The road was dark, and the only light was that of the occasional car that sped by on its way to a nice warm bed. But Jack didn’t have a nice warm bed to go to. Not for now, at least. He’d gone in too deep for him to go back, and pretend nothing happened. His mom would know, his dad would know, his neighbors would know. If he wasn’t careful, the cops would know in about 24 hours.

    Still. He was determined. He would understand the letter, or at least try, if it was the last thing he did. So he kept walking into the darkness. Of course, he didn’t know where he was going, or where he’d go after he got to where he was currently going. He didn’t know where he was even. He knew he was on a road, and he knew he’d been in his town before, but as far as where he was heading, and where he currently was, was all a mystery.

    And as the minutes dragged, so did his feet. He’d been walking so long, in utter darkness mind you, to God knows where, and he didn’t even have food with him. No blanket either. No pillow. All he had were some clothes in his backpack, and the letter. That stupid letter. It wasn’t intriguing anymore, it was annoying. Why had he gone all the way out here, following a letter he’d received mysteriously? What had he been thinking?

    His feet hurt so bad. The balls of his feet throbbed everytime he lifted his feet, and they practically crunched when they hit the ground. And as he rolled his step, his heel sent a needles up his calf. He’d been walking for hours. Endlessly walking to nowhere. Why was he still doing this?

    He looked to his right at the trees. Maybe, he could rest his eyes for a few moments. It’d be nice to sit in the dark, away from the cars, and close his eyes. He stood and stared at the darkness that surrounded the trees, longing to hide in it. To sleep, even for only a few minutes. But where was he? What if someone drove by in the morning and recognized him? What if they took him back home before he could understand that stupid letter? He shook his head, desperately fighting with sleep. A car passed and he saw a large sign ahead of him briefly, as their headlights flooded his vision. Curious, he slowly and carefully walked towards the sign. He looked up at it, and could see the moonlight reflecting off of parts of it in the darkness. He rested his head against one of the supports, and closed his eyes for a second, trying to regain some strength. As he opened his eyes, he could see light coming from behind him. Instinctively, he turned towards the blinding lights, and then in a split second turned back to the sign trying to shield his eyes. But as he turned, he noticed the words spelled out on the sign. Welcome to North Carolina. He had reached the state line then. He yawned, and looked back at the trees. They were so inviting. He couldn’t help himself, not anymore. He stumbled into the forest, and curled up beneath a tree, his feet throbbing as the limply hung from his legs. Then he closed his eyes, letting the darkness suck him into its arms.

    What was that noise? Jack bolted upright. Nothing. He relaxed and snuggled back up against the tree, trying to get some sleep in. There it was again. He sat up again and looked around. He didn’t like that sound, not one bit. He stood up, and brushed the grass off his pants, looking around the trees. It was silent again. Then, the sound once again echoed through the trees, it was some sort of high pitched screech. Jack turned quickly back towards the road, not wanting to wait to find out what the noise was, and stated his trek down the highway once again.

    The sweat that ran down Jack’s face glistened as the rising sun peeked over the hills ahead. Jack stopped, breathing in slowly and deeply as he tried to fill his gasping lungs. A city limits sign appeared to his side, as he continued walking. He slowed his pace, and let the wind from cars passing by cool him down. Not too long passed before a concrete median appeared in the middle of the road with a ragged man sleeping underneath a light pole. Jack stopped and stared at him, watching the old man’s beard go up and down with each breath. Jack took a step towards the man, trying to see him better. Then, overwhelmed by emotions, walked towards the man, hoping to help him in someway. As Jack got closer, he saw a sign laided in the man’s lap that reads something about a lost job and no money. The man jolted awake, and Jack jumped back, scared by the sudden movement.

    “Get lost, ya trespassing teenager.”

    “I-”

    “You gonna stand there looking lost, or are you gonna leave?” The man sat up, crumbs falling out of his beard.

    Jack backed up, and turned to leave. Once he’d turned, he heard laughter and then voices. He stopped, and listened.

    “Hey! Old freak!”

    “Did you go camping again?” Laughter.

Jack turned, an anger boiling in him. Three teenage boys stood laughing and looking down at the man.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” The man replied.

“Don’t you have anything better to do? Like a job?” More laughter. The boys passed around high-fives.

“Just go away.” The man grumbled.

“Why can’t you go away? Oh right,” the boy kicked the man’s leg, “you can’t move.” They all laughed again.

Jack marched up to them, feeling an almost uncontrollable hatred for the three bullies. He stood in front of them, almost looking down at them. “Leave him alone.”

“What are you, his grandson?”

“Nah, there’s no way the old freak has any kids, has to be his great-”

“I asked nicely. I don’t want to have to ask in any other way.” Jack stood with balled fists trying to look intimidating. They laughed.

“Yeah, whatever, suck up. Let’s go do something more fun.” They boys walked away, throwing pennies at Jack. One hit him on the cheek, leaving a big red circle.

“Thank you, boy.” Jack turned and looked at the poor man.

“I was just helping someone in need.” Jack kneeled down and started collecting up the pennies.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier, you’re a good kid.” The old man leaned forward, and stuck out his boney hands as Jack poured the coins into his hands.

“I’m sorry for my age group’s disrespect.” Jack stood back up, and turned to leave, but the man called out to him.

“Hey, kid. Wait. You look like you’ve been walking for quite awhile. There’s usually some people up the road with food and stuff. Keep sticking up for yourself, and don’t waste your time on old war-torn men like me. We don’t want to be here any longer than we can.” He gave him a weak smile, as Jack looked down at him sadly.

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you.”

Jack turned once again, and continued his walking. As he ventured farther down the street, houses began appearing intermittently between the grassy lots. Then, suddenly, there was town everywhere, and a group of people became visible standing in a small parking lot. Intrigued, Jack quickly crossed the street. As he approached the group, a brightly painted food truck appeared with a large group of teenage girls with long hair and ponytails standing beside it. They all stood, or sat, by a table with a banner hanging from it. Jack walked closer to look at the banner, and saw that it was a youth group. As he stood in front of the table looking down at the banner, a girl walked up to him.

“Hey, would you like some food?” She asked.

“What?” Jack looked up at her.

“Would you like a breakfast burrito?” She held up a blob of tin foil with a smiling sticker on it.

“I don’t have any money, and I’m not hungry.”

“Are you sure? We’re doing this for free, if you need food we want to make sure you get the chance to get some.” She waved the tin foil in front of his face. He was kind of hungry, but it didn’t seem right to take the food when he didn’t need it. He reached out and grabbed the burrito, smiling weakly back at the girl. He’d take it to the old man. That poor old man sitting in the heat, hungry.

He turned, and bumped into a woman. She was wearing a badge, she probably was working with the teens running the truck. When she looked down at Jack, he smiled.

“Hey, did you get enough food there?” She looked at Jack with a mother’s eyes. He melted a bit inside, and just stared at her as she continued her kind and motherly gaze. He slowly nodded. “Here, come here.” She tapped his arm and started walking to the truck, he followed her. Once she reached the truck, she pulled her purse out of the window, and pulled out ten dollars. “I don’t know who you are, or where you’re going, but I feel like you’ll need this.” She handed him the ten dollars, and he happily took it thinking giddily of the face the man would make when he gave him food and a 10 dollar bill.

“Thank you so much.” Jack clenched the money tightly, and walked away with a spring in his step.

As he exited the parking lot, he turned back the way he had come. He passed all the houses, and thought only of the old man sitting on the corner. But as he reached the median something wasn’t right. He could just tell. He walked towards the median, and finally he could see the whole picture. The whole empty picture. There was no old man. Not anymore. The entire thing was empty, not a trace, even.

Jack turned away slowly, confused and disoriented by it. Where had he gone? How? Jack sighed, and put the burrito and the money in his backpack. At least this way, he got a burrito, even if it had been for an old man that didn’t seem to exist anymore.

“Whatever. I’m sure there’s some sort of reasoning.” Jack picked his backpack back up, and started down the road again. This time, there would be no stopping in any parking lots for food.