Late Last Night

Late Last Night

Late last night I heard the highway calling me.

“Hey Boy! What you been doin? I ain’t seen you in a while. I’ve got some fine fine things to show you. When you comin back? I miss you Ol’ Son!

“I can take you down some long moonlit roads without a soul upon them except for the night birds overhead and the creatures that scuttle under the bushes.  I’ve got patches that have never seen the sun and others that have never seen a speck of shade.  Man! I got a million places you’ve never seen.

“What? Yeah, I’ve got some cities on my way that you’ve never seen before either. But if you don’t mind, I’ll drop you off at the outskirts. I don’t truck with streets and boulevards and avenues. They’re just not in my league, ya know? Oh, you just go ahead and take your time. Go gawk at the freaks and Lonely Hearts in the middle of millions. I’ll be waiting for you here by this bush.

“Lil Country, I can show you highways and byways and roads and you betcha I can take you all the way home. Remember those roads? Weren’t they fantastic? What say we stroll down a tree lined road outside Asheville? Smell the pines? Isn’t this how you remember it? Wow! See that squirrel?

Remember Albemarle County and the roads winding up the Blue Ridge? I got some wonders, I tell ya.

“I bet I know what you’d like. How about if I drop you off at the foot of Harris Creek Road? Warn’t THAT a road, Lil Country? You know it. Many’s the night you walked the length of that road back into the woods and swamp. Did it a lot of nights near blind too, huh?

“Hey! Stop crying, ok? I know you miss it. Damn, Boy, I’m just asphalt and paint. I can’t hold you and tell you that I love you and keep you from being afraid. I’m just a highway, Ol’ Son. Nothing more or less. All I can do is take you there and bring you back. What you do along the way is up to you.  Is it MY fault if you get yourself stuck in one place?  I think not.

“Stop it now, ok?  Alright then, I’ll take you back. Go ahead. Open your eyes. Better now? Maybe next time we can do it for real.

“Don’t be a stranger.”

g.