Running on Full
by Daniel Beadle - Sunday, November 25, 2007
“…And so it went. We always did get in over our heads. And every little bet, challenge, and adventure we had became a textbook case of escalation. Like how Jake and I decided to put the ‘Axe Effect’ to the test, and got arrested in under fifteen minutes."But even though things got out of hand at Fairview High, we all left a little wiser. …Not to say that that was the end of our adventures.
“There was the time in ’08 when Dan, Jake, and I went on a reality dating show, each with our own hidden agendas. There was also the time that we impersonated police detectives from the 1970’s just to get back at Jake’s bookie. Not to mention Dan’s ridiculous attempts to get back into the dating scene, and his frustrating but hilarious job search back in ’07. Jake faked his death in ‘09, and, for some reason, I got dragged into the MassPike Road Race of 2010.
“…But the last time we were all together was a few years after all that, when we all took a cross-country road trip that ended in us parting ways. It’s not like we planned it to be that way, but you never can tell how life is going to develop.
"I had known Dan since high school, and it wasn’t easy seeing him go. But he had his own mountains to climb, his own dreams to chase, and I could tell that me and Jake would’ve just held him back.”
Somewhere in Arizona, in a small town called Pima, Dan and D-Man stand at the edge of a desert road, a few yards away from a tired-looking bus stop. Dan has an old canvas duffel bag slung over his left shoulder, as he watches the coach bus slowly come into view.
“That’ll be mine,” he says. Dan turns to look at D-Man, whose hands are stuffed in the pockets of his brown aviator jacket. “You still heading to California?”
“For a little while,” D-Man responds. “Then it’s off to Tokyo.”
Dan nods silently, then looks off down the seemingly endless desert road. “It’s been one hell of a ride, Devin.”
“It helps when you have a good driver.”
Dan watches the bus pull over. “Well, this is it. Tell Jake to take care of himself.”
“Yeah.” D-Man nods, then holds out his hand.
Dan shakes it, and then slaps D-Man on the back.
“You follow your dreams, Daniel. They won’t steer you wrong.”
Dan adjusts the bag on his shoulder and begins to walk toward the bus. He looks back one last time, then walks away.
“Go get her,” whispers D-Man. He watches Dan get on the bus, and in moments, he’s gone.“…After that day, I never saw Dan again. He was always a little mysterious to me, like there was some joke that he only shared with himself.
"He had such big ideas. God only knows if they ever panned out.
“I like to think they did.”
THE END, FOR NOW
