Dirt Roads

There is a road in Hempshire, Arizona that leads anywhere. It is a narrow, twisting sort of road, only wide enough for a slightly roly poly man to fight his way through the overhanging bushes and thorn branches. Only the locals know about it, and only an even smaller number of locals know what it can actually do. Because, if one does not walk the whole path, it seems a rather useless one, one that leads nowhere instead of somewhere and anywhere.
         Leena Ownes was just now learning about this little path herself, from her Grandma Gene.
“That road doesn’t work for anyone, mind. You have to have a good, strong idea of what you want. Have to be extraordinarily stubborn.”
         Leena watched her mom, Pascal, roll her eyes behind her mother’s back. Grandma Gene was standing at the old butcher-block table, kneading piecrusts to sell at the farmer’s market tomorrow. Leena was peeling, coring, and slicing apples till her hands bled. Well, close to. Examining them, she wished they were bleeding, really.
“That’s how I got here. Knowing just what I wanted.”
“What did you want, grandma?” Leena asked obediently.
         Sometimes Leena thought her grandma spent too much time trying to be like grandmas in books Leena read: always telling stories, always baking something, always at odds with her daughter, who is always firmly rooted in reality.
“I wanted a boy, dear. Just like those girls you always grumble about: Iris and Emma, who are already planning their weddings?”
         Leena winced. Giggling, gaggling, googling Iris and Emma. Absolutely boy-crazy, more so than any of the other girls in school. Leena liked boys just fine, but wasn’t too peachy keen on turning into a babbling idiot every time one of them appeared. Leena could see how Gene would have been like Iris and Emma, in some ways.
“That road was famous where I came from, and one day I walked it. And found your granddad.” She smiled sadly. Gene rarely smiled – she smirked, more often than not, because she was something of a sneaky person, and sneaky people, Leena had decided long ago, never really smiled.
“How does the road work, then Grandma?”
“Magic. What else?”
“Mom. I think that’s enough. Leena has enough crazy ideas without you adding to them.”
         Pascal gathered up slices of apple and tossed them with cinnamon and sugar. She was a little over vigorous.
“Thanks mom, I really appreciate that.” It was Leena’s turn to glare.
“I’m telling her the truth, Pascal. Just because you never bother to explore –“
“Oh, stop it.” But it wasn’t mean, the way she said it, just tired. “We better get going now, anyway. Leena’s chopped all the apples, and I’ve got them all mixed for you. Everything’s set. We’ll see you tomorrow, mom.”
         Leena washed her hands, slipped on a blue V-Neck sweater and boots, then waved goodbye to her grandma, who was pursing her lips as she began dumping apples into the crust.
“Leena, you know Grandma’s just telling stories don’t you?”
“How stupid do you think I am?”
“I don’t think you’re stupid, Leena! I know you’re really smart, actually, though you work hard to hide it.” They walked slowly down the lane together. “But ever since…well, since Sebastian left.” Her mom exhaled and pushed hair behind her ear. “I’ve been worried. You two were always so close, and I know he got his crazy ideas from Grandma and Grandpa and all those books-“
“But I’m not like Seb, mom.”
“No. I know. You’re much too practical, like me.” She smiled bitterly, and they walked the last of the way in silence.
         Hempshire was strangely stuck in an older time. Few people drove cars, they still called the two grocery stores in town general stores, and the farmers’ market was the major event in town every Friday. Few people ever left, and few people ever came. It was a town out of time. So when Sebastian Ownes disappeared one night, it was something of a shock. It was almost a year ago, and Ownes had still not recovered. His room was untouched, though gathering dust, and just saying his name was an effort. It seemed like he had just run off, left without saying goodbye, even to his twin sister, Leena, with whom he was rather close in that way twins seem to be. The only Ownes not really affected was Jackson, who was now only six, and seemed to have mostly forgotten about his older brother, now really only a ghost of a memory.
         Leena, of course, had not forgotten. Unbeknownst to her mother, she had started reading all of Jackson’s favorite fantasy books, hoping for a clue to where he might have gone. Just like all of his stupid books. But the magical dirt path seemed like it was the perfect lure for dreamy Seb. If he had heard about it, she was sure he would have at least tried it. And there was no one as stubborn as Seb.
         The next morning, Leena told her mom she didn’t feel well and would skip the market. Pascal was not inclined to believe her daughter, who rarely got sick, but had a feeling she just wanted some time alone. And that she deserved it, too. So she didn’t protest and left house with Jackson at nine in the morning. As soon as they had shut the door firmly behind them, Leena began packing. She filled a small gray camelback with water, made two brie and apple sandwiches, packed a waxed paper bag full of chocolate covered peanuts (she could not go a day without chocolate covered peanuts) and one of her mom’s homemade granola bars. Then she tugged on her favorite quilted red hoodie, bright yellow Asics, and a plaid, fur lined cap with earflaps. The more she thought about it, the more she was positive she would find at least some sign of Seb on that old dirt road.