SHORT STORY: THE DRIVE

“Come to me,” the grating voice called to her from the void.

Katherine's eyes were open before her mind could register that she wasn't sleeping anymore. Always the same voice, always the same command, and always the same direction. Where that direction will lead her, Katherine doesn't know. But she also doesn't care anymore. For years the voice has been calling to her, and at last she's following.

Katherine pulled her chair back into the upright position and laid her hands on the cold steering wheel, rubbing it to warm it up before she'd have to keep a hold of the steering wheel to drive. Each morning was colder than the one before it. If she didn't find where the voice was coming from soon, her blankets wouldn't be enough to keep her warm through the nights.

“One more day,” She told herself, just like she'd told herself since the day she began her cross country road trip. Of course, she didn't know it was going to be such a long trip at the time. Two, maybe three days of driving. Today marked the sixth day. People would be worried by this time. Her decision to leave happened so suddenly she didn't even call in to work and get the time off. Then there was her busybody sister, Bethany, who came over almost every day to check in on her. Ever since they were young, Bethany had been that way, trying to take care of her, make sure she was okay. When Katherine was seven she appreciated the guardianship of her older sister. Now that she was a grown woman it came off as bothersome.

With a teeth chattering sigh, Katherine turned the key and the engine turned. At first it protested to being started in the cold but eventually it growled to life. The voice from her dream was still vivid in her mind and she inherently knew the direction it had called to her from; ahead and a little to the left.

Without further protest from the engine, Katherine put the car into drive and pulled out of the rest stop. If anyone had asked Katherine two days ago, she would have said rest stops were a thing of the past, but Arizona, it seemed, had missed that memo and she'd been quite pleased when she discovered vending machines at the last one. Gummy bear wrappers and candy bar crumbs now littered the passenger seat as well as the floor.

“Come to me,” Katherine muttered to herself, recalling the sense of direction she'd felt that morning. As the sun rose, the sense of direction lessened until midday when she just had to guess which way to go and hope she didn't pass it during the rest of the day.

She wished the sun were warmer. The blinding sunlight over the Arizona desert was unbearable at times and she was forced to pull over on more than one occasion to rest her watering eyes. She couldn't rest long, though. She had to keep going, keep driving, until she found the source of the voice. Too many miles were already behind her just to turn around now.

That night she found yet another rest stop and pulled in. She was too tired to get out and check if this one had vending machines as well so she reached into the back seat and pulled her cooler up to the front of the car. Within was the remnants of the loaf of bread she'd bought the day before, along with the jars of peanut butter and jam. After a lackluster meal, she spread her blankets out over herself and leaned her chair back. She was crazy for going on this journey, Katherine thought as she shut her eyes, but hopefully the journey would be over soon.

“Come to me,” the voice said, and Katherine drove on with a manic passion as the sun rose high above in the sky. This was the fifth time that day that the voice had spoken to her, and she was awake. The direction of the voice pounded on her head like a migraine and she knew she must be close.

Forward, the thumping pulled her, ever forward. Katherine didn't even pay any attention to the signs on the road anymore. She didn't care where she was, or how fast she was going, so long as she reached the voice today. It had to be today or it would all be for nothing. She passed perhaps a half dozen other cars on the road over a four hour period of time flying by them as though they were standing still. She thanked the voice each time, grateful that none of the cars was a police car. She couldn't be bothered with getting pulled over. Not now that she was so close.

The sun slowed in its ascent into the sky and eventually it began to sink. Katherine urged her car on, driving as fast as she dared.

“Come to me,” the voice called to her, less ephemeral and more substantial than before.

“I'm coming,” Katherine panted, “Just wait, please wait.”

Suddenly, the thumping in her head shifted to her right and she pulled on the steering wheel, slamming on the brakes at the same time. The car turned and slid, its tires squealing along the pavement and for a moment Katherine thought the car was going to flip over. Her knuckles clenched white to the steering wheel, eyes shut tight, she felt the car rock to a stop and the engine cut out.

“Come to me,” came the call, just outside her car.

Katherine opened her eyes. Dust swirled about her and in the evening light it was difficult to see anything more than a few feet away.

“Come to me,” the voice implored and Katherine thought she could see a figure through the shifting dust.

“I'm here!” Katherine cried out with excitement as she unbuckled her seat belt, “I'm coming!”

With a click, her seat belt released and Katherine threw open her door. In a flash she was out of her car and she felt so light, so free, it was as though she were flying. The air sped passed her as she flew, the ground below her moving faster and faster as the voice called to her, rejoicing with her in her success at finally arriving. Clouds whipped by with their chilly wetness but Katherine didn't mind. She wept with joy as she flew, free at last from her tedious job, free at last from Bethany and her nagging, free from everything.

The clouds began to thin and Katherine strained to see through the whipping wind what was on the other side. At last they parted and Katherine saw the canyon floor. In the last few split seconds leading up to her striking the ground, Katherine's joy turned to dread. The voice lied to her, tricked her, lured her to her death. She hadn't been flying, she'd been falling. The canyon must have been foggy and that was the clouds she thought she'd been moving through.

Perhaps Bethany had been right all along. Perhaps she should have taken her medicine, instead of flushing them away. Perhaps—

*     *     *

Thoughts? I didn't have as much time to work on this one as I would have liked, and I fear the development of Katherine's character is a bit lacking. But that aside, what worked for you? Impressions on the ending? Too obvious? Too much explanation? Was it good?