Not Ever Lost on the Path to Saera-Yoo

The stars above told a story old as time. The air was heavy and humid, smelling faintly of rosemary and false orange. They each studied the sky as they could. He looked to the path ahead and it was clear, so he looked as he could, and she did so too when she could sit still long enough. Together, driving quietly, until at last Rufea could hold no longer.

“What are you looking for Papa?” then coughed. Her eyes red and sad.

“Something beautiful made by accident,” he returned, cheerfully.

“An accident?” she asked, tiny brows pushing together thoughtfully. Surrounding them the road blurred. No car passed in either direction for a fair time. He reached and turned the radio’s knob. Various channels of static crackled through the speakers.

He said, “Don’t all things come from accidents?” He glanced at his daughter and shrugged.

“Are we lost, Papa?”

He laughed, eyes falling upon the map in the center console. The bright satellite arrow lay far from anything else on it. “Not at all,” he said. “But getting to Saera-Yoo is no simple thing.”

“Oh,” she said, easing back the power seat until she could see straight up through the sunroof while laying down. She said, “If it’s still there to look through at night, why do they call it a sunroof?”

Her father said nothing. He watched steady blips of white dashes lining the center of the asphalt ahead. He could almost read it like some digital transmission. Dash-dash-dash-dot… Suddenly, he pulled off to the side of the road. There sat a solitary highway patrol car. Drawing up next to its driver’s door, he dropped the window. An officer in the driver’s seat glanced at the girl then focused on her father.

“Help you?” said she.

“Road open as far as Saera-Yoo this time of year?” he asked. The officer smiled. He did not know what she hid behind those mirrored sunglasses, but her words were short and smart. 

“Not sure,” she said. “What’s its name?” He told her again and the little girl beside him snickered. “In fairness,” the officer returned, “don’t get out of Small River much. But as far as that goes, haven’t heard of any significant closures.”

“Thank you, officer!” he said. “Have a great day.”

She turned her attention into a magazine and said, “You too,” without looking back.

He pulled onto the highway once again. His daughter said, “She thinks you’re silly.”

“She’s wrong,” he answered.

“Just like Momma,” said she, crossing her arms. After a moment of silence, adding, “Is it even real, Papa?”

He said nothing and drove ahead, knowing they were anything but lost. No one could get lost on the road to Saera-Yoo. But it was no simple thing in discovering its secret. Soon his daughter began to snore softly, and he was glad she was on her way.

Flash Issue 11