It was strange waking up in a metal tube. I was confused how I got there in the first place, I had no recognition of any days before, and my mind seemed to be thus of a newborn baby's. I was numb and in shock, so in no way was I panicking (which is what any sane person would have done). Instead, I dazedly sat up, and gathered in my surroundings; large cut wires, a bow and quiver full of arrows, and about a meter ahead, an exit. I crawled towards the exit, given that the ceiling was low. The exit must have been burnt shut, because it was nearly impossible to open. After a few minutes of struggling I finally managed to shove open the door. It swung, and I tumbled out onto hard sandy ground. It seemed that this metal tube was in a junkyard in the desert. Before me I could see broken electrical wires leading towards a street.
I began towards the road when I tripped on a small metal hair clip. The crescent moon shape was beautiful, and even though I had this strange understanding that I shouldn't touch it, curiosity got the better of me and I picked it up. The moonlight radiated off the silver clip as the atmosphere abruptly turned eerie, like if all living entities had been wiped off the face of the earth. I quickly pinned it in my hair and started faster towards the road, but as I was 5 meters away the ground rippled and a half a dozen skeleton's with bows materialized around me.
Oh perfect, first I have had to wake up with no reconciliation of anything at all, with nowhere to go and now the undead want my head on a platter? How much weirder could this night get?
Apparently weirder. As soon as that thought entered my mind, the people who control the universe decided to test my livelihood. My gut wrenched and I yelled, my voice echoing out into the distance. A chasm opened up, swallowing each skelton at once. Once again the night was eerie, the only sound being me gasping for air. I crumbled to the ground, exhausted and scared. Sobs wracked my body as I curled up into the fetal position.
Ten minutes must have passed before I heard a car in the distance. I managed to pull myself up and tread towards the road, waving my arms around like a deranged person. Fortunately enough, the person behind the wheel saw, and slowed as they got closer to me. The man had long hair, down to his shoulders and a peace sign hanging on his rearview mirror. CDs were scattered around the passenger's seat, which he quickly threw in the back. "Going somewhere?"
Now, I believe there is a catchphrase that goes something like "Don't get in a stranger's car." but at this point, I was a scared twelve year old girl stranded in the desert with this man as my only way out. "Um, nowhere in particular sir, I just need to get out of here."
The man nodded as if he understood. "Tell you what kid, I'm driving up to Seattle right now to see a Pearl Jam concert. You can join me if you want, and then call someone there. Is that cool for you?"
I was about to mention that I knew no one to call, but decided that giving out too much personal information could only hurt me. I nodded instead.
"Dope. Hop in."
I pulled myself into the passenger's seat, and buckled my seatbelt. The car smelled a bit earthy, like you had just burnt a tree. I decided against mentioning it.
A few minutes in, the man grabbed one of the CDs from the back and popped it into the car's radio system. A guitar began strumming as the song began. Then a hoarse voice started singing.
Yes I understand
That every life must end
As we sit alone
I know someday we must go
Oh, I'm a lucky man
To count on both hands
The ones I love
Some folks just have one
Yeah, others they got none
Stay with me
Let's just breathe
The man in the car began singing along as he drove. I watched the desert night pass by as I listened to him sing.
Practiced on our sins
Never gonna let me win
Under everything
Just another human being
Yeah, I don't want to hurt
There's so much in this world
To make me bleed
Stay with me
You're all I see
Did anyone see me? Is there anyone out there looking for me? Missing me? I wish I could remember something, anything that would connect me to my past. The wind whistled as the song continued.
Did I say that I need you?
Did I say that I want you?
What if I did and I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me
'Cause I come clean
I wonder everyday
As I look upon your face
Everything you gave
And nothing you would take
Nothing you would take
Everything you gave
Did I say that I need you?
Oh, did I say that I want you?
What if I did and I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me
'Cause I come clean
Nothing you would take
Everything you gave
Hold me 'til I die
Meet you on the other side
The song ended as an unsettling feeling washed over me. Something, someone, wanted me to hear that song. The lines resonated deep in my bones, chilling me to the core. I could explain how I knew, but someone, somewhere, wanted me to hear this knowing that this song perfectly explained not only my life that I can't remember, but the loved ones live's that I used to know.
"Hey kid?" The man's voice shook me away from my train of thought.
"Hm?"
"What were you doing out there in the middle of nowhere?"
"Uh," This was a cinch. How could I answer this without telling the man that I didn't remember anything from my past? "I don't know."
"Whaddya mean? Don't you remember?"
"Not exactly sir."
"Ah." The man turned back towards the road, humming along to the next song on the CD. I watched the road go by out the window, slowly lulling me to sleep.
***
When I woke up, the car was parked outside a gas station, and the man was filling up the gas. We had seemed to reach somewhere outside of the desert, because there were trees around and it was raining.
The man saw me, and opened the door. "Ah, your awake kid. I brought you some breakfast from the 7-11." He pointed to the convenience store behind him, then handed me a bag. Inside was a lukewarm ham and cheese croissant. I devoured the food, forgetting the last time I ate. It seemed like.. forever ago.
"Where are we?" I asked the man as he got in the car.
"Mill City, Oregon. In a few hours we'll be in Seattle."
"Okay." I watched the rain droplets race down the side of my window. One was so close to the bottom. The other followed a different rain path and won.
I watched the man pull out a small piece of paper at a stop sign. He took out a small jar of something that looked significantly like oregano and began mashing a bit of it. Then he wet the paper and put the oregon stuff inside, rolling it up. He licked one side of the paper and kind of taped it to the rest of the roll. "What are you doing?" I asked as he twisted one side.
"Rolling a joint."
"What's that?"
"Oh, kid, uh it's like a cigarette but instead of tobacco it's marijuana." He lit the twisted side and inhaled.
"Can I try it?"
The man began coughing and pounded his chest as he wheezed. "Uh, no kid. You're young and I don't want you to mess up your brain."
"You're doing it."
"Touche. Still your brain is not fully developed and I don't want to change that."
"Fine." I huffed, crossing my arms. I'm pretty sure waking up with no memories and then having a horde of skeletons attack you is more brain damaging then that roll of marijuana but whatever.
"Look kid, if you still want to try it when you're older I can't stop you, but for now, at least while you're in my custody, you ain't takin no drugs."
At least he was being sincere. "Okay. Hey, what was the name of the band you're seeing again?"
The man's eyes lit up. "Pearl Jam."
"Oh, okay. Who are they?"
"Well, Eddie Vedder is the lead vocalist and plays the guitar, Mike McCready is on lead guitar, Jeff Ament is on bass and Matt Cameron plays percussion. McCready, Ament, and Cameron all sing backing vocals. That album I put on yesterday was them."
"Oh. That's cool. Can I see them perform?"
"If me and my buddies I'm meeting up with manage to smuggle you in, sure."
"Cool! I've never been to a concert before."
The man chuckled. "Well kid, I wouldn't really call this a concert."
We drove for a few more hours before I could see a large clustering of skyscrapers in the distance. Near the waterfront sailboats and ferries were going to and from the port. A UFO looking monument neared the center of the city, it's red light blinking.
"Is this Seattle?"
"Yep, sure is kid, we'll be at the lot soon."
As the man drove through the city streets, I looked up at the large skyscrapers. I couldn't see the tops from the car window. People walked through the rain in jackets and umbrellas, sipping hot drinks. Even though it was winter, it wasn't snowing. Granted it was quite cold, much colder than it had been wherever I was, but not cold enough to turn the rain into snow.
The man took a few turns until he drove through a back alley, stopping right in front of a small door in the building. "Here we are kid, welcome to Seattle."