Lost – part 3

Dawn broke and Bette fled the sun, fled the harsh light of time moving on. Donning yoga pants and a t-shirt, she grabbed her wallet and keys and burst from the house, trying to stay ahead of the demons.

She started the car and pointed it north. She drove until she had to get gas, and then she drove again, never acknowledging that life continued around her. When darkness again began to fall, she finally turned west and found a stretch of coastline as lifeless as her own eyes.

As she set foot on the thin strip of sand between rocks and sea, reality caught up with her and drove her to her knees. Her head bowed in defeat, and she wept.

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Tina stirred as the sun warmed the back of her neck and began to reflect off the waves before her. In no mood to meet early beach-goers, she retreated to her car and headed…where? She certainly couldnt return to the house, and had no desire to see any of her friends. So she just kept driving, making her way north, away from the heat of LA and the ashes of her life.

Only stopping for gas and a change of clothes, Tina tried to outrace her thoughts and her emotions.

They caught up with her soon after the sky began to meld with the blacktop, and her vision began to blur with moisture that no windshield wipers could clear. Pulling off the highway, she found a place near the coast that seemed isolated enough to offer protection from casual passers-by.

As the car rolled to a stop, Tina felt suddenly claustrophobic and sprang from the confines of her car. Stumbling in the darkness, she followed the noise of crashing waves to the small beach that faintly reflected the moons light. With tears still rolling down her cheeks, she settled back against a boulder and tried to lose herself once again in the vastness of the ocean at night.