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I take the exit.
Somehow, within five minutes of driving exactly the speed limit, I have
left behind all traces of civilization except the road in front of me.
It's just flat, open fields of dry dirt in all directions, as far as the
eye can see. The dirt fields gradually begin to slope downhill, but the
freeway remains level, like a bridge with no visible supports.
Soon the ground has sloped out of existence.
I am driving on a road that floats above an endless void of hazy white
dust. I drive for hours, and as night falls, I am alarmed to see stars
glittering in the emptiness underneath me as well as in the sky above me,
as if I am driving through deep space. At this moment I realize I am
dangerously low on gas, and according to the Wal-Mart Lube sticker on my
windshield, I'm also long overdue for an oil change.
Cursing my poor
planning, I keep driving. |