dabble in the darkness 1

​I turned the wheel towards the on ramp. This time I was in the front of the convoy. ‘Why did I have to be in the front of the convoy in the most barren of highways?’ I thought to myself. I grabbed my cd book from the seat next to me and put it in my lap. Then I straighten my wheel towards the California coast. I put the truck in cruise and opened the book. ‘Let’s see. Who do I need to give a listen next?’ The pages weren’t very well organized. I listed the cds in my head as I saw them on the page. ‘Metallica garage incorporated, megadeth rust in peace, Johnny cash, ooh! Pantera Cowboys from hell. Let’s play that one.’ There were four cds per page. I grabbed the portable CD player from the floor of the truck. When I sat back up I noticed I was getting close to the lines. So I knee jerked the wheel back to the center of my lane. Well what I perceived as the center of my lane.

    A shriek came from the CB radio above my head, “you a’ight?”

    “Yeah… just dropped something” I said back. 

    The shriek came again, “hey, turkey… did you hear us?”

    “You have to push the button idiot…” I heard from the back seat. 

    “Jesus! Not you again… where did you even come from?”

    “They are going to be worried if you don’t respond. Push the button idiot” the voice said again. 

    I pushed the button, “yeah. Just sneezed is all” I let go of the button putting the CB back and adjusted my mirror to the backseat.  Empty. 

    “That’s right empty. Just like your head.” The voice rang out but this time from the passenger seat. 

    “It’s not real,” I said loading the cd in the player. “It’s a figment of my imagination.”

    “Oh real mature,” it said. “You know ‘IT’ has feeling!” Even though there wasn’t anyone else in the cab I could feel it do air quotes. I pressed play on the CD player and pushed the cassette adapter into the dash board. “You can’t drown me out forever!” It yelled over the music. I started to turn the radio up when I heard the voice slowly fade into the music, “that reminds me of a …”

    ‘If I can’t hear it then it doesn’t exist.’ I said to myself. Then I remembered the CB. “Shit!” I yelled turning the stereo down slightly. “That’s better,” the voice said.