Seemings

Rain was Georgia's favorite weather, especially with dramatic clouds rolling along much faster than it appeared from her earthbound point of view. However, she wasn't used to being out in it and that annoyed her. She figured she could handle being a drowned rat, as long as her precious books were safe, but that was before she resembled one.

As Georgia walked along the shoulder of I-70 westbound, the rain just kept getting heavier and heavier. The water was falling in sheets buffeted by strong wind gusts until it was nearly raining sideways. She only made it about a mile from the mall before giving up and sticking out her thumb...

Walking backwards was a little better than trudging headfirst into the deluge... but she still had a niggling concern about the books in her pack, they had been her only true friends since she was very small, after all. Now, though she couldn't see where she was going and her progress was slowed even farther.

Georgia carried on in this way for perhaps a half mile until she couldn't get any wetter when a fairly new Ford Taurus pulled over just ahead of her on the shoulder. Georgia's legs felt like they were moving through wet concrete as she approached the passenger side door. When she got there, she found the window down about halfway to let in as little rain as possible, but still allowing the driver to get a relatively good glimpse of his potential passenger.

Through her dripping hair and the driving rain, Georgia glimpsed a man, perhaps in his mid-20s, with sandy blonde hair and cool, but friendly, blue eyes. He had a good-natured smile and she had noticed a Missouri Tigers bumper sticker and tiger tail sticking out of the trunk. There was also a sticker in the rear passenger window with the Greek letters Alpha-Gamma-Beta on it. She knew he must be in college and on his way back to school.

Georgia knew intellectually what college was and imagined it as a place of pure learning, where people left each other alone to pursue expanding their educations. She'd also heard some stories, usually told with disdain, about how uppity kids that went to college were and how they were usually rich. She didn't understand how anyone could think books and knowledge were bad things, but those negative comments almost always followed a conversation about whatever Georgia was reading at the time, which was most often at least 3 intellectual levels above those she was with. It was just another thing she didn't understand about people.

Georgia was jolted out of her reverie by a cheerful voice asking brightly, "Where ya' goin'?"

She stumbled momentarily in her reply, "Uh... west... to Columbia."

"Well then, you're in luck... that's exactly where I'm heading!" the driver said smilingly.

Georgia looked at the young man appraisingly, he seemed nice enough, but she was such a bad judge of people that she didn't trust what her eyes told her superficially. However, she didn't have any warning bells gong off either. So she opened the car door and asked, "You're sure you don't mind a sopping wet fugitive in your car, do you?"

He spread towels out on the seat and said, "Nah, I have given my little brother and sister rides home from the pool lots times, the seat always dries out okay. By the way, my name is Josh, what's yours?"

Conflicted, Georgia hesitated a moment and said, "Ellen, Ellen Messen, " as she got into the car and put her pack into the back floorboards.

As she turned from closing the door, she found Josh's hand stuck out for a handshake, "Nice to meet you Ellen Ellen Messen!" She shook his hand and was momentarily discomfited but could see no logical reason as to why.

Josh steered the car carefully into the rain and traffic on the highway and then gunned the engine to get up to speed. Once they were into the flow of traffic, he started playing with the radio and asked, "Is there any kind of music you like?"

"Not really," replied Georgia. "I've never had much chance to become of a fan of anything in particular."

With a kind, but puzzled look Josh inquired, "Why is that? Don't most girls your age live for Top 40 radio?"

"Well, I can't speak for most girls my age since I'm not like most girls my age. As a matter of fact, I don't understand most girls my age," said Georgia darkly and with a matter-of-factness that was beyond her years.

Looking intently at the road, he said, "You must have quite a story Ellen Ellen Messen."

Georgia said nothing more and settled into behind chilly and damp in the stranger's car as they glided along in the pounding rain and gloom. Josh had the windshield wipers going full bore to keep visibility at a maximum and Georgia imagined that they looked like a mother laying down for a nap and a naughty child trying to sneak to the cookie jar who got caught every time in rapid succession. The movement of the wipers and rhythm of the car engine combined with the never-ending pounding of the rain eventually lulled her to sleep.

As Josh drove on, he kept glancing over at his quarry. She had been an easy catch, falling for his facade with little pretense on his part. He glanced over at her sizing up her sleeping frame. She was an innocent, to be sure, but quite peculiar as well. There was an air of her being closed off, guarded and he was sure her name wasn't Ellen. He knew how to spot fake names since his name wasn't Josh either. Her name was really immaterial to him, though. He knew what he wanted and he knew what he would get. Her physical size was small and he knew he could overpower her without much of a fuss, and he so hated fuss.

Georgia only occasionally stirred in her somnambulance as the car sped down I-70. She was exhausted from her lousy night's sleep in the woods and walk headfirst into the blinding rain. She only stirred when she felt the car slowing and asked groggily, "Where are we?"

Josh answered, "Kingdom City, I just need to get some gas since I thought I had enough to get to Columbia but didn't. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"How long was I asleep?" inquired Georgia as they pulled into a brightly lit truck stop with a giant McDonald's and a big gaudy souvenir shop. The rain had slackened but the sky was still very dark, indicating another round in the torrential onslaught was coming in.

"About 90 minutes," he replied. "It usually doesn't take me this long to drive from Mid-Rivers Mall, but that kind of rain makes for slow going." Josh pulled up to a gas pump, ostensibly to fill the gas tank. Georgia glanced over and saw that the tank was only half empty. She wasn't sure how much farther Columbia was, but she didn't think it was that far. She felt a little uneasy, but figured there was a good explanation. The clock in the car read 3:17.

Josh came back to the car and Georgia looked at him, "How much farther is it to Columbia?"

"Only about 20 miles, why?" He answered, puzzled.

Her gaze was intent, words pointed, "But you have a half tank of gas, why did you fill up when we are so close?"

He shrugged it off, "I just don't like to get below a half, besides, I had to pee." Georgia really didn't like his answer, but accepted it at face value since the trip was nearly over and he apparently hadn't done anything untoward up to this point.