BROKEN DOWN
Dec. 14th, 2013 02:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nomadic_naomi in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
birthright_rpg“Man, Elijah’s gonna kill me!”
Naomi Gardner couldn’t believe her luck. First, she took a wrong turn. Now, her car – well, her older brother’s car – was stranded at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. She managed to pop the hood, coughing as she lifted it and was greeted by a large plume of dark smoke. Naomi squinted, eyes darting back and forth.
Not that she actually knew what she was looking at; other than the engine, Naomi saw nothing but a mess of twisted metal and wires. Staring at the mess wouldn’t make it make any more sense, so she slammed the hood back down with a huff and wandered back over to the driver’s side.
The sun was rising, so when Naomi grabbed her map, she could actually see the markings. Somehow, she got off of I-15 somewhere around Las Vegas. Which by itself wasn’t that big a deal, but she erred in trying to get off of I-515 to go the other way.
Specifically, her exit didn’t have an on-ramp going the other way.
Now, she was stuck on Route 95, surrounded by nothing but sand. Her life’s possessions were crammed into the trunk and the back seat of Elijah’s brown 1976 Dodge Aspen – an ugly car made uglier by the smoke still billowing from the hood – and her eyes fixated on the wooden cross dangling from the rear-view mirror.
“This is some test you’ve put before me,” she muttered to no one in particular. “And here I thought my biggest worry was gonna be midterms.”
The drive from Salt Lake City, her hometown, had been a lengthy one – so much so that before she left, her mother Sarah snuck her some money for a hotel room along the way. The plan had been to stay overnight in Vegas before completing the journey to San Diego. But thanks to Naomi’s little detour, she never stopped anywhere, and she hadn’t slept in almost two days.
Questions swirled around Naomi’s head. What was she going to do? How was she going to get to San Diego? She had several months before classes started – she wasn’t slated to start until the fall – but for some reason her father John insisted she leave right away.
He also insisted she drive the entire way.
“So you’ll pay for my tuition, my room and board,” Naomi mused, pacing back and forth, kicking up sand, “but you won’t spring for a plane ticket?”
Staring at the map again, Naomi searched for another route. Maybe if she could manage to get the car working, she could find another way to Vegas that wouldn’t involve backtracking. From the looks of things, she could hop onto Route 164 soon and take that back to I-15.
Assuming she could get wheels again. Worse came to worse, she’d Greyhound it.
Glancing up from her map, Naomi watched as a hawk glided through the morning air. She watched until the bird disappeared behind a mound, before her eyes settled on a green sign along the side of the road.
“Searchlight,” she read to herself, checking the map again. She wasn’t that far from 164.
But from the looks of things, she was on the brink of the very definition of “sleepy little town.” Naomi saw few lights off in the distance, and she wondered if any of those lights belonged to a car repair service. Could she be that lucky?
If her map-reading skills were any indication…
Then again, how was Naomi supposed to get to town? It wasn’t like she could just push her brother’s car into town, and in the near-hour she’d been stuck in this spot, she hadn’t seen one car go by – in either direction. So it wasn’t like she could just flag someone down and ask for help that way.
Naomi folded her map and stuffed it into her backpack. Pausing, she reached into the driver’s-side window and grabbed the cross. Draping the necklace over her neck, Naomi smoothed out her white shirt before hoisting the backpack over her shoulders.
Searchlight wasn’t that far off; she could walk into town. Even if she didn’t find a repair shop, maybe she could at least manage a bite to eat and talk to some of the locals. If she werereally lucky, maybe she could make a phone call back home.
The good thing was, Elijah would be in Africa for another year and a half. That gave her plenty of time to fix his car. Or go into hiding upon his return.
Naomi began walking toward the lights in the distance, gravel crunching under her feet. As she walked, she worked over her father’s words in her head, mulling them over for any semblance of meaning.
Consider this your mission, Naomi.
You must not return home at any time. Not on your holiday breaks. Not over the summer. We will let you know when you may return.
You have no idea how lucky you are.
We will take care of your expenses. Work hard. Keep your head down. Don’t draw attention to yourself.
A gust of wind blew Naomi’s hair into her face and broke her train of thought. She stopped in her tracks, taking a moment to reign in the unruly strands before fixing her hair into a ponytail and squinting at the wind still blowing in her face. The gust eventually faded, and Naomi huffed as one last strand of hair hung in front of her face.
Hindsight gave the teenager plenty of questions to ask her father, questions she never thought to ask in the moment – mostly because she’d been taught not to question her parents.
Like, ever.
Naomi turned back to where she’d left the Aspen, and her heart skipped a beat. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she asked a question in the moment, as it was on her mind.
“Um…where’s my car?!”
Naomi Gardner couldn’t believe her luck. First, she took a wrong turn. Now, her car – well, her older brother’s car – was stranded at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. She managed to pop the hood, coughing as she lifted it and was greeted by a large plume of dark smoke. Naomi squinted, eyes darting back and forth.
Not that she actually knew what she was looking at; other than the engine, Naomi saw nothing but a mess of twisted metal and wires. Staring at the mess wouldn’t make it make any more sense, so she slammed the hood back down with a huff and wandered back over to the driver’s side.
The sun was rising, so when Naomi grabbed her map, she could actually see the markings. Somehow, she got off of I-15 somewhere around Las Vegas. Which by itself wasn’t that big a deal, but she erred in trying to get off of I-515 to go the other way.
Specifically, her exit didn’t have an on-ramp going the other way.
Now, she was stuck on Route 95, surrounded by nothing but sand. Her life’s possessions were crammed into the trunk and the back seat of Elijah’s brown 1976 Dodge Aspen – an ugly car made uglier by the smoke still billowing from the hood – and her eyes fixated on the wooden cross dangling from the rear-view mirror.
“This is some test you’ve put before me,” she muttered to no one in particular. “And here I thought my biggest worry was gonna be midterms.”
The drive from Salt Lake City, her hometown, had been a lengthy one – so much so that before she left, her mother Sarah snuck her some money for a hotel room along the way. The plan had been to stay overnight in Vegas before completing the journey to San Diego. But thanks to Naomi’s little detour, she never stopped anywhere, and she hadn’t slept in almost two days.
Questions swirled around Naomi’s head. What was she going to do? How was she going to get to San Diego? She had several months before classes started – she wasn’t slated to start until the fall – but for some reason her father John insisted she leave right away.
He also insisted she drive the entire way.
“So you’ll pay for my tuition, my room and board,” Naomi mused, pacing back and forth, kicking up sand, “but you won’t spring for a plane ticket?”
Staring at the map again, Naomi searched for another route. Maybe if she could manage to get the car working, she could find another way to Vegas that wouldn’t involve backtracking. From the looks of things, she could hop onto Route 164 soon and take that back to I-15.
Assuming she could get wheels again. Worse came to worse, she’d Greyhound it.
Glancing up from her map, Naomi watched as a hawk glided through the morning air. She watched until the bird disappeared behind a mound, before her eyes settled on a green sign along the side of the road.
“Searchlight,” she read to herself, checking the map again. She wasn’t that far from 164.
But from the looks of things, she was on the brink of the very definition of “sleepy little town.” Naomi saw few lights off in the distance, and she wondered if any of those lights belonged to a car repair service. Could she be that lucky?
If her map-reading skills were any indication…
Then again, how was Naomi supposed to get to town? It wasn’t like she could just push her brother’s car into town, and in the near-hour she’d been stuck in this spot, she hadn’t seen one car go by – in either direction. So it wasn’t like she could just flag someone down and ask for help that way.
Naomi folded her map and stuffed it into her backpack. Pausing, she reached into the driver’s-side window and grabbed the cross. Draping the necklace over her neck, Naomi smoothed out her white shirt before hoisting the backpack over her shoulders.
Searchlight wasn’t that far off; she could walk into town. Even if she didn’t find a repair shop, maybe she could at least manage a bite to eat and talk to some of the locals. If she werereally lucky, maybe she could make a phone call back home.
The good thing was, Elijah would be in Africa for another year and a half. That gave her plenty of time to fix his car. Or go into hiding upon his return.
Naomi began walking toward the lights in the distance, gravel crunching under her feet. As she walked, she worked over her father’s words in her head, mulling them over for any semblance of meaning.
Consider this your mission, Naomi.
You must not return home at any time. Not on your holiday breaks. Not over the summer. We will let you know when you may return.
You have no idea how lucky you are.
We will take care of your expenses. Work hard. Keep your head down. Don’t draw attention to yourself.
A gust of wind blew Naomi’s hair into her face and broke her train of thought. She stopped in her tracks, taking a moment to reign in the unruly strands before fixing her hair into a ponytail and squinting at the wind still blowing in her face. The gust eventually faded, and Naomi huffed as one last strand of hair hung in front of her face.
Hindsight gave the teenager plenty of questions to ask her father, questions she never thought to ask in the moment – mostly because she’d been taught not to question her parents.
Like, ever.
Naomi turned back to where she’d left the Aspen, and her heart skipped a beat. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she asked a question in the moment, as it was on her mind.
“Um…where’s my car?!”