Running on Empty Contest Entries

ROE 2: Story #2 - Purgatory is a Peterbilt

PROMPT: Story inspired by REM's song "Man on the Moon"


PURGATORY IS A PETERBILT
Inspired by the line, “Here’s a truck stop instead of St. Peter’s.”


Dante’s eyes fluttered open and he groaned, squinting against a harsh light. It wasn’t the expected glow of enlightened radiance, but rather the harsh fluorescence of bad overhead industrial lighting. He blinked until his eyes adjusted, then realized he was sitting in dirty truck stop diner that smelled distinctly of body odor and diesel fuel.

“Welcome to the Last Stop Truck Stop.”

For the first time, Dante noticed he was sitting at the counter, the only one in the place except for a burly, middle-aged trucker sitting beside him.

“What am I doing here?”

“Sitting at the counter. You want to order something to eat?”

“No,” Dante said, shaking the last of the cobwebs out of his head. “I mean, what am I doing at a truck stop? The last thing I remember was crossing the street and hearing a truck’s horn blaring—”

“And then nothing, right?” The trucker said with a hint of a smile.

“That truck hit me, didn’t it?”

“Yep.”

“Is this... Heaven?”

The trucker raised an eyebrow. “Does it look like Heaven?”

“I just thought I’d see St. Peter, Pearly Gates, clouds, blue skies; you know, that kind of thing.”

“You still might see all that. Depending...”

Dante looked over at the truck driver, confused. “On what?”

“On the journey.”

The trucker stood up and tossed a couple of bills on the counter. He started for the door, then stopped when he realized Dante wasn’t following him.

“You coming? You’re welcome to stay, of course, but you might get bored pretty quick.”

Dante looked around and realized it was true. The trucker was the only other person in the diner. He was the only other person at the truck stop at all; no other travelers, vehicles, or signs of life could be seen from horizon to horizon. Reluctantly, Dante followed the trucker outside.

The trucker extended a hand as they walked.

“Name’s Virgil,” he said approaching the Peterbilt rig parked alone at the far end of the lot. “Hop on up.”

Dante moved to the passenger side and climbed up into the elevated cab of the truck. Virgil settled in behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition. The massive engine roared to life.

“Which way are we headed?” Virgil asked.

“Shouldn’t you be telling me that? You’re the driver.”

“I’m just the guide. This is your journey, friend.”

Whatever he had expected the afterlife to be like, this definitely wasn’t it.

“Uh, go right, I guess.”

Virgil nodded and edged his big rig out onto the abandoned highway. As they sped along, Dante looked out the huge windows at the countryside passing them by. It looked like they were somewhere in the middle of a desert, with nothing but more desert as far as they eye could see. And although the roadside features changed slightly from time to time, it all blended together as there were no signs or settlements to mark the passing distance. Virgil wasn’t a natural conversationalist either, which made the miles drag even more.

Dante began to wonder if boredom at the diner wouldn’t have been a preferably alternative to boredom in the cab of a truck. At least the diner was air conditioned.

In the distance, something began to materialize through the waves of heat radiating off the pavement. As the big rig approached ever closer, the shapes turned into the buildings of a town. Dante could see signs of life; there were people and businesses all around!

“Let’s stop here,” Dante said, ready to be out of the sweltering truck cab.

Virgil nodded and edged the truck toward the off ramp.

Dante stared at the town around them as they passed through. It was surprisingly contemporary and well maintained, given its location.

At Dante’s direction, the truck pulled into a parking lot across the street from what a lounge advertising air conditioning, cold drinks, and entertainment. Virgil followed Dante into the refreshingly cool, dark lounge with pulsating music coming from the DJ booth in the corner of the dance floor. Saddling up to the bar, they each ordered a cold drink. Dante finished his off in one gulp and signaled the bartender for another as one of the patrons, a beautiful young woman in a tight cocktail dress, approached and whispered something suggestive in his ear. Dante could just barely hear her over the heavy bass of the music, but enough to be sure of her intentions. He took another drink with him as she pulled him out toward the dance floor.

Virgil watched as the two of them danced together, intimate and close. Dante had his hands on her hips and they ground against one another to the DJ’s beat.

From his position nuzzled against the young beauty, Dante watched as Virgil finished the last of his drink, paid the tab, and headed for the door. His first impulse was to follow Virgil outside for fear of being left here... but then he felt the young woman’s hot breath at his ear, and listened as she told him all the ways she wanted him to take her tonight. Something told him he shouldn’t, but he spent his whole life giving into his desires, drinking and womanizing; why should his afterlife be any different?


After waiting twenty minutes, Virgil shook his head and started the engine. With a hint of sadness on his face, he shifted the truck into gear. Just then, the passenger door opened and Dante clambered up into the cab. Virgil’s expression changed to one of surprise.

“I didn’t think I was going to have any company on the next leg of the trip.”

“Yeah, well. I spent my whole life grasping at instant gratification, at the temptations that were right in front of me. Maybe it’s time to look further toward the horizon. Maybe there’s something better out there.”

“You know, you may be right.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. And who knows? Maybe we’ll even find those Pearly Gates you were looking for.”


999 words