she was going to be doing that a lot on this particular trip. Even though James was young, he was a total smart ass, and she could tell that he was going to spend as much time as possible trying to get a rise out of her. She ignored him and sighed.
Her dad was still humming the tune that had been playing on the radio and her mother was nowhere to be seen. She looked across at James who looked half asleep behind his shades and she reached down into the backseat and pulled out her purse.
“Back in a minute,” she said to no one in particular as she turned her back on the car and began to walk over to the convenience store. She was going to need to be prepared to get through the next week with the three of them, and she hadn’t thought anything through, but as she stood there in the rest area, she knew what she needed more than anything.
Booze.
She pushed the door to the store open and tried not to let the man behind the counter realize that she could feel his eyes all over her as she made her way up and down the aisles. She prayed for a miracle, that somewhere inside of that dusty little store, there would be a few bottles of wine, or at least a miniature bottle of vodka, but she was completely out of luck.
“Fuck,” she hissed as she turned on her heel and made her way back to the front of the store.
Instead, she found herself at the magazine rack and pulled down a dusty and very old copy of Cosmo. It was two years old and she could tell that this wasn’t the kind of place that would restock regularly, but if she didn’t have alcohol to help her through the rest of the car journey, then out of date beauty tips and celebrity gossip was going to have to do…
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