On a small blue marble, somewhere in the Midwest United States, there sits a truck stop. An ordinary truck stop with a few extra amenities. A place to give a little bit of home to those who travel. A place to get a bite, a place to shower, and a simple place to restock, recharge, and refuel in more ways than one. Just like any other day, a truck pulls into the stop.

Inside the truck, a Ge looked out in disbelief, “Are we at an actual truck stop?” When Del had told her they were going to a truck stop, she thought it was some kind of euphemism for a vacation, she did not expect an actual Earth truck stop in a small town.

Letting out a snort Del answered, “Of course, I'm a trucker. This is a place to stop, and I'm hungry.”

“Wait, you eat?” In all the time she had been with him, she had never seen him eat anything, not even a snack. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t had anything either. Did she need to eat? Surprisingly, she thought she might, as she suddenly felt hungry. She was lost in thought, and nearly missed his’s response.

“Of course. And, I'm gonna take a shower while I'm here. Want me to get you a time?” She snapped out of it and noticed the man locking up his rig getting ready to go inside.

It took her a moment to process, as everything was hitting her fast, before latching onto what he had said, “A bath, here? What?”

“A shower, not a bath. It's what these places are for. A small home away from home, or as much as they can be anymore.” Del said, wistfully remembering some of the places he had been to before. It had been a long time but his favorite stop had been on a hot spring, where they served you food while you soaked, but back then it was an inn, and the last time he had tried to go there it wasn’t the same. Having been turned into a luxury hotel.

Ge on the other hand tried to think when the last time she had the chance for a real shower, she could remember using them before but couldn’t quite remember the last time she really got to wash up. The last time, she had used a waterfall, and that had been a good while back. Feeling a little embarrassed she answered, “I...I think I will take a shower. It's been a while.”

Sniffing, Del turned away opening the door, before commenting, “I wasn't going to say anything.”

When Del jumped out, Ge, in a very unladylike fashion, smelled herself and winced, before hopping out and following him to the stop.

——

In a small town, in the middle of nowhere, there was an apartment, with a girl named Heidi, getting ready for just a simple, ordinary day. A day that is neither good nor bad, just normal. There wasn’t supposed to be anything special about today, no reason to be excited, just a day where she would go to work at her job at the truck stop, where she worked as a waitress in the connecting diner.

The job itself was actually pretty laid back, not like the one in the bar, where they were constantly promising that she could move up to Bartender, where the real money was made. No, the girls behind the bar were a little too territorial not wanting anyone taking their tips, making her life unpleasant as soon as she mentioned wanting to bartend. Even convincing the owner that Heidi wouldn’t make a good bartender because she was sneaking drinks on her shift, which was untrue but the damage was done, and she found this job almost by accident. Just filling her tank one day, noticing the help wanted sign and on a whim applied.

Heidi found that she enjoyed the truckers who visited the diner, a lot of them just looking for a place to rest. It was a lot more pleasant than the bar, she was a little surprised to learn that not all the customers in the diner were truckers, but it made sense as normal people needed food too, and the hash browns here were delicious. Though enough of the client-el were truckers, it might as well be just them. The average person would just come in, get their stuff and go, not really looking for a conversation, and just breezing through the stop. The truckers, on the other hand, would slow down, take their time, and look for a good chat. Heidi learned early how to talk to them, and found the better the talk the better the tip, and she came to enjoy the conversations themselves. At least with most of them.

The others…Heidi thought they were kind of assholes. You'd think, with a transient job like that, they'd leave and I'd never see them again, but no. A truck stop is for truckers, and sometimes it's like seeing an old friend, others like seeing an old enemy. Heidi thought to herself, remembering one particularly annoying trucker, who went out of his way to annoy her every time he was passing through.

None of that mattered to Heidi today, as this day was just going to be a normal day. After getting ready, Heidi made her way to work, clocked in, and started serving her guests. Sometimes, when it was slow or the day was dragging, she would let her mind wander. Liking to imagine the diner was a magical place, with elves, dwarves, and other magical creatures coming through. She would serve them their food, and ale, as they tell her tales of their adventures, and they would invite them on their next journey, Of course, she would politely decline, because she had work, and she would smile and send them on their way. It helped her days go by faster, but today was just a normal day, so she was deep in her fantasy when she heard the bell ring as a man and a woman entered the diner restaurant at the stop.

Heidi smiled at the two, putting on her customer service smile, and said, "Sit wherever you want, I'll be right with you."

The man smiled saying, “Thank you.” and sat in an empty booth.

Heidi did her job, talking to some of the other patrons, and letting the two look at the menu, they were one of the restaurants that kept the menus on the tables themselves, which Heidi had mixed feelings about because it made her both hostess and waitress, but it didn’t really add any extra work, besides wiping down the menus along with the tables. They could get sticky when they order pancakes.

After a minute or two Heidi walked up to her two new customers

“What can I get you two drink today?” She asked the two with a smile.

“Water,” The man said not taking his eyes from the menu.

“Same.”

She took note, and seeing them still looking over the menu she asked, “Do you guys need a few minutes?”

Lifting his eyes up to look at Heidi, “Any specials?” The man asked.

Heidi shook her head, “Not today, unfortunately.” Their little diner only ever got specials when the owner really wanted to make something, and that was usually some kind of cake, and they were some of the best cakes Heidi ever had. When they did have the dessert she would make sure she got a slice.

Hearing this, the man let out a disappointed sigh, “Too bad. I'll just get the cheeseburger with some fries.”

She turned to the woman, “And you?”

The woman stared hard at the menu, slowly enunciating the order, “The chicken fried steak.”

Heidi took their order down on a ticket, “Alright. I'll get that for you.”

While she was walking away, Heidi caught a part of their conversation.

“Surprised you got that.” The man said.

With an excited tone, the woman answered, “I wanted to know what it is.”

“It's delicious, artery-clogging chicken.” He answered wistfully.

“That doesn't sound pleasant.” Regret filled her voice.

“You'll understand soon.”

The conversation brought a smile to the waitress's lips. “Cute.”

Heidi went about the rest of her day, serving, talking, refilling drinks, and delivering food until her feet hurt and her shift was ending.

At the end of her shift, Heidi was walking through the parking lot, over to her car, when she heard a woman's voice from not too far off.

“That was actually kind of nice.” Turning to the voice she was surprised to see the woman who ordered the chicken fried steak, earlier in the day, drying her hair with a towel, and walking towards a massive, star-like semi-truck. Leaning against the rig itself was the same man she ate with.

“Told you it's a little slice of home.” The man said.

Heidi remembered them quite well, thinking they were a cute couple together, and her reaction to the food. She devoured it so fast I wasn’t even sure she tasted it. It was quite funny to actually see, and when I asked if they wanted seconds as a joke. She emphatically answered yes, and wasn’t satisfied, till two more rounds of food. Hiedi had no idea where she put it all.

Heidi smiled seeing the two, surprised to learn that they were truckers and not just regular people. Even normal days have surprises. She thought, before getting into her car and driving off, to her little apartment. Entering inside, her little white cat she named misty, rubbed up on Heidi’s legs, and welcomed her home demanding food. Ah, yes. My the most important customer. She laughed at her own thought as she fed Misty, took care of herself, made her own dinner, before doing her nightly rituals, and finally scrolled through a dating site, hoping for someone interesting, rather than the last few disastrous dates she’d been on. Finding a few interesting people she sent some messages and replied to a few she had been talking to for a few days now.

She had been going back and forth with someone for a while now and was almost ready to meet for a real date, now eighty percent sure his profile picture was real, and not a catfish. She imagine the two of them on what would be a nice simple date, walking around town, and getting to know each other. That would be nice. With that pleasant image, Heidi plugged her phone in and fell asleep in her bed.

All and all, a normal day.

——

Back at the place for travelers, and passersby, better known as a truck stop, Del and Ge were readying themselves for bed in the back of a semi-truck.

Ge thinking back was a little ashamed of how she had acted when she had her first taste of food. It was just so delicious she couldn’t help herself, especially when she realized how hungry she was. There was only one thing really bothering her, “So, who was she?”

Genuinely confused, Del asked, “Who?”

She was putting on her favorite pair of pajama bottoms, cotton with a little blue earth printed on it, when she answered, “The girl.”

Trying to figure out what she was talking about, he turned to stare at her. “Oh!” It took him a minute to realize who she meant, “Just a normal girl. Probably.”

She knew they were supposedly taking a break but that didn’t stop Del from doing a delivery anyway, having seen it on multiple occasions, so she probed further. “She wasn't a Hero or anything?”

Shrugging the man continued to change, “Maybe.”

“What do you mean maybe?”

“I don't know. I mean, Heroes are usually just people,” He explained, then added, “I mean, hell, Heroes are just people shoved into extraordinary circumstances.”

Was that how it worked? She thought never having had it explained, “Weird. I thought there was something you saw in them?”

Climbing into his bunk in the back, he answered, “Sometimes, but you never know what someone would do when they are put into an extraordinary situation.”

“Extraordinary situations, huh?”