JOURNEY INTO DREAMS

Vinnie awakened to the noonday sun in his eyes. Lubbock was snoozeville and he needed some action. Finals are over and spring break is on.



Most students had the sense to plan ahead for spring break, but not Vinnie or his crew. They had a few bucks, and an RV Matt said he could sweet talk his mom into loaning him if Tom could get it running. Now all they had to do was get Sid to unglue himself from his latest girlfriend and promise Mark that he could finally get some decent sleep after the all-nighters during finals.



After packing and eating, the vehicle was ready to go, but Sid could not be found. Vinnie finally found Sid hiding and speaking softly into the phone. Vinnie and Mark looked at each other and immediately made as much noise as they could. Vinnie ambled over pretending to read a text message. Grabbing the phone from Sid, “Sorry Liz, Sid will be busy for a week.” Vinnie spoke into the phone and cut it, throwing the phone towards Mark.



“I kept my end of the bargain,” Matt raised his hands, looking at everyone “We have the Winnebago.” He shook the keys in the air, “Now for the plan.”



“The roads will define the destination,” Vinnie announced as he grabbed the keys from Matt.



Whoever said letting Sid drive was a good idea? Now they were tailing a bunch of girls in a sporty type car.



The lurching and swaying of the motorized tin can was more fun for Sid than his buddies.



Vinnie the rolled down windows in the hope satisfy Sid’s need to get one of the girl’s number, “Hey, cutie, where you from?!”



“Is that the best you can do? Hey, Cutie, where you from?” Sid mocked Vinnie as the van jolted sideways while the two shared arm jabs.



“You two idiots, knock it off.” Mark shouted irritated by the swaying as his attention went to the dashboard, “Is the needle supposed to be in the red zone like that?”



Sid and vinnie stared at the tap the temperature gauge. “Is that bad?” Sid asked aloud.



Now Tom’s attention was in the mix. “Pull over before the engine seizes. I mean it. PULL OVER. NOW.”



Five young men hovered over the engine. Matt would not shut up when he was stressed and muttered a constant stream of laments, “My mom’s going to kill me.”



Tom pulled back from his inspection, “This is a granny vehicle, and Sid was pushing it like a teenage sports car.”



Matt was having difficulty keeping his calm in heat, and was visibly getting disturbed. Tom patted him on his back and said, “It’s not as bad as it looks. See this?” He tapped the radiator cap and they all watched as it gives just a little. “It’s not supposed to do that. Let it cool down and then drive it slowly to that town and we can get a new radiator cap.”



“In trouble boys?” the sporty car with the girls slowed down as the driver craned her neck out. “Poor thing, next time chase what you can handle.” another girl added from behind as they started laughing. Sid stood there covered in the dust raised when the car sped off.



The boys opted to spread out in the Winnebago to wait for the engine to cool down.



A knock at the window of the van startled everyone. “Police. Open up.”



“Who... who is that?” Tom rubbed his eyes trying to adjust to the changing light.



Sid was excited. “It’s a lady cop and she’s hot!”



Officer Tibbets shook her head in amusement as she listened to the commotion going on in the RV and the comments between them. She pounded on the door again. “Everybody out. Let me see your hands first. Now!”



Everyone was surprised, “Stay calm and let me talk” Tom said as they walked out towards the front of the van with their hands on their head.



“What’s your business here?” Officer Tibbets questioned the group looking at each one of them keenly.



“The van got overheated ma’am we are just waiting for it to cool down,” Tom replied calmly.



“Ah, the age old ruse.” Tibbets shook her head and knocked van with her baton, “You young ones never learn.”



Tom stuttered, “We are not lying ma’am, you can check….”





Tibbets raised her hands asking him to stay quiet. “Save your story. Lock up the van and give me the keys.”



Tom realized this was the easiest way to get the van towed to the city and handed her the key before anyone could protest.



“Squad 2, what’s your ETA?”



“Two minutes.”



At this radio exchange, Mark who was becoming more agitated, in a rushed interjection, “Ma’am, I am not a suspect. If they did something, it wasn’t me. My dad’s a lawyer.”



Officer Tibbets’ sharp glance worked to silence Mark from anymore pleading. “I did not say you were going to jail. I have backup because there are five of you and one squad. Do they teach math in that fancy school you go to?”



Sid, saw his opportunity to make some points, “Ma’am, Lubbock does not have fancy schools. Mark’s dad sent him there as punishment for --”



Mark heard enough, “Can you shut up? Do you have to tell everything you know?”



Officer Tibbets tried to hide her smile.



“Tibbets, what you got?”



“Trayner, these are the Lubbock Five. We need to transport them to town and get this wreck off the road.



“You two in that one. You three in that one.” Tibbets directed with a sly smile



The guys walked into the squads, happy that they had got a free ride and their van would too be towed in the city. Matt, however kept muttering, “I don’t like this” as he followed Vinnie into the squad.



“What? “ Vinnie shrugged wondering what was bothering Matt.



The boys were at first eager to see what the city would be like, but as they entered the destination, they saw that there were only a few stray buildings.



“Why is this place so desolate? “ Tom asked looking towards Trayner, who in reply just looked at him and smiled.



Tom looked at Vinnie and Matt who were both now starting to get uncomfortable by the eerie silence.



The squad cars came to halt outside an old building.



“Get out all of you,” Tibbets ordered.



“I told you, there was something wrong.” Matt muttered as he followed Vinnie out.



The guys stood in a line as Tibbets and her companion looked at them and smiled.



Trayner circled the guys as if they were military recruits. “So, here’s the drill. You have 24 hours to find The Old Man. You can use all resources in this town. Your “vehicle” has been further disabled should you decide to waste your 24 hours.”



The five young men broke formation to watch Tibbets and Trayner drive off.



Sid broke the silence. “They will be back in a couple hours. We do not want to be here when they get back.”



Mark smiled too. “Is that a map?”



“Yeah. I thought it had her number on it when I swiped it from her, but I think it’s better than a number. If we can get to this point, we have it made.”



Vinnie looked over the map. “You have it upside down.”



Tom rolled his eyes, “If this is a joke ….”



Vinnie for once was not his usual cocky self. “I swear, it’s for real this time. I know where to go.



On the long march to the destination, Vinnie observed, “The destination is named Village of Wisdom and Light. What means that?”



Mark, who had been complaining that this long trek was ruining his good shoes, mocked Vinnie, “What means that? Seriously? What means that?”



Matt warned, “Knock it off or you will get it worse next time.” Matt shrugged off Tom and Sid’s efforts to stop him from going after Mark. “Let go! I’ll stop if he shuts up. I’m sick of his mouth!”



Mark massaged his jaw that had been on the receiving end of Matt’s knuckles. “Okay, Bro, just chill.”



Vinnie nodded appreciation to Matt, “Thanks, Man. We are almost there. See that?” All eyes looked to the spot where Vinnie was pointing. “That’s where it’s supposed to be.”



Bone weary, it was an extreme effort to put one foot in front of the other, yet their destination, never changed dimension, it was always a misty blurred expanse just that much out of reach, and just close enough to keep trying to get to it. “It’s a mirage” Mark spoke what they all felt.





The aged desert wanderer found them in this disheartened state. He raised his hand, causing each in turn to fall to the desert floor. He touched each gently as to not awaken them, and then waved his hand over the map. Five would now transverse the desert as young men. Tom would become the strong one. Sid would temper his passion with compassion. Mark transformed his hothead tendencies to tempered determination. Vinnie would always be playful, but he could now be serious and count-onable. Matt could not change. His life would always be a railroad track that needed a significant length of time to alter directions where people would come in and move beside him for a time and then veer off.



Tom was the first to awaken and encourage the others, “Come on, Guys. We can’t give up.”



Sid walked a few paces and stared into the distance and spoke in a low tone, “Can I have a look at the map? “ Mark silently placed the map in Sid’s hands.



Sid looked at the map closely. “I didn’t see this before.” At the bottom was written: The goals are always far unless you know what your goal is.



“Tom what do you make out of it? “ Sid handed the map to him and continued staring.



“Our goal is the Old Man, isn’t it? “ Tom thought out loud to which Mark added, “That is what they said.”



Slowly all of them sat in a circle and looked at each other, before Vinnie broke the silence.

“What are of our goals in life? Have we wondered?“



Each of them got lost in the thoughts and started pouring out what they had thought about their life, their future, realizing that none of them hardly seemed to know exactly where they wanted to go or what they wanted from the future.



As each of them described their goals of life and started to talk about how to reach it, the mirage in the background started coming closer.



“Hey what the ...?” Sid shouted as a shadow covered him from behind.



All the guys looked up and saw the mirage that they were chasing was right behind them, a huge hut, painted beautifully with every color possible. The sign on the small door invited, “Enter if you dream”.



The guys stood awestruck, as all of them walked towards the door, it was wide enough to allow only one person at a time. Tom took the first step in, and each followed. But what each of them saw was different, a world that was filled with every dream they ever had and every goal that they had discussed.



“This would yours if you have the courage and sense to follow your dreams,” a voice echoed.



The images started to fade, as the guys tried to grab them. The light went dim and turned to darkness with the voice echoing continuously, “Follow your dreams.”



The young men woke to the bright light from the sun and knew everything changed. Slowly they scanned their surroundings with new eyes and discovered the vehicle to the future was parked where they had left it the previous day, only now it looked sparklingly clean and all set to drive.





[word count: 1998]



By: By: bas

and Cheri Annemos

for the It Takes Two Contest

Prompt: Road Trip