All Alone
The moment the car ran out of gas, I knew it. It coughed and jerked, slowing down along the highway. I had no choice but to park it by the side of the road. Then the engine died completely.
"No!" I cried, punching the steering wheel angrily. "Don't do this!"
But the car remained dead. My girlfriend, Tash, seating beside me muttered, "you can shout all you want. But that is not going to fill an empty tank."
Letting out a deep breath, I turned to her, "I'm sorry about this. I should have been checking the fuel gauge."
"Don't beat yourself up. We just need to find the nearest gas station so we can continue our journey."
"At this time of the night?"
All around us, The highest was covered in pitch, no other car could be seen coming it going. We were alone.
"Well, it's either that or we sleep here." Tash pointed out, "and I don't wanna sleep here."
"Neither do I," I replied, taking out a map from my glovebox. I turned on the interior light and used it to study the map. "So, this is where we are at the moment, and the closest gas station is here." I was pointing at the spots on the map, "if maybe the station is not open, we walk on a bit and book a room at this motel for the night. Okay?"
"I can work with that."
We got out of the car, locking it securely behind us. And hand in hand, with the map in my pocket, we began to walk, leaving the car behind.
The highway was a lonely and winding stretch of road. Apart from us, there was no other sign of life. No hooting owls, croaking frogs, or chirping crickets.
"This place is creepy," Tash muttered, squeezing my hand.
"Yeah, I'm feeling it too baby." I pulled her closer.
As we took the next turn, I began to get a weird feeling.
"Hold on, something odd is going on here." I took out the map from my pocket and with my penlight studied it. "According to the map, this road should be straight. No curves."
"Maybe we've not reached the straight roads yet."
"No, you don't get it. There are no curved roads on this map. The road from where we left the car to this place should have been straight."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I don't know. But this is the correct map. Come one."
We kept on walking, our feet touching the ground lightly as we took the next turn.
"What the..." I gasped.
"Oh no!" Tash cried, her mouth falling open.
The car we had left behind us was now before us. Somehow, we had walked back to the spot we parked our car.
"How the hell is this possible?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe we doubled back by--"
"No. I don't think so. Let's keep moving. And this time, we go the right way."
We kept walking, leaving the car behind us again. And soon, we found it before us once more.
"No! No!! No!!! What is happening?" I cried into the night, my voice echoing in the quiet.
The car was still just as we had left it. It seemed we were in a loop. Unable to leave this part of the highway. And if we tried, it only led us back to the beginning.
"Oh my God..." Tash groaned, "what does this mean for us?"
My hands dropped to my sides.
"I think we're in trouble. Get into the car, we have to spend the night there. In the morning we will figure this out."
Hopefully, by then all this madness would be explained.
The End.
Thank you for reading.