Hitch a ride

We walk for the better part of the day, into the afternoon. It’s exhausting, but we press on. I try not to think about what’s behind us.

“If we had a car, we would have been there already.” Sasha remarks.

“We’ll get there.” I tell her.

We walk for another hour before a truck pulls to the side of the road next to us.

“Are you girls okay?” The driver asks us, leaning out of his window. He’s a man, probably around thirty. “Do you need help?”

“We’re trying to get to her uncle’s home.” I tell him.

“Where’s that?” He asks.

“Show him on your map.” I tell Sasha.

She unfolds her map and climbs up onto the side. The driver looks it over.

“Are you going near there?” Sasha asks. “Could you take us?”

“I can get you pretty close before I have to turn off here.” He says pointing to the map.

“That works for me.” I say, prodding Sasha to get in the cab and climbing up behind her. She sits in the middle and I sit next to the window. We hold our bags in our laps.

“Anywhere east is better than here.” I say to the driver. “Thank you.”

We make small talk with the driver. He’s saving us a lot of time. From where he’s going to drop us, we’ll be able to make it in a day. Our conversation carries on. We talk about all kinds of different things. I tell him about our school. He tells us about a dog he used to have. Sasha brags about her mother’s soup.

“It won’t be long now.” The driver tells us after another hour or so. “We’re close.”

“We really appreciate you helping us.” I tell him.

“I can give you a little money.” Sasha offers.

“No.” He refuses. “I can’t take that.”

“Are you sure?” She asks.

“I’m just happy to have the company. Truck driving is a lonely business.” He tells us. “It’s not every day that I get to talk to two pretty girls.”

“Thank you.” I say. Sasha lets out a little giggle.

“Really.” The driver says. “You made my day.”

It isn’t much longer before he brakes and pulls over.

“Well, this is it.” He tells us. “This is as far as you go.”

We thank him as we climb down from the cab.

“One more thing, girls.” He says. We look up at him. “Good luck.”