95
July 22, 2017 - 303 words
I drove into a new city this morning and as usual I was overwhelmed with its alien-ness. That feeling of penetrating a weird boundary never goes away. The only solution is to visit every city in the world, but that was a long list and I was just getting started. The previous city was already feeling too comfortable and familiar. Too lived in.
Mera had begged me not to leave her last night but she knew I was just passing through and had to press on. Press on into what? Well good question. Just into anything. Something new and different. I think that’s why she attached herself so quickly: I would be gone in the morning. She saw something in me that was more than human. Some projection of her own. I recognized it immediately only because I’ve done it too many times. Just last month actually I put somebody up there on that well-worn pedestal. I can’t say I’m used to the obsessive attention of a pretty girl so I admit I considered staying. Where did I have to be anyway?
“So I’m not going to see you ever again, am I?”
“No you will not.”
“…Thanks for coming into my life.”
It feels really good to listen to your gut when it’s telling you what you need to hear. Something warned me if I stayed with Mera even for one more day her problems would become my problems. So ahead of an approaching thunderstorm I gave her a kiss that I probably shouldn’t have and after checking my tires, oil, and maps one last time I went east.
Several hours later the next city materialized in the desert air and I saw in it another alien mystery, another Mera, and another chance to figure out what I was doing out here.