“Scented so angelic. Bloom be the omen to love. One sector to be seen. Lay me down a springtime dream.” 

Carter’s car radio played many random songs, from the 1950s to yesterday. My brother(Carter) and I were driving downtown. His car was a convertible, so the wind blew bare at our faces. Although some may not like a car without a roof, I loved it. There’s something about the feeling of raw air from wherever we were.                                                 

Carter, with his hands on the steering wheel, was tapping his left foot along to the beat of the song. I was sitting straight up, hands raised, stroking the wind. I didn’t know where we were. All I knew is that we were driving through the countryside. Field after field, we were driving through the middle of nowhere. I hadn’t seen a single human in a while, only farm animals. 

“Isn’t this nice? Driving along meadows of grass, letting the music navigate us?” Carter asked.

“What does that even mean?” I said, chuckling. “Yes. Very much. This is actually very relaxing.”

He laughed. 

“You’ve never done this before right? Like, a road trip.” 

Before I could answer the question, the car started to slow down. Carter desperately stepped on the petal, while the car came to a complete stop. 

“What’s happening? Why is the car not moving?” 

“I love my downtown baby. I see her by the seaside lately. Oh, it’s so warm in the morning. When I dream of my downtown baby.”

“Out of gas? How? We stopped by the station before we started driving,” I said. 

“Well, maybe it’s because this car is like a hundred years old. You know this.” 

I knew it was pretty old, just didn’t know the car would break down out of nowhere. 

“You stay here. I’m gonna go pop the trunk and get our stuff.” He said.

“For what? It’s not like we’re gonna camp out here” I said, startled. 

He stopped while getting out of the car to look at me. 

“Do you have a better idea? What else are we going to do? We don’t have a connection right now, I can’t call anyone.” He looked at me with a concerned look on his face. “Dude, it’s going to be fine. We can sleep in the car tonight, I have some blankets in my bag. Tomorrow, we can go out and look for help. Okay?”

“Let’s get Spontaneous, conform to the unconformity. Stuck in the club, impromptu on cue. I’m not going home without you.”

I was watching the last bit of the sunset. Just when the sun was about to hide behind a dense cloud, and I could only see it vaguely behind the birds, flying home. I put a blanket over my lap and drank the last drops of water I had in my bottle. I started thinking. I liked this. I liked the dark blue sky that gave the car a turquoise tint. Random radio music that blended into the mood, smooth as butter. Grass rustling, crickets singing. The dictionary couldn’t give a better definition to calm and peace. I looked over at Carter and he was fast asleep. I placed my empty water bottle in the backseat as I gently pulled the blanket up to my shoulder. I turned down the volume of the radio making it sound more like a hum. The music warmed me up, making my eyelids heavier. 

“Tick” 

Song Change*

“Lay me down by the river, where I can forget and forgive. Caress me, let me pray, let me forget today.”