Utahan Turnabout
Jack passes the bottle to Rose while asking, “Do ya see the face in that rock over there?”
“Which rock are ya talkin’ bout, Jack? There are thousands, tens of thousands. Gotta gimme a little help here.” He points vaguely, “That one,” and then lightly lifts Rose’s hand, trying his best to point her finger towards the face in the rock. “Riiight about there. Well, ya gotta lower ya head a bit. Yes. Just like that. You see it?” She looks like a pirate wielding a spyglass. “Nope. Haven’t found it.” Jack gently guides Rose’s arm down and says, “Ahh it’s alright. The face is frowning anyways.” “I don’t want to see that, Jack! I’m happy. You’re happy. Why drag a sad stranger into all of this?” She smirks and takes a swig. He laughs and appreciates her point; then he looks up towards the horizon and away from the rocky landscape, “The sky Rose. The clouds are orange and they’re pink. The sky is blue while the clouds are red…ahhh. Pass that bottle Rose. It’s beautiful.” He takes a swig and when she speaks, her tone echoes the desert’s serenity, “We don’t need to leave tomorrow, Jack. We really don’t. Just one more night, what’s the rush?” After wiping at his lip, he responds like a father does to his pouty daughter after being denied something quite reasonable “I know… .I know. It’s just that the last phone call with my dad doesn’t sit well with me. You remember, right? We got cut off as we were making ways down this deserted road.” “Of course I remember, Jack. It was on speaker; he told us to enjoy every moment of the trip. He wished he could’ve been out there with us.” “Ah so do I. Sorta. It’s great being alone with you out here. Me and him camped not too far from here on our road trip. We had the best times in Utah… I told you the stories. He was telling us about his aches and pains when the phone cut out. We never said goodbye. He knows we’re out here and I’m sure he understands, but I just wanna see how he’s doing.” “It’s the right thing to do, Jack. Let’s just enjoy a final sunset here and head back into town first thing in the mornin’. We can charge our phones at that dinner and make some calls. Let everyone know we’re still alive.” Trying his best to hold back laughter, he says, “Sounds good to me… Hey, you uh remember what he said about the wolves?” He laughs and notices Rose’s face is blank and then her poker face fades into nervousness. Jack wraps his arm around her waist instantly and pulls her tight. “It was only a joke, you know that.”
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