The silver Datsun streaked down the I10, carrying the two identically dressed young women in the front, and a boy with his miniature Husky in the back. The highway was lit up by the headlight beams of the passing cars, and the desert countryside glowed faintly from the crescent moon and twinkling stars above it. The mountain ranges on both sides loomed dark, reaching towards the speeding car as it raced further away from the city.

“Well, Princess, looks like we’re going to have to fill you up soon,” Leanna mumbled after glancing at the fuel gauge on her glowing dash. She turned off the radio on hearing the President’s daily message to the PABs and focussed on the passing signs.

“What? Oh, we need gas. I think we’re still a ways from Palm Springs,” Rosa offered. “Maybe there’s a roadside gas station on the way?”

Leanna pulled a map from the holder in her door and passed it over to Rosa. “If I remember correctly, there’s a gas station in Morongo Valley. Look at the map and see if you can figure out how far it is from the highway, can you please?”

“Oh, you’ve already folded the map back to this area. I see we’re coming up on the overpass on highway 62. Hmm… I dunno, 20 miles?. Here, my dear Boy Wonder. Theo, how far are we from Morongo Valley?” Rosa asked as she passed the map back to Theo. Theo studied it in the passing headlights, and then pulled out a pen flashlight from his backpack on the floor. Arfie watched the light on the map and nudged Theo’s hand as the boy squinted at it.

“Arfie! Yes, by the scale on the map, you’re about right Mom. 23 miles, actually. How much gas do you have left?” Theo asked Leanna.

“Less than a quarter tank left. We should be fine. It’s not too late yet,” Leanna said. “Keep the the map, Theo, and follow it as we go along. I have marked where we are going with a red pen.”

Theo flipped over the map and opened it. “Here it is! Huh, that’s far still. I don’t see a road going to it, though,” the boy said.

Rosa turned to Leanna and spoke in a low voice to her, “Lee, where are we going? It sounds like we’re going to end up in the middle of the desert, somewhere.”

Leanna mouthed back to Rosa, “Don’t worry!” She turned off the interstate onto a dark highway, heading into the mountains, and said loudly, “Isn’t it amazing how bright the stars are out here! It’s almost like you could fly among them. Theo, we’ve just turned onto highway 62, heading north.”

Rosa looked pensively out the car window. “I’ve never doubted your intentions before. This is all just very mysterious; I wish I knew where we were heading, that’s all.”

Leanna glanced at the fuel gauge again. “I hope that the gas station’s still open. We’ll need to fill the jerry can as well and get some more food and water.” Rosa shot her another worried look. “Let’s just hope there aren’t any PABbies around, too,” Leanna muttered to herself

*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***