Steve choked down the last bit of his quarter pounder with cheese, french fries, and icy coke, and pulled out of the McDonald's parking lot onto the deserted street and continued down the road. The windshield wipers and sputtering rain became the background music of his mind. He was just contemplating the beautiful girl at the McDonald, and wondered what his life would be like if he had stayed, grown to love her, settled down in the outskirts of the city and raised a family. Somehow...that idea didn't ring correctly in his ears. He came to a stop at a stoplight, when he wondered where he was going. It was late at night, and the rain was still splashing against his beat up brown Volkswagen. He had no where to go, didn't know where to go, and he didn't know how long it would take him to get there. On pure impulse, when the light turned green, Steve turned left and took a road that wound up through the Canadian countryside, away from Toronto.
As dawn cleared over the horizon, and Steve gulped down the last of his McDonald's coffee, he noticed something in the road ahead. As he grew nearer, he noticed it was a dark haired kid close to his own age of 18, holding a sign. Steve tried to ignore the kid as he grew closer, but the boy stared at him from under his tangled black mop of hair. The kid held out his thumb, and motioned to his sign. "Don't know where I'm going. Can you drop me there?" Steve thought it odd that the kid had the same predicament he had. Before Steve could pass, the boy promptly pulled up one pant leg revealing women's fishnet stockings. Steve stared in wonderment as he slammed on the breaks. The kid just stared back with a foolhardy grin through the passenger side window. Steve had never seen such an act before, and didn't know quite what to think of it. It was out of the ordinary, it was something he was not used to seeing, and coincidently, it was right up his alley. Since Steve was on the open road alone, not knowing where he was going, and this strange duck was obviously looking for a pond with his own kind, Steve opened the door and motioned to the road that lay ahead. "You going that way?" The kid smiled back with opulent blue eyes. "Im just going. If you're going that way, I suppose I will be going that way as well." Steve grinned and motioned for him to jump in. The boy clambered in and threw his battered backpack on the floor. Steve took off again. "Hi, Im Ed." The smiling boy said. Steve nodded. "I'm Steve. That was quite the trick you pulled. Get many offers?" Ed chuckled. "Actually...I hadn't done that before." Steve looked at him with an odd expression on his face. "Why not?" Ed just shrugged. "Not sure. But it worked, didn't it?" Steve grinned, and Ed grinned back. "So what are you doing out here on the road Steve?" Ed asked. Steve shrugged. "Just looking."
"Looking for what?" Ed prodded.
"Whatever is out there. I think im window shopping right now. What about you?"
"Same thing I guess. I don't really know." Ed replied thoughtfully. "Hey, what's that up in the road?" Ed pointed. Sure enough, ahead on the side of the road lay two unusual objects. Steve stopped the car and both occupants climbed out. "Well I'll be. How did these get here?" Ed questioned, not expecting an answer.
There on the side of the road lay two sparkling guitars. Steve bent down and picked one up and strummed some chords and hummed along. Ed cocked his head to the side. "I didn't know you played guitar." Steve nodded. "Yeah, and I write. Sing too." And with that Steve started singing a melody about his thoughts of the beautiful girl that worked at the McDonald's. Ed laughed. "You didn't write that one!" Steve just grinned and continued on. Ed picked up the other guitar, and to Steve's surprise Ed strummed and sang along in an eerily beautiful unison. "That was awesome!" Steve nearly yelled. Ed the always grinning fool, grinned and replied, "You've got the coolest voice!" Steve threw the comment aside and gaped at Ed. "But that was pure harmony!" Ed shrugged Steve's comment aside. "Well....yeah." Grinned Ed.
Ed and Steve climbed back into the crummy brown Volkswagen along with their new toys, and drove, and sang, and made up songs,
I couldn't care less, what's in a chocolate mouse! I couldn't care less, what're the five fruits in Five Alive! Juice, "Apples, cheese, broccoli, pimento, and piglet..." "Oh, he was reading it right off the label..." "Well, yeah I know..." I couldn't care less...Many songs later, the two new friends were driving down the same stretch of winding road, in Steve's beat up brown Volkswagen singing loudly and laughing when Ed again noticed something in the road. Ahead two young men, close to their age of 19, sat on the side of the road thumbing wildly at Steve's upcoming beat up brown Volkswagen. Steve looked to Ed, and he should have expected it, Ed grinned back and nodded. Steve pulled over by the two young men and motioned for them to hop in. They glanced excitedly at each other and charged at the car and opened the door. The first to enter was a tall freckled young man with piercing brown eyes and wild burnt sienna hair.
"Hey there! Welcome to the Volkswagen of Loooovvvveeee. Im Ed, and this is Steve. We don't know where we're going, but we can drop you there." The young man laughed and shook his hand. "Im Jim. I don't know where Im going either. And this is my little brother Andy..." The shorter young man with disheveled brown hair and a mishaven face clambered into the back seat, sat down and smiled. "Hi, yeah, Im Andy! I don't know where im going either! So, can we come along with you guys?" Steve waved to the back seat passengers. "Sure, why not. The more the merrier." The two brother looked to each other with looks of absolute delight on their faces. "Awesome!" They yelled in unison. Steve held up a warning finger that ceased their smiles. "But, I don't know about the whole trip, so don't get your hopes up." The two brothers both nodded solemnly.
Steve pulled back onto the road, and continued down the road. "So what are you two doing out here?" Ed asked to make conversation. "Oh, we don't know. We're kinda along for the ride. See where it takes us. You know?" Andy replied. Jim nodded. "Yeah, that's about it. We're here to see where the road takes us." Ed, ever the clever one, grinned. "Awesome, yeah, that's about what Steve and I are doing. Following the road..." But Ed was cut off as Steve slammed on the brakes. "What the hell is that on the side of the road??" Steve said alarmed as he stared at something giant and brown, next to two smaller brown objects. The occupants of the car got out to inspect the curious objects. Steve and Ed hunkered over the objects with their guitars strapped to their backs, while Jim, and Andy snatched the objects from under their noses. Jim pulled the giant brown double bass up, while Andy picked up the two congas. Steve and Ed stared at them. "Do you play those?" Steve asked bewildered. Jim nodded and played a mean bass riff, and Andy accompanied him beautifully on the congas. They finished and Steve and Ed applauded. "That was great!" Ed exclaimed as he got a mischievous look in his eye. He pulled on his guitar and started playing. Steve caught on and followed suit. Ed and Steve started singing a song of theirs. Jim dug the beat, and found one as well and plucked along happily. Following his brothers lead, Andy found his own beat, and well, beat it. Not that that wasn't enough, the two brothers also found second and third harmonies and sang them. When they finished, they all stared at each other. Jim and Andy nodded approvingly while Steve looked perplexed, and...you guessed it. Ed grinned. "Hey, I guess that was pretty cool." Steve said. "Are you kidding, that rocked!" Ed exclaimed. Jim nodded smiling. "So can we be in the band?" Steve started giggling, and Ed laughed. "Band." They said together. It was quite amusing to them. They weren't a band. "Sure," Steve said between giggles. "You can be in the ‘band'." Ed nodded. "Yep, our ‘band'." Adding the ever so clever hand- motioned quotation marks. Jim and Andy could not have looked more delighted. So, the four young men clambered back into the ugly green Volkswagen bus. Jim brought his new double bass, and Andy brought his new congas.
Driving down the road, the foursome drove, and sang, made up songs and played their instruments. One night Steve pulled over in the middle of no where to get gas. Andy was complaining wildy about having "to go" so Steve let him out before he pulled up to the Full Service gas pump. For there was only Full Service at this particular gas station. A chubby young man, about their age of 20 scrambled over to the ugly green Volkswagen bus. He came up to Steve's window, and peered inside. Steve raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Ed looked perplexed and jim waved from the back. The young man looked at Steve from beneath his dark braids, and a grin crept across his goateed mouth. "Where you guys going?" He asked. Ed shrugged. "We don't know where we are going." The young man grinned. "Can I come along too?" He asked. Everyone in the ugly green Volkswagen bus looked at each other befuddled. "I mean, I don't take up too much room, I can be a lot of fun..." The young man continued on. "I don't know..." Steve answered warily. "Oh come on...hey, how about this. I'll get your gas, and you think about it over that, ok?" Steve was about to respond when he clambered to the gas tank and proceeded to fill it with gas.
Ed shrugged, and feeling bored, and cramped up, came outside with his guitar and started singing. Steve was feeling bored and cramped up as well, and decided to follow suite. Jim shrugged, and not wanting to miss a beat, scrambled outside with his bass and plucked along. The young man who was pumping their gas was mesmerized by their style, and feeling the urge, ran off for a brief moment, and returned with a snare drum. He started banging away a beat, and the "band" stared at him astonished. It wasn't the same as Andy's congas, but it was something... When they finished, the young man looked at them and exclaimed, "I am coming with you!" The trio looked at each other questioningly. "I don't know..." started Steve. "..you see we already have..." continued Ed, "A drummer." Finished Jim. The young man looked around. "I don't see one." he said. "So anyway...you guys are going to let me come along. Right?" Steve was starting to get annoyed, but before he could respond, Ed stopped him. "Well, why not? We're just window shopping...remember?" Beaten, and tired, Steve shrugged. Ed clapped his hands together to signify they had reached a conclusion. "Ok, you can come with us. By the way, what's your name? Im Ed." The young man grinned from ear to ear and grabbed Ed's hand and shook it furiously. "Im Tyler ya mofo! And this is gonna rock out F@&kers!" By this time, Andy had finished and came back to the bus. When he saw Tyler, he first looked to Jim who just smiled and shrugged. Tyler taking the advance, came up to him and looked him up and down. "Who're you?" He jabbed. Andy, feeling smothered backed up and frowned at him. "Im Andy. Who are you?" Tyler appeared smug and replied. "Im Tyler, the drummer." Andy's frown increased and looked to Ed and Steve. Steve didn't look him in the eye and just got back in the drivers seat. Ed shrugged and mouthed, "He doesn't know where he's going." Andy frowned at Tyler and corrected him. "Actually, im the drummer."
Back on the road, there was an uncomfortable silence as Tyler sat between Jim and Andy in the back seat. Ed and Steve were making up another song in the front. Tyler was staring at Andy unblinking, and Andy was staring back at him with malice when Steve suddenly slowed the car down. "What's up?" Jim questioned from the back. Steve pointed to the road ahead, and all the occupants peered forward. The paved road was turning into a rather crummy looking dirt road. "That's odd..." Ed exclaimed. That is was. The group shrugged, and continued on anyway. The bus rocked and swayed as they passed over each bump. By now, the tension between Andy and Tyler was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"Look...dude....Im the new drummer...so get used to it..."
"Hey...buddy....I was here first, and I don't recall anyone naming you the new drummer..."
"Yeah well, if you call those pansy-assed things drums I'm surprised you've lasted this long."
Totally fed up, Andy was about to take a swing when they hit a particularly rough bump, and the back end of the bus flew open and something fell out, and by the sound of it, broke. Steve pulled the bus over, and all the occupants got out to look. Andy's congas were now cracked, and useless. Tyler shrugged. "Oh well! Looks like I'm the new drummer." Andy forlorn, bent down and cradled the last of his congas. Jim, sensing his brothers obvious pain, patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. Andy got up, and reluctantly got back into the ugly green Volkswagen bus.
The ugly green Volkswagen bus toiled along the uneven road for what seemed like days. Nobody spoke much, because as mentioned before, the tension was rather thick. And if you opened your mouth, you'd likely get a taste of it. Ed was about bored to death, and just as he was about to fall asleep, he noticed something large on the side of the road ahead. He tapped Steve on the shoulder and pointed. Steve looked, and proceeded to pull the bus over. When the dust cleared, everyone piled out and inspected the new objects. Tyler was delighted to find a full functioning drum set. Much to Andy's dismay. However, Andy was delighted to find a piano. Some tension seemed to drift away with the dust. Steve and Ed pulled out their guitars, Jim pulled out his bass, Andy climbed aboard the piano and Tyler mounted the drum set. Everyone played, while Ed and Steve sang. Jim, Andy, and even Tyler sang back up vocals. When they finished, they all looked at each other and nodded. This was a cool thing. So everyone grabbed their respective instrument, and threw it into the back of the lovely blue Ford van.
The five compadres, (except for perhaps Tyler and Andy) talked and laughed all the way down the rocky road. They played their instruments, wrote songs, and sang them in respective "harmony."
"Enid we never really knew each other anyway" "Pay, for your Night school..." "Little houses, little farms, little accessories for Your mom..."After driving for a while, the weary Steve decided they needed to stop for a bit, so he pulled over at the first place he spotted, which was an old truck stop. Granted it was old, but it was still in use. So the five compadres (except for perhaps Tyler and Andy), got out of the van and shuffled into the restaurant and sat down at the bar table. An older lady with a bouffant came up to them and took their orders.
Ed was talking to Jim, Steve was cradling his coffee as if it could have flown away if he let go, Tyler was scarfing down his sandwich, and Andy was occupying himself by talking to the nice group of young people next to him. Ed stopped talking when Steve tapped him on the shoulder. Andy took up the slack and quickly started talking to his brother quietly.
"Yeah buddy?" Ed asked. "Ed," Steve started. "Maybe you should drive. Im very tired." Ed nodded. "Alright. I can drive. Better safe then soory."
They had just payed the older lady with the bouffant, and were about to leave when Andy cleared the air with a cough that said, "excuse me, I have something to say." Everyone turned to Andy, who was surrounded by the young people he had been talking to. Andy quickly glanced up at his brothers piercing brown eyes before continuing on. "Guys, Im sorry to do this to you. But I've decided to take another road. It was a great trip. Really. And im gonna miss you guys. But this is something I have to do for myself." Ed looked heartbroken, and Steve just nodded. Jim looked at the floor, and looked as though something had just broken all over. Tyler was shocked, and almost looked lament full. However, the feeling faded as Andy walked out of the old truck stop restaurant and climbed onto a different bus.
The young men, haven taken a blow, climbed back into the lovely blue Ford van. However, Jim thought something was wrong. He glanced into the back, and noticed the door was ajar. "Hey! Someone broke into our van!" He screeched. Ed, Steve, and Tyler all scrambled out and inspected. Sure enough, the door had been broken into. But the only thing that was missing was the piano. Since Andy had already left, they figured it wasn't worth fussing about. So Ed climbed into the drivers seat when Jim tapped him on the shoulder. "Ed, do you think...?" And Jim motioned to the steering wheel. "Oh, sure. Why not..." And Ed let Jim take the wheel.
Jim drove down the dusty dirt road, while Ed sat next to him and talked. Steve sat in the back with Tyler, but dozed off, so Tyler was forced to talk to whoever might listen at the time. They lost a comrade, but they tried to be cheerful. They played their instruments, wrote songs, and sang.
"There's a spider in my room....In the voice above my head. Said if that spider were made dead...you better grow some fins, cuz, it'll make it easier to swim..."As they were driving down the road, Jim noticed a nice park on the side of the road. So pulling over to stop, the bus suddenly dipped violently, and stayed that way while a horrible Thump! Thump! Thump! banged against the chasse. Jim groaned and parked the van carefully. They all clambered out--including Steve who was now awake--and inspected the flat tire. With the obvious solution at hand, Jim went and searched for a spare tire in the van. He returned later, obviously upset, and explained, "I think when someone broke into the van, they also stole our extra tire." Everyone was upset now. Ed was clenching his fists while Steve swore wildly. Tyler kicked at the tire and also swore profusely. Jim however calmed down when he realized he was probably the calmest one. So being so, he tried to calm everyone else down by explaining, "maybe someone else has a tire." So everyone stopped swearing and whatnot, and they started scouring the park for someone with an extra tire. However, everyone they asked said they could not give it up. When they had asked nearly everyone in the park, they came across one last soul. It was a young man, about their age of 24, with a baby-face and a dark wavy mop to top it off. He was playing a funky riff on a funky accordion, and sitting on top of something that made everyone's heart leap for joy. A spare tire in the middle of the park. The group approached him, and he stopped playing and peered at them with dark blue eyes, and said, "Hello, can I help you fellows?" The group smiled and Ed replied. "Yes, see...our bus has a flat tire, but we are without a tire. Can we have yours?" The young man glanced down and almost seemed surprised to see he was indeed sitting on a tire. "Oh, this? Oh sure...let me help you guys out." So he got up, strapped his funky accordion to his back and started rolling the tire to the lovely blue Ford bus. Tyler then bolted the tire on, and got rid of the busted one. "Wow, thanks a lot buddy." Ed exclaimed. Steve also nodded his appreciation, and Jim eyed him awkwardly. "What's your name anyway?" Ed asked. "Im Ed, this is Steve, and Jim, and Tyler" He introduced. The young man shook everyone's hand and said, "Hi, Im Kevin. Nice to meet you folks." Ed then asked, "Kevin, what are you doing out here?" Kevin shrugged. "Not really sure. I was with some guys, and they stopped, and we all kinda went our separate ways. They were good guys. Now, I don't know where im going. What about you guys?" Everyone grinned at him. "We don't know either." Steve said. "We're just kind of...window shopping." Kevin smiled at that. "That's really cool." Not being able to take the suspense, Tyler took the initiative and asked, "Do you want to come with us? We wont bite." Everyone nodded with Tyler, and waited for Kevin to respond. He looked at each of them in their worn out conditions, and then their slightly warn out and dusty blue ford van, then back to each of the young men. Kevin appeared to be indecisive. So, taking up slack, Ed exclaimed, "We like music. Its what we all have in common, and I couldn't help but notice that you play." And Ed motioned to Kevin's accordion. Kevin smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's what my last ride was like. We all played, wrote silly songs, and sang. It was fun, I wouldn't mind doing it again. So, sure, I'll come with you guys."
So the guys all hopped into the lovely blue Ford van, (which they got washed as soon as they found a car wash) and continued down the dusty road. Much to their delight, the road turned back into a paved road. So they kept on driving, and laughing, and playing their instruments, (and with the addition of Kevin, the band seemed to finally be right.) And they wrote songs and sang. (And luckily for Kevin, Jim actually liked him and respected his music. So when Kevin found out that Andy had left, he was relieved to find that Jim didn't hate him because he wasn't his brother.)
Chikety China, the chinese chicken, you have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin. Watchin X-Files with no lights on, we're Dans La Mason, I hope the Smoking Man's in this one...And they continued driving down the road, when they realized they needed gas again. (Luckily, it was a huge self serve, everything you could need truck stop) And Kevin was delighted to get out because he hadn't been feeling well. So they all got out and Steve pumped the gas. Everyone else piled into the convenience store. Ed came out a bit later while Steve was paying the kiosk man, and motioned for him to come inside. "Steve, Kevin's sick. Jim took him to some on site nurse they have." Steve nodded and followed Ed down to the nurse. Kevin was lying on a cot in a ball. Jim stood up. "He's really sick. We cant move him." With this, Kevin rolled over onto this side and peered up at his friends. "You guys go on without me. I can catch another ride from here." Ed shook his head wildy and knelt down next to Kevin and peered into his eyes. "No way. We're not going to leave you here. We're going down this road together." And with that Kevin nodded and fell asleep. They young men waited inside the lobby, and played their music together, and waited, and waited for their comrade to be better. He had come out once, only to feel ill again, so he was once again locked away in the infirmary. So they band played music for the people passing by, and they all wished that the people could hear them as a whole. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Kevin came back out. Weak, but a lot better. And to celebrate, they all played one of Kevin's favorite songs, Call and Answer. It was then decided they would hit the road once again. So everyone hopped onto the giant maroon tour bus and they pulled away, onto the open road to laugh and play their instruments, write their songs, and sing.
Saw a falling leaf, for good luck jump to grab. Much to our surprise, a butterfly. And this sunk in, this in duration. In duration, in our lives.And while driving down the road, Ed finally asked Steve. "So, have you found whatever it was you were looking for?" Steve paused for a moment and glanced at his friends. Tyler was playing cards with Kevin and laughing, while Jim was tying himself in knots on the couch and laughing as well, because Tyler had told the funniest joke. Steve then turned back to Ed and nodded. "Yeah, I think I have found a big chunk of whatever it is. But, I kind of like this treasure hunt road trip. What about you?" Ed nodded. "Yeah, that's what it is. A treasure hunt road trip. And frankly, I think we're the best group of pirate-roadies out there." And with that, a hearty "Argh!" was heard chorused from the back of the bus, and everyone started laughing. Then, ahead on the side of the road was a sign pointing to an adjacent road. Steve stopped the bus and looked at everyone. "Well, should we turn, or continue on?" Everyone glanced at each other then nodded and smiled. Steve ignored the adjacent road and continued on the road they had followed for so long. And not that much longer, as they climbed over a hill, a giant city lay before them. Whooping and hollering with excitement they drove off to the city.
