The Ride

The Ride

“Turn Left,” spoke the nasally artificial voice.

“The GPS says to turn left,” Sandy said.

“So, turn left,” Susan said, not even looking up from her phone.

“Where?”

“At the next left.”

“Susan, we are driving up the side of a lake. We will not be having a next left for about two miles. Why would it be telling me that now?”

Susan looked up. “Huh. That doesn’t make sense.”

“Turn Left,” spoke the nasally artificial voice, again.

“No kidding, and doesn’t it usually give you a distance too, like ‘in 500 feet’ or something?”

“Oh yeah, that’s weird too.”

“Turn Left in 500 feet or something,” spoke the nasally artificial voice.

“Ah... Sandy... this is getting a little creepy,” said Susan.

“What should I do?!”

“Turn Left,” spoke the nasally artificial voice.

Sandy turned left, stopping the car along the edge of the road.

Suddenly the car shook, then, as they watched, a shimmer rose from the car and a cloud hovered over the windshield.

Sandy and Susan froze, but the shimmer began to sparkle. Suddenly rainbow colors ran all over it, shining down on them and making them both feel warm and very, very happy. Then suddenly the cloud floated out, over the lake, and then shot straight up into the sky.

The girls sat there for some time feeling happy and relaxed, not even talking. After a while, Sandy restarted the car and they got back on the road.

“Good gosh!” Sandy said, “How did it get to be two o’clock already?”

“Wow, I don’t know!” Susan said, “This ride’s been so lovely, I guess we lost track of the time. Don’t forget to turn left as soon as we get past the lake. Oh, never mind, I’m sure the GPS will tell you anyway.”

It did.