Re-Routing

Act One: Scene One

The sunlight filtered through the trees, a warm summers day, a normal day in the mountains, on a remote, desolate road. No other cars in sight, no people, just the hint of farmhouses every now and again. A mini van winds a corner, coming up towards a branching path, left or right.

"Take a left! Take a left!" The woman in the passenger seat, Michelle screamed at her husband, Sam, pointing at the phone resting on a stand over the dashboard. The change lasted only half a second, but she caught it.

"I know where I'm going!" There was a pregnant pause before he turned the wheel to the left. "Fine! You and your stupid device!"

"It's not a stupid device. It's a GPS!" His wife folded her hands across her lap, looking away from him, only irritating him further.

"Stop fighting!" In the backseat, their daughter, Nicole, held her hands over her head, shouting, looking at the ground.

"Don't be such a baby." Alan, their son chimed in, quick to tease his little sister.

"Don't tease your sister." Michelle turned around, leaning over, attempting to give the most intimidating glare a mother could muster.

"We're not fighting!" Alan and Nicole yelled back in harmony, tears in Nicole's eyes.

The car jerked left, Sam cursed to himself, Michelle sat back and looked at her husband, ready to scream.

"Sam! For Christ's sake are you trying to kill us?"

"You said go left!" He responded in a defensive tone.

"Do you always have to be such an asshole?"

"Mom said a bad word." Alan snickered in the backseat, elbowing Nicole.

"Shut up." Nicole whined back at him.

"No, you shut up!"

Sam slammed his foot on the brakes, causing the car to swerve and stop in the middle of the road, blocking both lanes. His head snapped back, wide angry eyes staring right through Alan and Nicole's souls.

"I'll turn around, so help me God."

"Dad!" Alan and Nicole yelled in unison again.

"Sam." Michelle tugged on his arm.

"We're going to have a fun weekend!" Sam looked forward at the road, still no cars anywhere in sight. He took a deep breath, determined to not look at Michelle. "So, let's all calm down."

"Sam, please, we'll get hit." Michelle pleaded. He finally looked over at her. "Please, just keep moving." Sam let go of the brakes and started to drive down the winding road.

After a moment of silence, Alan decides to ask, "where does the GPS say to go?"

"The GPS is acting up." Michelle responds automatically, Sam gives her a look. "Five miles on this road, then a right."

The road seemed to dissolve into a forest path, the asphalt giving way to gravel. One of those roads long forgotten by the world except for the empty houses that seem to fill in the background every few hundred yards. Sam wondered what it must be like living here, so far away from the rest of the world? Looking in his rear view mirror, Alan and Nicole fighting quietly, he wondered if that type of peace can be obtained?

"What did I just say?" Sam failed at not raising his voice, he could feel Michelle's gaze fixated on him. Honing in like icy daggers. Was this really his fault? Why isn't she helping him?

Moments bleed into the air without a sound coming from the backseat or front seat. The GPS seemed to rotate, having trouble with consistency. What else is new? Sam thought. They drove towards a clearing, the tree's gave way, maybe they were getting closer to a town. There was a gas station sitting on the left, they were about to pass it. There was something odd about it, Sam couldn't place his fingers on it.

"That's strange..." Michelle tapped at the GPS.

"Be careful you might break it." Sam responded.

"Is everything okay?" Nicole's little voice popped up from the back. Before Sam could respond, Michelle interrupted him.

"The GPS says we're here." She paused, Sam looked around, there was nothing except a few farmhouses and the gas station around, and a cresting hill. They were no where near the campground site, Sam thought. There's at least an hour drive left. "That can't be right. I think it's acting up again." Michelle's voice started to change from frustration to anxious, Sam hoped the kids wouldn't notice.

"Big surprise. We should have just gotten a map." Sam without missing a beat, spun the car around in an illegal u-turn while Michelle screamed at him.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to ask for directions!" He parked the car in front of the gas station. No workers outside, no cars in the lot, just the pumps and the doors. The only thought that lingered was, how could this get worse?

"Sam! Come back here." Michelle stuck her head out of the window, as Sam got out of the car. He didn't turn around, she hated when he got like this, it was like talking to the kids.

"I'm going too." Before Michelle could react, Nicole jumped out of the car and ran after her father. Michelle sat in the idling car, looking at the GPS spinning, wishing they were just there already.

"Nicole, get back in here!"

Michelle called out uselessly, she knew it was useless but she felt like she didn't have a choice. Nicole was already right next to her father. Michelle watched them stand in front of the door, looking in to see if anyone was there.

Alan leaned forward and snatched the GPS from the dashboard before Michelle could protest. "Let me see. Whoa, it's all weird." Alan held the phone out and turned it around, examining it from all angles. He started to zoom in and out.

"Alan, give that back. What are you doing?" Michelle reached for the GPS until she saw the look of confusion plastered on her son's face.

"Look, right here." He turned the GPS over, showing her a part of the map. "Where did everything go?"

Alan zoomed out, beyond a mile, but the map wouldn't load. In fact, beyond the immediate circle of green, grey, and some blue, there was nothing but white texture that stretched on endlessly.

"Honey, we lost service, that's all." Michelle said more to herself, than to her son.