Twin beds in a raggedy old motel lie wainting for someone to occupie them. The sun had

decided to sleep hours ago yet the Texas heat is as droughting as ever. The power to our

air conditioning had decided to sleep too. Not to metion the windows, which were stuck

at useless heights. Making the the hot air stay inside the car, and the outside air stay

unbearably out.


Traffic had slammed to a hault about 30 mins. Outside of Houston when a cattle carrier

overturned, spilling disoriented livestock across I-45. Local police stopped traffic in both

directions while Texas Rangers on horseback worked with local volunteers to round up

the frightened cows. The 250 miles between us and our destination in North Dallas

stretched temptingly northward, but with no way to get there, Cara and I sat in the car

most of the day with the sun pounding down on the roof, from the limitless, empty Texas

sky. The motel room was a little better as I slid between the graying, frayed sheets, trying

to find a cool spot on my pillow and wondering why the room had no ceiling fan.



“Katie? Where is the cooler?” She said, her voice muffled by the pillow.

“Over by the armchair.”

Three bottles lay on their sides, half submerged in the cloudy, lukewarm mystery liquid at

the bottom of the cooler, floating among the remains of popsicles, lunch meat

sandwhiches, and sodas.

“Sure Cara, but we’ll have to get some more tomorrow, and ice this thing up again before

we leave. I’ve never seen anyone drink so much water.”

“Gotta stay hydrated. Got any straws?”

“Just drink it from the bottle”

“But...there is dirt on it still.”

“You’ll be fine. Just rinse it off. We’re going to sleep. We have a big day ahead of us.”

“Katie?”

“Yes?”

“Today, it reminded me of an episode-”

“Go to sleep, Cara.”

“Good-night, Katie.”

“Night, Cara.”


The sun had awoken the sisters once more. The thinly populated sky, losing it’s blue to

the heat, was melting overhead and Cara would clamour for a drink, focused on getting

her proper amount of water. Yet suddenly, Katie felt a jolt run through her leg, and a

voice that she knew only belong to one person.

“Katie! Get up. You have to get ready for school. Mom wants you downstairs.”