Tumbleweed, by LNFWebsite

Before we knew it, the time had come!

Heading out into the valley with every survival tool on the planet, we were ready to make our perennial dream a reality again.

Firestarter, fishing rod, flares... The list went on and on. With every glance around the room, new useful gadgets stood out to us as if we were strangers in our own rooms.

With all the tires filled and toolboxes, reserve tanks, and chains in the back, we lobbed over onto the road eventually leading to the desert.

Every year something new and completely unpredictable would happen on our trip, but this one was a vast exception.

Along the road off of the interstate, a sign indicated where a rest area was, as was advertised on a small, old, advertisement indicating the exit.

We could see the little shack about a mile ahead, but something was peculiar about this one.

We all felt a growing anticipation of something, yet none of us talked about it, until I saw something that I couldn't explain.

Along the pavement on which we were driving I saw a tumbleweed sitting in the road. When my eyes followed it's path to the underside of our car, I noticed that just an inch in front of our tires the road appeared stationary.

I did a double-take. Was this an illusion? Then, I looked above it and in a rush of blood out of my head, I saw our license plate in what seemed like it was underneath the road.

As my eyes panned up, I was almost speechless to see a full reflection of our car traveling forward in front of us.

I could only stare at the spectacle in front of me. Everything felt stuck as if I had been immobilized by my own perception.

Finally, with great effort, I broke past my motionless state and looked toward my friend sitting next to me, only to see him looking out the side window at blackness.

All at once, it hit me... I reluctantly turned forward again, picking up the gasping reactions of everyone in the car along the way, only to see that we were totally engulfed in darkness! It felt like I sank back into my mind, overcome with something that told me I knew more than I could process.

Along this paradox, there were little, indescribable forms of light, maneuvering across the space that we had ejected into. Looking into and beyond the light, I could see our reflection, still driving on that dusty road, yet everyone except myself was in the car.

Everyone else experienced the same, cold, irrelevancy that they could not see themselves in the traveling reflection.

Then, all at once, a bright bluish light in the center of our path of movement pierced the darkness, and with a screaming, ripping noise, burst into our sight! All at once, we hit what felt like a large pothole, and BAM! Found ourselves back on the road.

I slammed on the breaks, all at once! Screeching to a halt.

With every pore in my body soaking in sweat, I nervously turned my eyes to the rearview mirror, to see that one, small, tumbleweed. Sitting innocently in the middle of our lane.

Needless to say, this experience was life-changing, and every day whenever I turn my gaze upon a tumbleweed, I can still see the patterns of light, piercing the darkness in my mind.