It was starting to get dark, so she switched on the headlights of her 2002 Blue Dodge Caravan. The Dodge Caravan wasn't exactly her ideal vehicle, but she had gotten it for a song, and it did its job of ferrying her from Point A to Point B. It was a long drive, but she was almost there. She could already see the faint glow of light pollution marking Lawndale in the distance.
|
"I always kind of felt you understood the way I think."
|
Daria jolted back to attention as a strong wind shook the mini-van and started to pull it slightly off to the side. Daria grasped the steering wheel firmly in her hand and brought the mini-van back on course. Hmm, a windy night and a full moon, perfect for werewolves, vampires and melancholia, thought Daria.
blue blue caravan, winding down to the valley of lights. my true love is a man who would hold me for ten thousand nights. in the wild wild wailing of wind, he's a house 'neath a soft yellow moon. so blue blue caravan, won't you carry me down to him soon.
Daria smiled as she drove pass the Cranberry Commons Mall. Who would have thought that Quinn would one day own it, along with Macy's and Bloomingdale's? Quinn had certainly turned out to be quite the shrewd business woman. It was too bad that Quinn didn't own a hotel in Lawndale. It would have been nice to get a suite for her stopover tonight. Of course, it would have been nicer to stay in her old room, but the family home had been sold long ago.
It had been too long, since she last came back to Lawndale.
|
"This job is a great opportunity, but what if it is too much? It's so far away, Trent."
|
Things had worked out. The job was wonderful. It was challenging and kept her busy. She got to travel the globe and hardly ever gave Lawndale a second thought.
Of course, being busy and traveling all the time meant that there wasn't much time left for cultivating a relationship. Lately, she had often wished she had somebody to come home to.
Daria wondered what the Lane household looked like now. She would worry about it tomorrow morning. She was tired and it was too dark now anyway.
blue blue caravan, won't you drive away all of these tears. for my true love is a man that I haven't seen in years. he said "go where you have to, for I belong to you until my dying day." so like a fool, blue caravan, I believed him and I walked away.
Daria frowned as she pulled up to the Lane household. Jane is not going to be happy, thought Daria.
|
"Please, please, Daria? I know it's a long drive and everything, and you know I would do it myself if I could," wheedled Jane. "Sure you could. Hop on a plane and get your butt down here, if you want a picture so bad. Lawndale is just a hop, skip and a jump away from Italy," replied Daria cradling the phone on her shoulder while pulling out an 'Everything but the Kitchen Sink' pizza (minus the anchovies) from the oven. "I'll make you wear my grandmother's nightgown for the wedding!" threatened Jane. Daria sighed, "Fine. I'll drive down there tomorrow on my way to my assignment. But you owe me, Lane and I expect to have no duties as Maid-of-Honor, other than having to stand during the ceremony." |
Jane was definitely not going to be happy. Jane had wanted a picture of her family home to include in her grand collage for the wedding. Daria got out of the mini-van and looked at the freshly painted house and manicured lawn. It even had a white picket fence.
"Suburbia in all its glory," muttered Daria.
Amazingly enough the gazebo was still intact and untouched. Guess she'll have to be happy with a picture of that, thought Daria as she snapped a picture of it with her digital camera. Jane will just have to edit out the flowers growing around it to make it look more like how it was when she was still living there. That, and add some weeds.
Daria surmised that the bank had probably foreclosed on the house. Trent was probably going to receive a tongue-lashing from Jane for not keeping a closer eye on it. Trent. She had once thought there could be something more with Trent. But Trent had never been reliable.
|
"Sorry again about, you know. everything."
|
Then again, it was possible that Jane's parents had decided to sell the house. Right and, I'm an alien sex-goddess, thought Daria. Time to hit the road. There was no reason to stay any longer in Lawndale. Most of her other classmates had left Lawndale, and the ones who had stayed she didn't want to meet.
oh my blue blue caravan, the highway is my great wall. for my true love is a man who never existed at all. oh he was a beautiful fiction I invented to keep out the cold. but now, my blue blue caravan, I can feel my heart growing old.
"Damn, overactive imagination," grumbled Daria under her breath, as she climbed back into her mini-van. She figured she needed to do something, to stop her obsessive ruminations on the past. Daria decided to take a chance and make a call.
"Hey, Roger? Want to meet up for lunch at noon today? I'll be in town to report on the birth of the twin albino African penguins at the zoo."