1.
This morning I woke up early, at oh, eight or so, with the smell of coffee syruping the air. With a groan, my head dived back down under the waves of blankets. I lounged there gloriously for a few minutes, (or was it hours?), then steamrolled off the bed, belly flopping on the carpet. I followed the smell, my feet rising in the air like in one of the old cartoons our parents watched. Waiting, just waiting, for my parents to get a move on.

2.
Sitting crisscross applesauce, underneath the metal roof, flowered bright pants resting on my legs. The world is passing by, and we are standing still. "In four miles, turn right." The voice mechanizes, pulsing out into the cobwebbed corners of the car. Tapping on the IPhone, it clicking out and echoing back with a yell. The sky is elephant grey, and the vultures are circling us, hoping and waiting.

3. My arms reach out toward the roof, the car door slamming shut as they both leave. "Arooooo." He whimpers, "Arf!" She barks. No pets allowed! A Japanese family pass by, staring at us in fascination, and I return the favor. The building is brick, and pretty looking, but no pets. We back out, and leave the service station behind.

4. Back on the road, the dog is lying on my lap yawning and showing his pink gums and yellow teeth. We are slashing through the roadside, rain flying out on either side of us. "Yell yell yell shout and more yell!" He is screaming angrily over an accident she made, something stupid related to an IPhone, and she is repeating the same message in explanation. "Accident, accident, accident, sorry." They are speaking in single word sentences, or maybe it's just because I'm not listening. Five more hours of this madness.

5.
Dusky clouds polkadot the sky, and there is an old lady smoking outside "Joe's Quick Marts". It is rising in trails, billowing out like an umbrella. Down below, in a valley, lies an old construction site, abandoned and rusted. There, monsters are reaching toward the sky, and absurdly hanging off of them are buckets. What are they filled with I wonder, rust and dust? Poor soul who would be underneath it when they pour down. Their hinges creaking with invisible movement. They are outlined against the sunset, their shadows falling behind them and laying waste to the road. The sun disappears beneath the horizon, and their shadows die.

6.
Prowling the road like a tiger, we drive along, looking. Sleep has overtaken me like a blanket, thick. Ahhh! We're here! Enter in, with a stone face, but the dogs are not following my instructions, they are smiling, grinning. White tiles on the floor are dotted with soon to be made piles of destruction. I pull my head back under my covers, and let sleep collapse over me.