Arsimms' Prompts - 1. Prompt 320 - The Move

As we passed the millionth cactus and stared at the broken clock in our beat up car that had no air conditioner on this godforsaken trip, from Amarillo to Reno, to our new home through the thousand miles of endless desert, I began to get agitated at my husband's stubbornness at not flying our family to our new city. It seems our son was feeling the same way.

"Dad, this trip is horrible. Why aren't we flying to this hellhole again?"

"Pardon me? Hellhole? Where did you pick that word up, Billy?"

"Daddy was talking about with grandma last night. Is hellhole not the right word?"

I shrunk at our eight year old's infallible ability to tell the truth or his unfiltered mind.

"You know he's impressionable, why would you cuss in front of him? Oh, and another thing it's not a hellhole."

"I'm sorry, but I had no idea that he was nearby when Mom and I were Skyping on the computer last night. To be honest he has bat-hearing it's kinda scary."

"But why call our new place a hellhole. You saw it online, it's not that bad. Is it?"

"No, its not that. Its that you refused to fly us out there. This car is a deathtrap, with no AC. I feel like it's gonna break down any moment now."

"You know how I feel about flying, Kyle."

"You know Marcus, your stubbornness is so painful sometimes. It's like ripping off a Band-Aid."

"It's not that bad."

"Yea, it is." Billy quipped.

"Hey don't gang up on me. Don't you have a video game to play back there?"

"I finished Sonic the Hedgehog an hour ago."

I got Super Mario Brothers out for him. 'That should hold him for the rest of the trip,' I thought.

"You know what?" I asked my husband of fifteen years.

"What?"

"I am actually excited for this new chapter of our lives. I love you Marcus."

"I love you too, Kyle."

I grabbed his hand and we smiled at each other.

"Hey, I love you too!" Billy said from the backseat.

"We love you too, Billy." we said simultaneously.

After a few minutes of silence and listening to Mario go down the tubes, I turned to watch the desert landscape pass by cacti and all.

THE END