《Alaska's Illicit》II
Advertisement
The timber lorry driver ends up stopping the large semi at the last second. The high pitched screeching of tires fills my ears, causing me to cringe at the intolerable sound.
I look up at the enormous white truck from my spot on the side of the road and slowly retract my arm from where I was holding out my thumb in the typical hitchhiker stance.
I had been standing there with my thumb up and out for about 40 minutes, having only three cars pass by me until the big logging truck in front of me had appeared, almost taking my arm off in the process.
From my spot on the white, snowy ground, I look up and peer through the windshield of the semi as a person's silhouette leans over the seats, disappearing from my view until the door nearest to me swings open.
I'm met with a woman who looks to be in her early forties, making me hopeful that I probably won't have to punch someone who likes me a bit too much. But then again, can you really judge or trust anyone based on their age and gender? Anyone can do bad things, and anyone can be a creepy lowlife who never showers.
The woman's oily, shoulder-length hair frames her cold, weather-beaten face, while her red hair itself is mostly covered by the furry trapper hat she wears.
I can't hold myself back from stupidly thinking, 'What if she stopped because we're wearing matching hats?'
Her thin, reddish-brown eyebrows furrow together as she looks down at me, and her hard, questioning eyes sweep over my tall figure as I meet her gaze.
Trying my best to be polite, I ask, "Hi, may I bother you for a ride?"
She looks at me, pursing her thin, narrow lips, while her eyes scan over my bag and worn-out appearance. The wrinkles on her forehead become more and more prominent as she finally looks me in the eyes again. I can't tell what color hers are from down here, but they look cold.
That honestly doesn't surprise me, though.
Everything here is cold.
She thankfully doesn't mention the fact that I was standing dangerously close to the road, probably because she's relieved that I didn't mention how she almost took off my arm.
"I don't like being bothered." She says, barely managing to raise an eyebrow.
If you know you're unable to raise an eyebrow, why try? Is she not aware that the tiny little thing barely moved a quarter of a millimeter?
I'm about to answer nicely, contrary to my thinking, when I'm interrupted by the redhead continuing on.
"But, I suppose it all depends on if I'm going to the same place as you, girl." She says, her voice tight.
I smile, immediately brightening up.
This is it.
I straighten, putting my shoulders back and lifting my chin up, locking away all my insecurities with the key of confidence.
After all, confidence is key.
"Alaska," I say vaguely, my words hanging in the cold air as I remember all of uncle John's letters and the replies I had sent to them. My hands twitch inside my warm, wool choppers as I resist the urge to take out his handwritten messages that are in my bag.
Not yet. There will be plenty of time for that later, whether you're on the road or in a jail cell.
She raises her chin as I did, giving me a contemplative gaze, and I instantly figure out that she's also headed in that direction.
It's her choice, and both she and I know that she has to choose soon. The semi is still running as she's only put it in park, and the large vehicle is waiting to get on the road again. Its thick, gray smoke comes from the exhaust, while the passenger door is still open to the cab, letting the cold air inside on the driver in front of me.
Advertisement
Seconds pass by, and then a minute.
The doubt is getting to me, but I somehow manage to hold myself together.
Finally, she opens her mouth and roughly says the words that will change my reckless life from here on out.
"Hop in."
I do as she says instantly, climbing up into the semi without a second thought.
This is dangerous. This could end badly. However, it's the only option that I have, next to walking into the police station asking for a lawyer.
If I had stayed, if I had stood there in the cold and watched the house burn to ashes, if I had waited for the cops to show up then and there, then I would've been caught.
Here, any driver I hitch a ride with has access to the radio, which probably will have a lot to say about me. Hence the driver could also put me into the possession of the police.
Either way could have me imprisoned. At least this option grants me the hope of being free.
Kill, or be killed.
I've chosen neither.
Literally.
I close the passenger door quickly, somehow managing to put my large duffle bag on my lap. Then, I proceed to buckle up as the truck driver to my left takes the logging truck out of park, pressing on the gas.
We start moving, and I watch as we go down the road, all the trees passing by quickly.
I love this feeling.
Not only the feeling of being in such a powerful vehicle but also the feeling of being free.
Freedom.
Everybody wants freedom, and everyone wants to be free.
However, not everyone can attain it, and some risk their lives for it. Others end lives for it. Freedom is such a crucial part of life that some center their entire lives around it. Lawyers fighting for wrongfully imprisoned ones, little girls expectantly waiting for their eighteenth birthday because of their home life, minorities not getting the justice they deserve. Ask anyone for their honest thoughts on freedom, and you'll learn so much about them.
"What's your name, girl?" The woman next to me asks as she continues to drive down the road.
I keep my eyes up ahead, debating whether or not I should give her my real name. My gut is telling me to trust her, however distant she seems to be, but in my experience, I've learned that people who seem to open up the quickest are usually the ones with darker secrets to hide.
An honest mayor, truthful public figures, sincere adoptive parents, and so forth.
Still, it's either trust anybody and most likely hurt yourself, or trust nobody and protect yourself.
"Sarah," I lie, "Sarah Smith."
The woman grunts, putting an image of a lazy black bear into my mind at the sound of it.
I wait for her reply or for her to introduce herself, but all I'm answered with is silence from the woman, and the continuous blowing of the loud heater, warming up the cab. I really am not at all interested in conversation, but it would still be nice to know her name.
"What's your name?" I question in return, turning my head to the side to look at her.
"You can call me Grace." She answers after a few beats. "Just Grace."
I nod faintly, turning away to face the never-ending highway again.
"So how far can you take me?" I inquire kindly.
"I can take you all the way to Beaver Creek in the Yukon Territory." She answers. "That's as far as I go."
Advertisement
I nod, taking the political map I had gotten of North America out of my duffle bag.
It's hard to see as it's almost completely dark out by now, but I look on the map until I find the road we're traveling down, then find a route to Beaver Creek. With my thumb, I use the scale at the bottom of the map to get an idea of how far we'll be going.
"You know, you could just look at Google Maps on my phone," Grace says, pointing to her phone on the dashboard.
"Oh. Yeah, I guess that'd be better."
I pick up her Samsung phone carefully, unlocking it quickly as she doesn't have a passcode. Pulling up Google Maps, I type in 'Spokane WA to Beaver Creek Yukon Territory'.
Fastest route. 1,967 miles. 36 hours.
Well, I do suppose there are worse people to be stuck with for a day and a half. She's kind enough to let me hitch a ride, and she's quiet.
"Thank you," I tell her, putting her phone back where it was.
She grunts again as her answer.
Even though we both don't want to have a conversation, I have questions about how crossing the border of Canada will go.
"How does crossing the border work?"
"We have to go through customs and inspections. But it usually doesn't take very long if you have your papers with you."
Oh, good. I have those, thankfully.
"They'll search through my bag, right?"
"Yes."
So, they'll see my few clothes, water bottles, letters, identification papers, license, passport, money, pocket knife-
"What if I have a knife on me?"
She looks at me almost uneasily. "Well, do you?"
"Yes. But it's small, and only for protection."
I'm waiting for her reply when the window next to me suddenly rolls down.
"Throw it out."
I turn to her, knitting my eyebrows together.
"That's littering."
"And trying to bring a knife into Canada is better?"
Well, I mean, she's not wrong.
I open my bag, and upon finding the knife, I chuck it out of the window, silently apologizing to the Earth as I do so.
The window rolls up again, and I'm hit with the thought of how much effort it takes to get to Alaska.
Alaska...
I feel the dizzy confusion rush through me as I remember the last letter my uncle had sent to me years ago, and what had been written.
Go to where I had gone for my last photography assignment. Chickaloon, Alaska. My good friend that I had mentioned will not only let you stay there, but he will also keep you safe.
So, 'go to Alaska and find my friend.'
I put away the map, feeling thoroughly exhausted. I know that I need to sleep, but I don't know if it's safe. I could be sleeping one second and the next I could be waking up as I'm being hauled to jail.
I put the torn up map back into my bag and take off my choppers, trying to not let the darkness and warmth affect me. Knowing full well what could happen if I do, I try my best to fight off sleep, keeping my eyes open as wide as they can be.
But, the past few days are getting to me as gravity tries to pull my eyelids together. The countless nights of getting no rest are roughly tugging on my mind. I try to keep my eyes open, but pretty soon, I slowly feel myself drifting away to sleep I shouldn't risk.
When I wake up, I'm leaning on the passenger door, my right cheek pressed against the cold glass of the window.
Ignoring my frozen face, I'm instantly aware of the fact that I'm no longer in a moving vehicle.
I'm in a vehicle, sure, but the truck isn't moving.
Slowly and carefully, I open my eyes to a dark, empty cab, and I hold my breath as I realize Grace is gone.
Feeling the warm air come out of the heaters, I then look around, exhaling a sigh of relief at seeing that the large semi is just at a truck stop.
I look out to the gas station to see a familiar redhead coming out of it, holding a couple of plastic bags in one hand. Turning back to the cab I'm in, I glance around for any sign of what time it currently is.
A few moments pass as I look out the window for a clock before Grace opens the driver door and gets in, putting the bags in the back of the cab.
I look around the back, taking it in.
There's not much room back there, maybe just a small width of about twelve inches. Barely enough room for the few gallons of water Grace has on a green plastic bin.
"Ah, you're awake."
I nod absentmindedly as I then look at the plastic bags, my mind drooling a little when I see there's some food in one of them, along with four plastic bottles of water.
You can never have too much water.
My hands go to my army green duffle bag, feeling the rough canvas texture under my fingertips.
"Can I put this back there?" I ask Grace, referring to my full bag. Even though there's not much room back there, it should still fit. I have beef jerky and a few cans of beans in it, as they're two of the easiest and best foods to pack. However, I've been saving them for emergencies as with the six bottles of water. I also have my savings in a plastic zip-lock bag.
"Soon as you tell me what's in it," she replies.
I look at her face, but she doesn't make eye contact.
"Why?"
"We're about to cross the border. You already had a knife in there, I need to know what else you might have."
"Fair point."
I open up my bag and tell her the objects as I go through them.
"Clothes, a map and some notebooks, pencils and pens, beef jerky, a few cans of beans, some water bottles, personal letters, identification papers and passport stuff, license, my phone, my tablet, earbuds, electronics chargers, a hairbrush, shampoo, toothbrush and toothpaste, matches, period stuff, skincare stuff, and money."
She nods. "Visiting someone, then?"
"Yes."
I mean, it's not technically a lie.
"Take out the matches, map, and food and put them in the back; otherwise, it will look like you're running away. And, we want to avoid suspicion, don't we?"
"Yes, that would waste too much time."
I do as she says, then I put my bag in the back after, near the plastic bin.
When I turn around, I see Grace holding a Clif Bar out to me.
"Want one?" She questions gruffly.
I eye it carefully, then look up to meet her eyes. "What do you want for it?"
She sighs, shoving it to me.
"Can't someone give someone else something without the other person thinking that they want something in return?" She questions, offended.
"No," I answer truthfully.
"Well, I am right now." She huffs. "Just eat it, girl."
I do as she says after muttering thanks, and I try to eat it slowly, so I fill up faster.
She starts up the truck again, twisting the key she left in the ignition, and we hit the road, headlights displaying the darkened world around us as we go.
When I'm done eating the Clif Bar, I look over at the redhead next to me, who's entirely focused on the road ahead.
"How long have we been driving?" I ask her.
She doesn't look at me as she gives her answer, "I've been driving for about 2 hours and 45 minutes. We're almost to Eastport, Idaho, which is where we'll cross the border into Canada."
I nod, turning back to look out of the window to my right.
All I see are dark, blurry shapes flying in and out of my sight.
I can't help but worry that I won't be able to get into Canada.
I know that kind of thinking is implausible. The fire was only today, and he fled the scene, too. It will take a while for the police to analyze the scene after the fire is put out. Then, they'll have to track both of us down. By then, I should be in Canada or even Alaska if I'm lucky.
But, to actually be prevented from entering the country, I'd probably have to be convicted of the crime. Or at the very least have a lot of suspicion on my name. I should have a few days, which is enough time to reach Chickaloon.
Then, hopefully, as uncle John said, I should be safe.
Advertisement
Observations of the Nameless
Sometimes the world will just whirl by without a care for its inhabitants. Each passing day bring a new experience unlike the one before it. Why do we do anything... That's a really good question, isn't it? Author's Note: Each chapter is about 300 words, so that's the reason for the short story tag even though this will be a (somewhat) ongoing series. Expect an update twice a week on Tue/Wed and on Fri/Sat. No set time, but likely afternoon or evening.
8 98Sword of Demon Cless
This is a story of the half-demon half-human in a world where in all are filled with adventurers. He has only one goal in life. That is to become the world re-known swordsman. Will his existence be accepted or be ignored. This is the sword of demon cless.
8 190YAOS 1 - Limitless Adventures - Yet Another OP Story Book 1
December 23rd 2018: Book 1 is now up at Smashwords and at Amazon. December 30th 2018: V1.1.2 of YAOS Book 1 is out, some content additions, fixed typos. Amazon's enhanced typesetting now displays tables properly. YAOS is shown through the eyes of some genius athlete getting OP inside a VR, ah wait, Full Immersion game, ?F.I.O?. Not a Hero, not a Nerd, just a driven individual paying for mistakes made, biding time until he can return to the Real World. He isn't defined like you'd normally do it, you can pick his looks and name all on your own, just like you do in video games. Believe it or not, keeping his looks undefined is harder than you think. His backstory isn't expounded in detail, but it drives his choices. Book 1 isn't about depressing sob stories but about fun and rushing forward, pursuing new horizons. Oh, and you'll end on a cliffhanger! Well, most serials do, so you will probably expect that without being told explicitly. But it isn't that bad, there's a lot of reveals and more to come once this book, that is the first in a planned three-part series, is finally ready for release on amazon et al. The published version will have: 1.) Godawful speaker tags, I hate them, they make you stop thinking and speed up editing so much. In hindsight they should have been in to begin with. But I stand by my goals proclaimed earlier. You guys should think while reading, that is the whole point of the exercise. Apply the knowledge and ideas, improve yourself, get creative! 2.) Pretty colored tables, the damned blue boxes, a lot of work, 69 in one book. Finally fixed amazon's centering issue. Can't say I liked the hours needed to debug that. 3.) The promised Mitara chapters. 4.) A cover! 5.) And lastly, updated polished versions of several chapters. MC shares more of his past, some terrible chapters (esp. 32) finally work. Some new scenes, minor rewrites in parts. Text flow and other issues. The current challenge is to maintain essential ambiguity while satisfying people wanting to know more without thinking three steps ahead. Balancing one with the other is tough. The smut which was in remains, but the story told is not to be superseded by it. A 15+ rating for the first book is also important, not to mention, YAOS wasn't meant to contain any smut to begin with. If the Author can turn to writing full time his output should increase, so please support YAOS #1 once it does finally release. ~Thank You~ No maps so far, that should be in, but is really hard to get done right. Again, tips are appreciated. Update September 2017: Stubbed chapters, sorry guys, currently don't have time to upload them elsewhere, polishing book 1 and 2, writing 3, takes precedence. Book 1 is in heavy editing, too much to keep synced and continuing editing. I'd need a site which offers JS-free rapid managing of chapters and comments. Coding one myself or setting a premade up is out of scope until I'm done with the books. RRL-old offered that, nuff said. This is only here because the author believes in fairies, nobody reads this, most likely. October to December 2017: Life threw some curveballs. February 2018: Book 2 draft 1 completed, at ~150K words. Book 2 is fairly epic in scope, requires 1 rewritten chapter, some editing. Tables and miscellanea are in, but needs at least a grammar pass. March 2018: Book 3 at 28k words, first arc, rest needs serious planning for spin-off and satisfying conclusion. July 2018: Yet another proofing/editing session of books 1-3, 101+ chapters, ~300k words. B3 at 48k, starts out great, but no ETA, no wordcount limit, in flux. But prioritizing my writing cannot be done, I hate the delays as much as you, but you will prefer the whole released in a timely fashion rather than wait. Knowing myself how excruciating waiting can be, at least you'll get significantly polished versions and an ETA on book 2 by release of book 1. December 23rd 2018: Book 1 is now up at Smashwords and in the process at Amazon et. al.. . To all who wait patiently, offered feedback, thanks again!
8 141Legends of the Shadow Immortal
Zi Ming lived in the Ravenous Wolf Mountain Range; a bitingly cold place on the borders of the Golden Forests Country. In the secluded district, he led a wild, yet simple life with his parents and twin sister. That was until the village welcomed the arrival of a group of outsiders, who would solicit the help of his clansmen for some mysterious but murky raid deep within the woods. Author's note : I've written two novels previously, and I realize that giving false expectations to readers isn't healthy for me or them. That being said, there are several red flags I would like to put in the open for some of you. Please turn back if you aren't cool with any of the tags below. Various Warnings! Heavy Xianxia/Wuxia/Xuanhuan tropes. Harem No twin incest Typical Chinese cultivation novel Broken cheats OP main character Anti-hero (I do not own any of the pictures used for this novel. I'll remove it/them if asked by the owner(s).) Contacts : Discord Channel : https://discord.gg/4qsaBJ Yiyun345#1201
8 167issue | james potter
"There is one more thing. No matter what happens, you're not allowed to fall in love with me.""Won't be an issue."...in which james potter tries to make lily evans jealous
8 222Captured By The King
Felicity Lowell is part of the royal family. She was raised to be a queen. Every human being looked up to her and expected highly of her.There was one thing that disgusted Felicity, she hated how her people enslaved vampires. She's disgusted by their hatred to these supernatural creatures, she promised herself that if she is crowned queen, she would wipe out all vampire slavery. She thought they deserved better.What happens if things go the other way around? As soon as the vampires were free, they got hold of the humans. They were all helpless, they all became slaves. Vampires vowed to themselves that they would make humans go through what they experienced under their power.Felicity Lowell, she became a slave to the King. In this story, the Queen shall never bow to her King.
8 246