entities based purely on US road trip things i have experienced:
stranger - a slightly unsettling roadside attraction surrounded by people who’s faces you wouldn’t be able to remember if your life depended on it
the vast - driving through the desert. it’s clear and blue and hot and the mountains in the distance don’t seem to be getting any closer. it’s been hours now.
the lonely - driving through the desert at night. it’s so quiet and still; even as your siblings sleep beside you, you cant help but feel you might be the only person in the world.
the corruption - rest area bathrooms 🤢
the desolation - you are at a truck stop and all you want is gummy worms. someone has taken the last bag.
the web - that one little fruit stand that you stop at and tell yourself you’re only going to buy one or two things at and by the time you leave the proprietor of the stand is ringing you up for 60ish bucks worth of fresh produce, honey, and a t-shirt. you don’t know how this happened.
the spiral - you are unpacking the car and keep pulling out more and more things you do not remember acquiring or packing.
the dark - your dad yelling at you for trying to turn on the light while he drives at night
the flesh - that seafood restaurant that is WAY too far away from any bodies of water to have any business serving seafood.
the buried - the car has been overpacked and now the people in back have no leg room
the hunt - looking for a Very specific restaurant to get lunch that your gps SWEARS is close but you cant fucking find it
the slaughter - getting so mad at another driver you feel like you are physically vibrating. the kind of rage that would make a middle-aged father of two insists he’s about to “Ride Their Ass”
the eye - giant billboards for casinos. the grinning faces of the winners have eyes that seem to follow your car.
the end - the tumbleweeds blowing across the highway without a care. they’re dead but they’re still vibing. look at those funky little plants go
