On the Road
by Jenn Dolari
It was hot out in the open wasteland, but Jana wasn't worried. There was still plenty of water and the wind felt good on against her skin, keeping the sun from cooking it too much. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of civilization in the last few hours, passing the last village a good number of miles ago. Jana hummed to herself a pop tune she remembered as Sylvia was being quiet again. The bike was handling the roads very well. Occasional bits of freeway showed up here and there that made the driving easier, but the bike handled the rougher areas smoothly if she slowed down a bit.
"I feel something."
That was the first thing that Sylvia had said in at least a hundred miles. She was talking again, which was good as she'd need to charge the bike up again soon. Jana brought the bike to a stop, pulling Sylvia's box out from her pack. "What is it?"
"I'm still not too sure. It might be another wisher, or a wish stone, but I'm...I'm still trying to figure out the difference between what I'm feeling and what I'm imagining."
"So, should I go on? Or stay?" Jana wasn't looking forward to staying. Without the wind, it would get very hot very quickly.
"I don't know. Stay for a minute. I have to try and figure out what this feeling is." Sylvia didn't know how to explain what was going on to Jana. She didn't want her to realize how stressed she was from retraining her magical abilities as senses now that her body was gone, let alone how scared she was stuck in her new predicament. She'd need Jana as much as Jana needed her, and a scared Jana was not going to be able to help either of them. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind, Sylvia felt something and she'd need to figure out what it was.
Jana sauntered down the road before she heard Sylvia shout. "Not too far, Jana! Stay near the bike." She kicked a rock across the grass cracked asphalt, she was bored and the asphalt was hot and the air was dry and the dust was getting in her eyes and-
"Jana!" Sylvia shouted.
Jana hung her head in overdramatical despair and made her way back slowly to the bike. "It's hot."
"Just a minute more, hun."
From the corner of her eye, she saw something glitter on the road. Walking by she noticed a sign buried in the parched dirt next to the road. "I found something, Sylvia!" She dusted the sign off with her hands. "It says 'The Fraternal Order of Buffalo Welcomes You to Monroe.' I think there's a town up ahead."
"On the line where we're headed?"
"I think so."
I think so, thought Sylvia not fully convinced. She wasn't sure of Jana's ability to get good directions, and, having trouble seeing the surroundings with her altered sight, Sylvia felt she needed confirmation before directing her on.
"Does it look like the sign is pointing to the town?"
"I...I don't know. It was on the ground in dust."
"Does it look like the sign was facing us? Or facing the other direction?" This was going to get tedious quickly.
"It was on the ground!"
"Can you tell where it was facing when it fell?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Yes."
That wasn't an answer, that was just her saying anything to say something. Jana wasn't going to get much farther in this game of Twenty Questions if she didn't wise up. "Jana, I need an answer from you, and I need you to think about it. Does it look like-?"
"I am thinking!" she shouted, and kicked the sign.
There was a long silence between them. She was eight, Sylvia reminded herself. For all Sylvia had taught her, she was still eight, and with all the maturity that came with it. Sometimes she wished the eighteen year old savage would reappear. At least she seemed a bit more reasonable and smashed valuables could be replaced. She relented. "Let's just go." Maybe she would concentrate better if Jana hummed a different pop tune.
Jana eagerly hopped on the bike and rode down the highway.
Monroe, Arkansas was a small town, and small towns could be dangerous, thought Sylvia. In small towns, you know who doesn't belong, and word could often get around faster than you could get out. They would have to tread carefully.
Sylvia felt that odd feeling again, only this time much stronger, and definitely the same feeling she got from Jin's stone and Vengeance.
"Pull over Jana, I think we're near another wisher."
Jana pulled over with a screech. She'd always wanted to do that, but wasn't expecting so much dust to fly up as they stopped. As Jana coughed up a lung, Sylvia chided her, "You're attracting attention."
A woman in tribal skins carrying around a skull in a box on a cherry red motorcycle, Jana thought. No, that wasn't attracting attention at all.
"Whoever it is, he's very close. Get me out of this pack, Jana."
Jana took the carved wooden box from her pack and cracked open the lid. "Is this better?"
As the box opened, Sylvia felt almost stabbed by the wishstone's presence. She tried sensing everything around them, and noticed an inn nearby where the feeling was getting stronger every second when a woman came into a view. A young brunette in a blue silk top walked into the inn. "The woman who just walked into the inn, that's her. She has to be one of the wishers."
"You can feel her?" Jana shifted the box back in her pack, "I guess we should go talk to her."
"Not in the inn, Jana. There are too many people there, and she might be there to meet someone. I have a better idea. Something to draw her out...."