Post by sarahx on Apr 29, 2008 23:22:21 GMT
Outside, the sun was shining brightly yet the warmth had dissipated from the car in a heartbeat. Struggling with the map in her hands, Aubrey let out a frustrated cry and began to roll up the window with haste. Realising that she couldn't control the car as well as the map, she reluctantly pulled the car to the side of the road and turned off the engine. She turned her attention back to the map, her finger tracing an invisible line along the route she had just taken. Repeating this five times, she gritted her teeth together and began to violently beat the steering wheel. It wasn't until she'd worked up a sweat that she began to stop, realising that to a sudden passer by, her first impression would be far from favourable. Picking up the map once more, she took a deep breath and re-traced the invisible line, only to find herself in the same, confused frame of mind. It hadn't occurred to her, before she'd left, that she would get lost - after all, she was usually an extremely good navigator. It just wasn't the same when you were trying to keep your eyes on the road at the same time. Aubrey examined herself in the rear view mirror, rubbing the black shadows underneath her eyes; she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a full nights sleep. In fact, the only reason she was still awake, probably had something to do with the copious amount of caffeine she'd consumed in the past few days. Massaging her temples, she breathed in and out slowly and, after one last glance at herself, she returned to the map with a look of false hope in her eyes.
Aubrey had to admit, the first five minutes of her incessant fumbling with the map was pretty funny. Now, though, was no laughing matter. It had been thirty minutes since she'd last picked up the map; thirty minutes of hopelessly searching for where she was; thirty minutes of her new life wasted. Sighing heavily, she threw the map carelessly onto the back seat and reached over to the glove compartment, hastily pulling on it's handle. If someone other than Aubrey was to treat her car in that manner, there would be hell to pay. For this little car was her second most prized possession; it was her knight in shining armour...literally; because everywhere she went, it went. To some, this might seem lazy, but Aubrey saw it as devotion.
Eventually, the glove compartment opened to reveal a small stack of Cd's, a silver lighter and a half empty pack of cigarettes. "Damn it," Aubrey hissed, "I should have stopped at the fuel station..." Taking the lighter and cigarettes in one hand, she closed the compartment door with a considerable amount of force; one so great that the car began to shake. She carefully pulled out a cigarette from the pack, flinging the almost-empty carton onto the passengers seat and delicately placing the cigarette between her lips. Scanning the area carefully, Aubrey noticed the leaves rustling on the nearby trees and thought better of leaving the car in her sleeveless t-shirt. Reaching behind her, she rummaged around under her chair in search of her jacket - which must have fallen from her head rest mid-journey. Subsequently, she pulled it towards her and draped it over her arm. Taking the keys out of the ignition, she flipped up the lid of her lighter and lit the cigarette before inhaling slowly. Aubrey pulled the cigarette from her mouth, holding it between her fingers and began to caress the engraving on the lighter, the elegant script reading: Adrien. Suddenly, the memories flooded into her brain as if she was watching them like a movie before her - it all seemed so real but she knew better than to reach out. Instead of initially shaking her head to rid her of the memories, she lingered for a while watching the images of her father lighting many a cigarette. Aubrey had to choke back the tears from her father's memory. Even though he'd been dead for three years, she still missed him terribly - when the rest of the world walked out on her, he came running in with open arms. She took a drag of her cigarette once again and snapped out of her trance. Nothing could ever bring him back, she knew that, but there was no harm in trying.
Checking herself once more in the rear view mirror, Aubrey unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. Her assumption was correct: the sun was shining but the wind was harsh, causing her hair to fly everywhere. She pulled a strand from her mouth, cigarette in hand, and wrapped her jacket tightly around her before she shut the car door. Despite not knowing where she was, the scenery was beautiful and this made her want to explore - though knowing that exploring was probably not in her best interests right now. Locking the car door, she decided she'd wait for a passing car to ask for directions and began to saunter across to a small forest area roughly twenty metres from where she was originally stood. The smell of fresh air hit her abruptly when the wind blew her way, causing her to pause for a moment just to regain her breath. As she entered the forested area, she began to hesitate, wondering if it were best to stay near the road; with it starting to get dark, sleeping in the middle of nowhere didn't really appeal to her. Still, she carried on anyway until she'd lost sight of the road. Looking around, she saw nothing but trees, trees and more trees. Aubrey sighed as she turned around to try and locate an exit back onto the road, but she couldn't tell the trees apart and had seemingly lost her sense of direction. "Oh for God's sake! Great one, Aubrey. You're definitely eligible for Orienteerer of the month..." She muttered, clambering over a cluster of small rocks beneath her feet. She outstretched her hands towards the passing trees as if to give herself support, forgetting to look where she was going. In an instant, she ended up stumbling head first into a tree trunk and ended up on the forest floor, her cigarette rolling swiftly from her mouth. "Shit!" She cried, her hands flying up to the rising bump on her forehead. She pulled them away and winced with the stinging of a fresh wound caused by her impertinence and pushed herself up, gripping the tree trunk tightly. What the hell was she going to do now? Being stranded in the middle of nowhere was not on her agenda; if only she'd have been sensible and stayed by the car. Three or four cars would have surely passed by now...
Deciding she'd better start moving in an attempt to get back to the car, she headed straight forward, watching her step vigilantly. Every so often her hand would gently touch the cut on her forehead and the blood stain on her hand was starting to enlarge, suggesting it was serious. Sighing again, she carried on moving forward until she noticed the trees were thinning out and she could just about make out the charcoal colour of the road. Aubrey clasped her hands tightly together and raised them above her head, symbolising a prayer of gratitude to the heavens. Although not religious in the slightest, Aubrey always felt guilty when something good came out of a bad situation; like someone or something had heard her prayers and answered them. It was only polite to thank them.
Back on the main road, Aubrey spotted her Mini parked a short walk away and she started running towards it. Making no haste, she fumbled in her pockets for the keys and stuffed them in the lock, opening the door in one swift movement. Feeling grateful that she hadn't made a complete mess of things, she leant her head back on the head rest and started breathing heavily; she hoped this was not a sign of things to come. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the cut on her forehead had stopped bleeding and she leant closer to the mirror to inspect the damage. Aubrey started to laugh, the cut was barely a scratch now the bleeding had stopped and she felt foolish for even thinking about it. Sighing, she opened the glove compartment again, pulled out a CD and inserted it into the player.
Come with me, my love,
To the sea, the sea of love
I want to tell you how much I love you
She tapped her fingers gently on the steering wheel. Now all she had to do was wait, but that was the easy part; she'd been doing that throughout her adolescency. The hard part, for a person who was as shy and lacking in social skills as she, was trying to communicate with the passer by.
[OOC: Seeing as it's like 12:15 am over in the UK, this post is pretty bad. Well, for me it is. So, all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!]
Aubrey had to admit, the first five minutes of her incessant fumbling with the map was pretty funny. Now, though, was no laughing matter. It had been thirty minutes since she'd last picked up the map; thirty minutes of hopelessly searching for where she was; thirty minutes of her new life wasted. Sighing heavily, she threw the map carelessly onto the back seat and reached over to the glove compartment, hastily pulling on it's handle. If someone other than Aubrey was to treat her car in that manner, there would be hell to pay. For this little car was her second most prized possession; it was her knight in shining armour...literally; because everywhere she went, it went. To some, this might seem lazy, but Aubrey saw it as devotion.
Eventually, the glove compartment opened to reveal a small stack of Cd's, a silver lighter and a half empty pack of cigarettes. "Damn it," Aubrey hissed, "I should have stopped at the fuel station..." Taking the lighter and cigarettes in one hand, she closed the compartment door with a considerable amount of force; one so great that the car began to shake. She carefully pulled out a cigarette from the pack, flinging the almost-empty carton onto the passengers seat and delicately placing the cigarette between her lips. Scanning the area carefully, Aubrey noticed the leaves rustling on the nearby trees and thought better of leaving the car in her sleeveless t-shirt. Reaching behind her, she rummaged around under her chair in search of her jacket - which must have fallen from her head rest mid-journey. Subsequently, she pulled it towards her and draped it over her arm. Taking the keys out of the ignition, she flipped up the lid of her lighter and lit the cigarette before inhaling slowly. Aubrey pulled the cigarette from her mouth, holding it between her fingers and began to caress the engraving on the lighter, the elegant script reading: Adrien. Suddenly, the memories flooded into her brain as if she was watching them like a movie before her - it all seemed so real but she knew better than to reach out. Instead of initially shaking her head to rid her of the memories, she lingered for a while watching the images of her father lighting many a cigarette. Aubrey had to choke back the tears from her father's memory. Even though he'd been dead for three years, she still missed him terribly - when the rest of the world walked out on her, he came running in with open arms. She took a drag of her cigarette once again and snapped out of her trance. Nothing could ever bring him back, she knew that, but there was no harm in trying.
Checking herself once more in the rear view mirror, Aubrey unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. Her assumption was correct: the sun was shining but the wind was harsh, causing her hair to fly everywhere. She pulled a strand from her mouth, cigarette in hand, and wrapped her jacket tightly around her before she shut the car door. Despite not knowing where she was, the scenery was beautiful and this made her want to explore - though knowing that exploring was probably not in her best interests right now. Locking the car door, she decided she'd wait for a passing car to ask for directions and began to saunter across to a small forest area roughly twenty metres from where she was originally stood. The smell of fresh air hit her abruptly when the wind blew her way, causing her to pause for a moment just to regain her breath. As she entered the forested area, she began to hesitate, wondering if it were best to stay near the road; with it starting to get dark, sleeping in the middle of nowhere didn't really appeal to her. Still, she carried on anyway until she'd lost sight of the road. Looking around, she saw nothing but trees, trees and more trees. Aubrey sighed as she turned around to try and locate an exit back onto the road, but she couldn't tell the trees apart and had seemingly lost her sense of direction. "Oh for God's sake! Great one, Aubrey. You're definitely eligible for Orienteerer of the month..." She muttered, clambering over a cluster of small rocks beneath her feet. She outstretched her hands towards the passing trees as if to give herself support, forgetting to look where she was going. In an instant, she ended up stumbling head first into a tree trunk and ended up on the forest floor, her cigarette rolling swiftly from her mouth. "Shit!" She cried, her hands flying up to the rising bump on her forehead. She pulled them away and winced with the stinging of a fresh wound caused by her impertinence and pushed herself up, gripping the tree trunk tightly. What the hell was she going to do now? Being stranded in the middle of nowhere was not on her agenda; if only she'd have been sensible and stayed by the car. Three or four cars would have surely passed by now...
Deciding she'd better start moving in an attempt to get back to the car, she headed straight forward, watching her step vigilantly. Every so often her hand would gently touch the cut on her forehead and the blood stain on her hand was starting to enlarge, suggesting it was serious. Sighing again, she carried on moving forward until she noticed the trees were thinning out and she could just about make out the charcoal colour of the road. Aubrey clasped her hands tightly together and raised them above her head, symbolising a prayer of gratitude to the heavens. Although not religious in the slightest, Aubrey always felt guilty when something good came out of a bad situation; like someone or something had heard her prayers and answered them. It was only polite to thank them.
Back on the main road, Aubrey spotted her Mini parked a short walk away and she started running towards it. Making no haste, she fumbled in her pockets for the keys and stuffed them in the lock, opening the door in one swift movement. Feeling grateful that she hadn't made a complete mess of things, she leant her head back on the head rest and started breathing heavily; she hoped this was not a sign of things to come. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the cut on her forehead had stopped bleeding and she leant closer to the mirror to inspect the damage. Aubrey started to laugh, the cut was barely a scratch now the bleeding had stopped and she felt foolish for even thinking about it. Sighing, she opened the glove compartment again, pulled out a CD and inserted it into the player.
Come with me, my love,
To the sea, the sea of love
I want to tell you how much I love you
She tapped her fingers gently on the steering wheel. Now all she had to do was wait, but that was the easy part; she'd been doing that throughout her adolescency. The hard part, for a person who was as shy and lacking in social skills as she, was trying to communicate with the passer by.
[OOC: Seeing as it's like 12:15 am over in the UK, this post is pretty bad. Well, for me it is. So, all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!]