A Slight Nudge

After surveying the goods along with the parking lot through the windows of the store to see if there are anymore "customers" who was planning to point a gun at me, I was glad to find that it was empty. I turned off the electricity, grabbed my jacket and the keys under the cashier table. The keys rattled as I was locking up the store, planning on not staying here longer as this part of Sedona was dangerous when suddenly, another customer appeared.

It was a woman that was sitting on the curb in front of the store. I first thought that she was probably homeless so she was camping outside of the convenience store for shelter, but she had shoes that was riddled with dust from sand and a bag that's probably filled with clothes. She had visible bruises over her body and was wearing the same bomber jacket that the fugitive was wearing not too long ago. I thought to myself that the customer earlier probably gave the woman his jacket as it was always cold in this time of the night. I guess so much for being a robber, people can change after all. I thought to myself.

Normally, in a situation like this, I would turn a blind eye as this wasn't my problem, but for some reason, she felt different. Not because she was a woman, but because she didn't ask for my help or for an of my money.

"Miss, are you okay?" I asked sympathetically.

"Yes, I'm fine." She replied as she was padding dusts away from her jeans.

I thought to myself that she doesn't look like she's fine, but I don't want to press on as it may seem weird coming from me working at a desolate convenience store in the middle of nowhere. As I was thinking to myself, she was looking around as if she was lost. "Maybe she's not from here?" I thought to myself.

"Are you probably lost? Ah- we have a map around this area here, we give those for free to touri-." As I was offering as much help as I can, she asked me a question that felt out of place as she was standing on the same soil that I was.

"Where exactly is "here"?" She blatantly ask. Making it seem like she was from another planet as her pale skin and messy, but lustrously tangled hair was basking from the moon's glow.

"Sedona, A-arizona." Only noticing how enchanting she was, I nervously answered and the next thing I know, she was in my car.

The road was dim as the only source of light during this time were occasional streetlights that were flickering, in needing of repair and the satellite floating up above.

Realizing how hectic the day was, who would have thought that after being in a failed robbery which literally happened an hour ago, I now have a chick in the passenger seat of my car who was constantly shifting the channel on the radio as if she was trying to decode a message. After pointlessly shifting the channel, she fiddled with the air conditioning, flipping the fan in all directions and I was just taking occasional glances at her, mesmerized by how alien her attitude is.

"Would it be rude to ask her if she was homeless?" I thought to myself. Pondering the thought as I was driving, but then suddenly, she threw a question in the air. With a tone that was tinged with confusion and sadness, making it seem like she was desperate to receive an answer from just about anyone. Even from the moon.

"What is normal?" I stared at her, puzzled as the static noise from the channel consumed the vehicle.