Narrator Point of View
Daniel was almost to his destination when he decided to pull over and rest in a motel. He noticed the motel right off the highway. It still had vacancies available. He pulled over and turned on his alarm. He took a quick peek at the back seat for a moment. After confirming that here was nothing back there, he walked away. The motel looked aged, but still in good condition. The doors were automatic sliding doors. There was an older lady wearing reading glasses. She was filling out the crossword puzzle in the newspaper. Her name tag said, Manerva. She looked over at Daniel's direction and placed the newspaper down. Then adjusted her glasses as she logged into her computer. She asked, "do you have a reservation?" Daniel answered, "No." Manerva then said, "we have a single suit with a king size bed and four suits with two queen size beds inside. Each has a kitchen, refrigerator and place to lounge. Which room would you like?" Daniel replied, "I'll take the king size one." After telling him the total, she then asked for ID and a credit card. While she was entering his information she kept glancing past him.
Daniel's Point of View
I was thinking, "I'm tired and I really wanted to stretch my legs. This will probably be the last time I'll be able to rest on a comfortable bed for a long time. That experience I got earlier spooked me because something like that hasn't happened to me before. Sure I heard stories, but I had never experienced anything like it before. I sorta wished I had a dog now to hang out with. As I waited, I noticed that the attendant kept glancing behind me. God I wish it isn't another spooky thing, I can only unlock a new trauma one at a time. She is still glancing behind me and the curiosity is killing me. Okay, here it goes."
When I finally looked behind me, hoping it wasn't something else that I would have to drown out in music, to my surprise it was a short stubby man with a jolly face. I thought, "thank God." I then checked my phone and saw I had a missed message from my mother. It said "good luck on your trip." She's always concerned for me. The lady, Minerva, handed me my card and I walked over to my truck to get a bag to change into for tomorrow.
When I walked into my room, it was clean and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I threw my bag on the bed and went to check the bathroom. I was nice and spacious. I can tell it was recently renovated. Everything looked new still. I turned on the shower and went to grab a towel to shower.
After my shower I checked my phone. There was a long message from Kyle,
" I just wanted to wish you a great trip. I'm sorry again. I should have had the common sense that she wasn't going to be okay with the trip. Anyway, maybe we could get away with a weekend, but not two months next time we plan for something."
I decided to text him back, "all good man, I get it." But the reality is I didn't get it. I was so clueless about having a significant other. I spent most of my time being a loner, that if it wasn't for Kyle, I'd probably still be one. I witnessed some bad things happen to my uncle by people he called friends as a child. It left me believing that the worst monster was another human being. Then that feeling solidified by being bullied because I preferred to stick to myself than make friends. My mother would ask me what happened at school and I'd always come up with the excuse that I fell in the playground or that I got rough with my friends. That was a joke, I didn't have friends. Then Kyle decided to take pity on me and kept sticking to me like glue I guess. He would start following me like a stalker everywhere except when it was time to go home. At first I would feel relieved each time his mom would pick him up. But then I started getting used to him and started looking forward to him. When my mom met him, she told me she was worried that I was lying to her about having friends. Sorry mom, you were right on the money until Kyle forced his way into my life. I owe that guy a lot.
I decided to lay down and listen to another audio book, since the author of the current book I was listening ,only releases one chapter at a time in the morning. As I was scrolling through the book apps, I saw something I found interesting. It was tales of the Appalachians Mountains. I bookmarked it for tomorrow because I had enough excitement for the day. Then I remembered my mom texted me too. I decided to call her.
"Hello honey," she answered me. "Mom, when are you going to stop calling me honey?" I asked. "When you stop being my son," she replied. I chuckled a little. "How is your trip going so far?" she asked me. "There's not much to say. I've only been driving. I will start documenting it and tell you about it when I get home," I replied as I double checked my items. "I really wished you had someone going with you." "I'll be fine, I will try to check in daily if there is a signal, but don't count on it mom." I quickly replied before she went on a tangent about my safety. "Fine honey, but promise to do the best you can to check in. You know how your father gets, okay." she said worried, but I knew it was her nerves. "I promised I'll do the best I can. It's getting late, I have to rest before I get back on the road." I said that so she doesn't fall into that rabbit hole of constantly worrying. "Okay honey, good night." "Good night," I responded. I know I'm grown, but it still feels nice to have someone worry and care about me. Wow, I should get a girlfriend. I wonder if there's a book I can read on that.
Narrator Point of View
Daniel went to the front desk and saw that it was a different lady at the front desk. She had long black hair. It was braided into two braids and had different color strings on the ends. She had tan brown skin and thick eye brows with a clean, yet sharp look. She was wearing these turquoise earrings that dangled down to her shoulders. She was writing something in her journal that also contained doodles. She looked at Daniel with a serious face and asked, "what can I help you with?" Daniels handed her his key card and said, "I'm checking out." She pointed with her chin as she said, "you can leave your card in the drop off box there. Thank you." Then she went back to writing something in her journal. "Room 103," Daniel said. She looked at him again and asked, "what?" "Room 103, I wanted you to check me out so that I can present a receipt to my company for reimbursement," said Daniel.
The lady then apologized and began to check him out of the room to print a receipt. While she was doing that, Daniel looked at the journal which had interesting drawings of something almost super natural. She noticed him looking at her journal and she closed it. His curiosity prompted him to ask, "what was that?" She handed him the receipt and said, "It's nothing YOU need to worry about." Daniel then apologized for being nosy and told her, "I'm a curious guy, its the reason I'm going to the Appalachian Mountains." She looked down at her journal and said, "stick to the trails, never go off them. If you hear something odd, then walk faster and pretend you didn't hear it or you will end up worrying about what I just told you not to worry about."