The rain increased. Lara slowed down to a mere 30mph trying to be careful considering the conditions. The fact that it was also night didn't help. She had never driven in these conditions before.
Worse, the road was curving left and right, and there were no shoulders to pull over into. The road had narrowed to a single lane in each direction, and a line of cars were behind her seemingly egging her on to go faster. She did her best to keep the car on the road, let alone try to keep her eyes open for some place to pull over.
The line of headlights in her rear view mirror made her anxious. She felt pressure to speed up so as to not aggravate the drivers behind her, but the road was curvy and she was afraid to go any faster. All she could do was keep going.
There were plenty of other intersecting roads she passed by, but somehow she tuned them out. There were also overlooks she could have pulled over into, but by the time she noticed them, it had been too late to do so. She developed tunnel vision, transfixed on the road ahead and trying to do her best to keep the car moving. An hour and a half later, she came to a fork in the road. It was an off ramp heading to an intersecting road.
She took a gamble and decided to take the off ramp to get out of the way of the cars behind her. To her luck, none of them followed her. The off ramp took her north along another two-lane highway. It went through several tiny villages but she found no place to pull over, or at least nothing she felt comfortable with. Lara kept on driving.
Julia remained asleep in the passenger seat.
With the cars behind her now gone, Lara felt relieved. She finally realized how cold it was in the car and turned on the heater. The rain increased with intensity. Lara's focus remained fixed on the road. For the most part, she remained in her head, determined to find someplace safe for them to park and sleep for the night.
Lara noticed a sign suggesting there was a park or campground ahead. It sounded like a good place to go. But she was confused which road to take. There were several intersecting roads and she didn't know which one to turn on. She finally made a right turn down another road, hoping this would be the correct road. However, the road became more narrow and bumpy, turning to dirt. She realized it must have been the wrong road.
Eventually she found an intersection, and decided to turn left and follow that road, hoping it would provide a place for her to pull over and stop. Up ahead she could see what appeared to be a small dirt patch by the side of the road to pull over. As she approached, she turned into it, but realized it was another road, a dirt road.
She decided to take it instead of trying to put the car into reverse and stay on the road she had been on.
The dirt road had become more muddy under the heavy rain. There were potholes already filled with water. She drove further, slowing down to between 5 to 10mph, again hoping to find a place to pull over and stop the car.
The car, being only a compact with small narrow tires, wasn't designed to navigate slick muddy roads. Lara could feel the rear of the car drifting left and right. She finally found a place to pull over, just a small shoulder, and stopped the car there. She turned off the engine, to which the outside became pitch black.
Julia was still sleeping like a rock.
Lara grabbed a blanket from the back seat and pulled it over both her and Julia. Lara laid her seat down and reclined back to sleep. The sound of the rain still pouring over the car created a shower of noise and variated as the rain changed its patterns.
With the engine off, the inside of the car cooled down quickly. The blanket helped keep the cool air off of her skin, but her body was starting to feel cold. She just wasn't able to sleep. She lifted herself up and reached for Julia's jacket in the backseat, though the darkness made it difficult for her to find. But she managed to find it, and pull it over her.
Lara felt a sense of uncertainty. She knew she did the best she could, but worried she had gotten them lost. It was pitch black outside, raining hard, getting cold. Fear was creeping into her. At least she had the safety of the car, the comfort of a blanket, and the companion of her friend.
Nonetheless, Lara did what she always did, reach with her fingers down below and sooth herself. She withdrew into her little girl to forget about the circumstances.
