Through And Beyond Smoke

If it’s one thing Jyllmon hates, is driving through the road in extreme darkness. To him, it felt like a horror movie where he had no idea what’s to come. It could be a random deer dashing through the streets, or a helpless woman being chased through the woods, or just simply a broken down car.

Of course, in a car situation like that, it would only be his choice on whether he wanted to help them or not, but the scary part is the intention of the helpless driver. Jyllmon seen way too many movies to know the pattern of set ups when he sees one. He wasn’t gonna risk it, not with his loud snoring cousin sitting beside him in the car.

Jyllmon felt his body heating up. His eyebrows creased every time he glanced at his cousin. Her snoring was becoming louder than the radio.

“Salintis?” Jyllmon said, attempting to awaken her. “Salintis!” He shouted, only to achieve no results.

Lucky for him, the road had a small bump that abruptly woke her up.

“Are we close enough yet?” Salintis asked barely opening her eyes.

“No.” Jyllmon responded irritably.

“What’s your problem? Why are you closing your leg so much? You got to pee or something?” She asked.

“Yes! I’ve been holding it in for over an hour. I can’t find a gas station for shit.” Jyllmon said.

“After an hour of driving?! That’s crazy.” Salintis said, trying to go back to sleep.

“What the? I can’t see!” Jyllmon said, as the road gradually gets foggy.

“Just keep driving.” Salintis told him.

“But I don’t know whether to turn or not!” Jyllmon complained.

“Just keep going straight.”

Jyllmon does as he’s told until eventually the fog clears up and there’s a gas station a few blocks down the street.

“Well, what a mysterious coincidence.” Salintis remarked.

“Wiphris.” Jyllmon read the sign as he pulled in. “Interesting name.” He wasted no time zooming inside the store asking the cashier directions to the restroom.

Salintis walked in after him as he ran around the corner. She greeted the cashier with a little nod, only to be repaid back with a stone cold stare. Salintis ignored it, or at least tried too, but his eyes were so eerily big.

Salintis avoided eye contact, walking through three different isles with no luck of finding a bag of pretzels. “Are you kidding me!” She shouted to herself. She rolled her eyes and decided to look for something else. After searching through isle three and two, she settled for four bags of fruit roll-ups. To be generous, she bought Jyllmon a bag of Cheetos. As soon as Salintis turned around, she was met with a pair of big brown eyeballs staring down at her. She stared back as her heart started racing. The cashier’s gaze was so cold and mild. Salintis wished she could move, but her brain told her to sit still.

The cashier’s mouth started to open. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude and stare, but I don’t get a lot of customers here.”

“It’s okay.” Salintis anxiously smiles.

The cashier held his hand out. “I’m Kinaldro. I am the owner of Wiphris.”

Salintis shook his hand. “That’s a nice name. I’m Salintis.”

Kinaldro widened his eyes, pressing his lips inwards. “Interesting name. And who’s the boy that ran to the bathroom?”

***

“What the hell!” Jyllmon shouted out of frustration. “Can somebody let me out?!” No response. Jyllmon petulantly kicks the door, then proceeds to pull on the knob. “Salintis! Cashier guy! Somebody?!”

It has been five minutes since he decompressed himself in the toilet. Sweat glands began rolling down his face. The bathroom started losing its coldness or Jyllmon believed all the movement he was doing did the job.

Jyllmon searched around the bathroom. The only outlet he had was a vent, but it’s too high in the air and he wouldn’t fit. He sighed, double-hand banging the door. “Somebody let me out of here!” He screamed.

***

“Sapirget you say?” Kinaldro asked.

“Yep!” Salintis smiled. “It’s a very small town, so if you ever think about moving there, be careful of what you say.”

“What happens if you say the wrong thing? Is there punishments?” Kinaldro questioned.

Salintis’s eyes wandered around, thinking of an answer. “Not… necessarily. You more so don’t want your personal business be spread around town.”

“Okay.” Kinaldro understood. “So what brings you to come pass my store?”

“Me and my cousin going to a family get together.” Salintis said.

“Really?” Kinaldro asked. “Are they from Kysheegle?”

“Yeah, a real big city.” Salintis said. “But that’s the only way my cousin and I will see a concert we’re going to.”

“A concert?! Who are you seeing!” Kinaldro showed great interest.

“We’re going to see Cihypress.” Salintis answered.

“What is that? It sounds familiar.”

“It’s a girl band full of hippies. Ugh, I love their music! It’s full of good vibes. Their music makes you high without actually getting high.”

“Oh, them. My daughter loves them. She says they send out a great frequency.” Kinaldro said.

“Um… yeah.” Salintis responded rather awkwardly. She looked around for a bit. “Where’s my cousin? I don’t think peeing takes ten minutes.”

“Maybe he had to poop too.” Kinaldro assumed.

“No, he was literally closing his legs mad hard saying he had to pee before we got here.” Salintis said.

“Maybe it changed when he got here.” Kinaldro said.

Salintis shot an annoyed look his way and said, “I’ll go check on him.” She knocked on the bathroom door a few times. “Jyllmon?” No response was given. “Jyllmon, are you okay? What’s taking so long?” Still silence. “Jyllmon, answer me!”

A moment later, the door swings open. Jyllmon had a big smile plastered on his face as he breathed out of relief. “Finally!” He said walking past her. “Took forever to get that door open.”

“You were stuck in there for ten minutes?!” Salintis asked, following behind him. “Why didn’t you yell for my name?”

“I did!” Jyllmon shouted. “I even yelled for him.” Pointing to Kinaldro.

“My apologies.” Kinaldro raised his right hand in the air.

“Does your bathroom door do this often?” Jyllmon questioned.

“No,” Kinaldro denied.

Jyllmon stared at him for a minute, as if trying to see if he’d crumble in a lie. When he seen that he didn’t, he decided to take Salintis and leave.

“Wait!” Kinaldro shouted as they were one step out the door. “Your cousin told me you were staying with a family in Kysheegle, yeah?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Jyllmon suspiciously asked.

“I know you have to be tired from those long hours of driving. There’s a motel a half hour down the road if you want to take a break.” Kinaldro said.

Jyllmon glanced at Salintis. “Thanks, but I’m having my cousin take over with the driving. She had her resting break already.”

“Actually a stop at the motel wouldn’t hurt.” Salintis said. “I could really use a bed to lay on right now.”

Jyllmon narrowed his eyes at her, shaking his head in annoyance. “I guess we could take a break.” He walked out the store, his cousin followed after him.

“Take care!” Kinaldro waved at them.

The two got in the car and drove off. Neither one of them made a peep until they reached the motel. “Are those Cheetos for me?” Jyllmon asked before officially getting out of the car.

“Yes.” Salintis responded before he snatched it out of her hands. “A simple thank you would’ve been nice, Jyllmon!”

Jyllmon ignores her, focusing on checking them in. Once that’s completed, he came back to the car. “Room 204. Let’s go.”

Salintis quickly grabs her bags and chases after him. “Jyllmon, can you stop speed-walking!”

“Nope. I’m ready to sleep. Thanks to you refusing to take turns driving.” Jyllmon snarled, using the key to unlock the door.

“Jyllmon!” Salintis cried out as the door hits her on her way in.

The room didn’t look that bad to Jyllmon’s standards, but Salintis on the other hand, was totally different. The hot pink carpet were blotted with a few black marks that looked impossible to clean off. The brown wooden table in the corner seemed liked the ceiling dust cascaded upon it. The bathroom was slightly too small for Jyllmon’s taste, specifically. The bed upheld the most to their standards.

Jyllmon approached the bed and sat on it. He begins to peel open his bag of Cheetos, popping them in his mouth each second with no break.

Salintis stares at him surprisingly as she barely had a chance to open up her fruit-roll-ups. “Wow. You really couldn’t wait to eat them, couldn’t you?”

“Nope.” He said, dusting the crumbs off his hands before hitting his head on the pillows.

“Well, goodnight, I guess.” Salintis said, before chewing on her snack. Jyllmon didn’t respond. After a few seconds, he had already started snoring. Salintis ate at least two of her fruit roll ups and hit the hay herself.

***

It’s a brand new day, which should start off feeling rejuvenated. But for Salintis’s sake she felt internally horrible.

As soon as Salintis’s eyes shot open, she zoomed towards the bathroom, holding her mouth closed. “Are you kidding me?!” She shouted, discovering the bathroom wasn’t available. “Jyllmon, I need the bathroom! I need to vomit!”

“So do I!” Jyllmon hoarsely responded. “Go barf in a trash can!”

Salintis immediately searched around for a trash can. She found it by the front door. Once Salintis grabbed it, she immediately hurled into the trash for what felt an egregious minute. When Salintis finished she peeked into the trash can and felt bewildered.

She couldn’t help her curiosity as to why the vomit is a bright green when she doesn’t remember eating anything remotely green or anything at all until the fruit roll ups. Especially since the fruit roll ups having an array of colors. The vomit twitched, causing Salintis to drop the trash can, making the vomit spill over.

“Ugh, damn!” Salintis grumbled to herself, then paused. The vomit was still twitching. Soon, a small portion of it started forming into a big hand.