Rose threw her suitcases in the trunk of her grey Jeep.

She sat down in the driver’s seat and

started the engine. The car rumbled in greeting.
“Off again, old girl,” she said as she patted her seat. It had been weeks since she had stepped
out of town, she was craving adventure. She was as giddy as a schoolgirl. The thought of
exploring foreign lands made her itch with excitement. Chaos was her best friend. Rose turned
the car onto the road to the airport. She lazily hummed along to the music in her car while she
patted the steering wheel to the tune. Suddenly a girl that was as skinny as a toothpick jumped
in front of the car, knocking Rose out of her trance and hitting the brake. Instead of moving out
of the way, the girl waved and ran up to her car. When she got to the window, she was out of
breath, but managed a goofy smile that reminded Rose of an open valley. Her teeth had a wide
gap between them. Her hair was stick straight, wore glasses that were like saucers and she
wore a sickeningly yellow shirt. She knocked on Rose’s window until she winded it down.
“Penny Patterson, nice to meet you,” she said enthusiastically. She stuck her hand out but Rose
didn’t take it.
“What?” Rose said in a flat tone. She wasn’t exactly great with people, and she assumed this
girl was going to be no exception. Penny put her hand down. “I’m here to explore with you. I was
walking to your house, but I saw that you’d already left. I bought a plane ticket and I won’t be
much trouble-”
“What?” Rose said again but with genuine confusion. What was this girl talking about?
“The phone call? Last week?”
“Oh!” Rose exclaimed. She had received a call from an unknown number asking about her
travels. Rose liked to blog about her traveling but she never thought that people read them.
Rose also doesn’t blog about the entire journey either. She would leave out parts about finding
famous artifacts and civilizations. She only included cities and loving plane rides. The phone call
had asked about being about to spend a trip with her, since the person was a big fan. Rose had
assumed it was a prank call so she said sure. Sarcastically.
Rose couldn’t have this… kid coming with her. She seemed like a nuisance.
“I think you have it wrong. I...” Rose began, but stopped. Penny’s face fell faster than anything
Rose had seen before. Don’t be a big baby, Rose. Rose sighed, and ran a hand through her
flaming red hair. Maybe Penny was a blessing in disguise.“Get in.” she mumbled.
Penny squealed and ran over to the passenger’s seat. She popped the door open and sat
down. Bouncing in her seat she quietly said, “I’m travelling South America at the moment.” Rose
turned to look at her.
“Okay…?”
“I Ecua-dor it.”
The car filled with a deafening awkwardness and silence. Penny smiled her goofy smile. Rose
forced a chuckle and looked down. Rose thought to herself, this is a fine mess I’ve gotten
myself into. The Jeep groaned in agreement. She pushed the gas, and away they went. This
was the beginning of the end.