One of Those Simple Voyages

Blatch's entry for the first ever Uemb writing competition! He won sixth place and managed to snag the Tao Lin award!

"Have you ever wondered if something was actually a valid lifestyle choice, and not your fetish?"

He had never been one to boss others around, preferring instead to be bossed himself. And so it remained on this day.

Geoff just wanted to get back to his campsite down in Tamworth. Sadly, a busted engine in his car was preventing progress. It wasn't a good idea to get the car started in this unusually frigid forty-degree weather, but he did so anyway. For that matter, it probably should've been junked years ago, but he was never one to mind occasional failure.

The two people in his car, seemingly a mom and her young daughter, were helping him depart from Jackson Falls, where the water flowing down was almost as cold as his soul. She suddenly blurted out, "You know, most people don't find this fun. Why would you freeze yourself like so?"

Geoff, still in his bathing suit (with a towel draped over his shoulders), pondered that for a second. He responded, "Well, I do like to visit new places. I don't care if the conditions aren't optimal, because I feel like I always have to do something."

They passed the town square of Jackson, which really wasn't all that much. A small school was located near the falls, along with other amenities tinted to match the mountainous surroundings. Nobody seemed to mind all of this. As the three in this car made distance, the daughter looked out at the falls from the back window, and they were still awe-inspiring. But Route 16 wasn't far away; soon, the car would be back on the main road and headed due south for the camping area.

"Where do you live?", Geoff asked.

Replied the woman: "Oh, in North Conway. We're just up here for the summer, however. We normally live in Rhode Island, just south of Providence."

To hold the conversation, he continued with: "And why are you doing this? A job... I thought people would be more willing to relax on vacation?"

"It helps fund future vacations. I like to be secure in regards to money."

"Well..." hung Geoff. There was no way he could continue this in his current state of mind without engaging in politically-themed talk, and that would just end in disaster. He flashed back to a meeting with his family, when his mother and father were very tense talking about the GOP's attempt at tax "reform". Oh, wait... he always spells it with air quotes. Certainly, not knowing the driver's party affiliation could make it seem loaded coming from either angle.

"People are too mushy-gushy right now. They're too susceptible to compromises. Why, when I was in college last semester, I..."

Some brief silence.

"...am boring you?"

"Oh, college? I was actually thinking of going back there to improve my degree."

"Huh. Very cool, so as I was saying, I really had to toe the line with my teacher in telling her I wanted to take the Calculus test in a quiet room. I'm only averaging a C for the semester, which is barely passing. I wanted to get my grade up, so I asked her about this, and..."

He wanted to continue the sentence, but that was a logical endpoint.

They were on the NH 16/US Route 302 concurrency now, passing through Intervale.

The woman's daughter remarked: "That Adventure Suites place does look cool."

Geoff didn't really have it. He casually snarked, "Eh... it's not Disney World, for one thing. I'd rather stay in the only place the White Mountains seem to support... a log cabin."

Earlier on, they had gone by Story Land. Geoff never minded theme parks, and especially not now. He did want to go there and check out their new roller coaster, but thinking they wouldn't respond, he casually tabled that talking point. However, further down in North Conway, the woman suddenly opened up:

"Did you go to Story Land when you were young?"

Geoff, on the edge of gushing, said "Yeah! That place was awesome. I have a feeling it wouldn't hold up as I'm older, though. The fiberglass Humpty Dumpty would probably creep me out, for one, on top of everything being fake." He then shot out a tongue, as to joke.

"God, I want to do more stuff like that..."

He had gone out on a sudden trip away from his family after a couple of incidents, such as his mother trying to light his younger sister on fire with a lighter. And there were several other politically-charged incidents which may as well be implied by now. But he, never really a misanthrope, still wanted to know the inherent good in people. At this point, Geoff had succeed.

"Man, the one time I take an Uber ride in my life..." as he wasn't one to betray ethical labor. But perhaps a non-preferred experience could be one far better than the inherent clauses contained within could explain?

They were in Madison, now... going by Silver Lake. The train station with the ad for Moxie, a soda Geoff liked to drink, was passed. And from NH 41, he thought about the vaguely-phrased ad "thanking" Democrats for Obamacare. He always wondered what the hell the political message to get out of that was. But he honestly didn't care, and he would be better off not knowing at all. Sometimes, it's more fun that way. He was typically one who valued the joy in the journey above the destination. But time wasn't very long now.

They eventually made their way to the Tamworth camping grounds, Thankfully, Geoff himself had remembered to peel the sticker off of his car before leaving it. He flashed it near the gate to all interested parties. The gate opened, and the final part of the woman's journey was underway. To a campground alongside the Swift River, she traveled.

"Well, thanks for everything!", he intended to finish it off with.

The woman answered, saying "No problem, buddy. Say... how are you going to get around the state like this?"

"Oh, don't worry... I've still got two days left. I'll think of something. Maybe you could even bring me along again?"

Speaking for just the second time was the young girl the woman called family. She said, "I like you! So long..."

And that's how it ended. The two-member crew of the minivan drove away, leaving Geoff with very little other than his tent and various supplies. The decision to leave most of his food in there while he left, while not very sensible, had paid off. Of course, with this experience coming to a close, he wondered how the hell he was going to keep his food safe. He looked around for a shirt to put on, with all the ponderings of this experience going through his head all at once.

"Eh... at least I know what socializing is like. I could ask any other camper about that."

This time, he flashed a muted smile. It didn't do much except to re-affirm what he knew, but it was still worth it.