"I hope so too." Oscar finished his drink and moved on to his container of fruit, blinking in surprise when he saw one he'd never tried before. Reading the label on the side, he saw it said 'watermelon, apple, pineapple, cantaloupe'. That last one was new to him, and he eagerly tried a bite. "Wow. Honor, this cantaloupe is so sweet! I really like it." As easily as that, all worries over Goldenrod and other Erased Ones were swept out of his head. "Have you ever eaten it? Do you like it?"
Honor couldn't help but smile at his excitement and she glanced over at him, still smiling, "I have eaten it, and I do like it. It's not my favorite fruit, but it's not bad. I'll have to remember to get you fruit the next time we stop if you like it so much." She wasn't exactly sure when that would be, but she was quickly learning more about Oscar, and she hoped getting him food he would like would help him be more comfortable on Earth.
"Fruit is good because the sweetness feel more real, and it doesn't make this body's stomach hurt as much," Oscar explained. "I still like candy and stuff better, but all the books I read said that processed foods are very bad for you. So I guess I'd better stay balanced about it." He stared alertly out the window at the town as it passed away behind them, then at the late morning sky. "Hey Honor, do you have a map somewhere in the car?"
She nodded, pointing to the glove box as she glanced away from the road for a second, "There should be a map in there…I think there is at least." Honor quickly resumed driving after pointing it out, "If there's not I can always get one at the next truck stop we pass. They should have some." She was curious as to why Oscar wanted a map, but she wasn't going to tell him he wasn't allowed to have one.
Oscar dug around in the glove box for a minute, retrieving the large state map from inside and unfolding it. "I remember Ernie mentioned the name of the town we want. Talma. I was just wondering if we could find it so we know the fastest way to get there." He examined the road signs outside, trying to figure out where they were currently, then spotted a sign saying Everett, 60 miles. Checking for that on the map, he followed the road backwards with his finger until he thought he'd found the town they'd just left. "Ernie said Talma was to the southwest of us somewhere." But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find the name anywhere.
"It's either too small to be on here, or it's not in this state," he said finally in frustration. "Honor, does your phone have any maps on it? Maybe if we search for it that way, it'll be easier."
(Crappppp I thought I replied I'm really sorryyy)
Honor listened as she drove, handing over her phone without hesitation, "Do you know how to look something up on there?" She wracked her brain trying to think of if she had ever heard of a town named Talma, but much to her disappointment, the name didn't ring a bell. Oscar was probably right with his guess of it being in a different state. And as much as it would help them plot an exact path to the town, she was almost dreading the amount of driving that meant for them. She knew she would already need a nap by noon, and that was only after a few days of driving.
(It's okay! ^^)
"Yes, I know how," Oscar replied, already typing rapidly. First he tried searching for Talma in general, but to his surprise, he got multiple results—some of which were in the entirely wrong country. Impatiently, he got on a site with a satellite map and searched that way, using his ability to speed-read to scroll across the map much faster than normal. However, to his dismay, he still couldn't find any towns called Talma inside the state. The closest one was two states away, right on the border of Utah.
It's to the southwest and it's small, so that must be it, he thought glumly, not wanting to share the bad news with Honor. But as he zoomed out on the map again, another name caught his eye. Inside their current state, also to the southwest of them, was an equally tiny town called "Talpa".
"Honor," Oscar said excitedly. "What if Ernie told us the wrong name by mistake? He didn't sound very sure of himself when he said it. What if he actually meant Talpa? There's a town called Talpa about three hour's drive from here."
She glanced at him after thinking over the possible mistake, "I don't think it would hurt to check and head down there to see if that was the town he meant. It is a similar sounding town, and if you were just trying to bring up the name in your head, I can see where he made a mistake." Honor shrugged, pulling a soft smile onto her face, "And if it actually is the right town, then we save several hours of driving." She hoped that he really was talking about Talpa, mostly because it would mean they wouldn't have to sit through another full day of driving. Three hours was a much more manageable amount of time.
Oscar nodded, pleased with himself, and found Talpa on the paper map so he could follow their progress without having to steal Honor's phone. "I hope it's the right one. It's got an ice cream factory in it. It says you can tour the place and eat free ice cream if you want." He didn't exactly mean to sound like a hopeful child dropping hints, but it did sound fun to him. "Maybe that's why the Level Five lives there—so they can eat as much sweet stuff as they need."
"Well, before anything we'll have to stop there when we get there," She said with a smile, already in a much happier mood just because of the idea that maybe this would be the last day of driving. In three hours they could be to their destination, and that sounded quite alright to her. Especially if there was a chance for ice cream and possibly a few more hours of sleep as well. Both would be greatly appreciated by her. "I hope your right with your guess, and from what I'm learning, it does sound possible. If sweets and sugar help you out, it should be the same for a Level Five."
"It makes sense to me," Oscar said cheerfully. "And if we go there first, we'll for sure have a chance to do it before we meet the Level Five and ask them about away home." Getting out his crayons and sketchbook, he started loosely drawing the beginnings of a picture. "Until then, I'm going to make more art. Oh, and just let me know if you want me to drive for a while or something."
Honor shrugged and nodded, "Sounds like a plan to me." She settled back in her seat, sighing softly as she watched the road, "I should be good to drive for these last few hours…that way you can paint all you want." She glanced at him and smiled gently, "Are you excited to possibly go home soon?"
"Yes, I really am. I can't wait to show you what it's like there. I mean, I still don't exactly remember what it's like….but I know you'll love it." Oscar returned the smile briefly, his hand flying as he drew. "And if the Level Five can take me home, then I'm sure they can take you back here to Earth when you're ready. It'll be perfect." A few seconds later, he got distracted. "By the way, when you think of a dog, what color do you imagine it?"
Honor tapped on the steering wheel with a nod, trying to picture what Oscar's home was like. In her mind, it was a blur of color and space, filled with Erased One's like him that actually felt at home and safe. Wether it was right or not was yet to be discovered, but there was quite the possibility that her imagination couldn't come up with whatever it was actually like. "I'd love to see your home," She said, her smile returning once more, "When I think of a dog, I think of a two different breeds. One is a yellow-blonde color and the other has multiple colors that it can come in."
Oscar nodded thoughtfully. "I guess I'll go with yellow then." He started drawing a happy, friendly yellow dog, but then hesitated. In many of the stories he'd read, especially the older ones, dogs were violent, unpredictable creatures that carried diseases and maybe helped humans hunt for food if they were lucky. Oscar wasn't sure which type of dog to represent in his artwork. Eventually, he settled on drawing both and readjusted his sketch so that the two dogs faced each other on the page.
"Maybe I will use multiple colors after all," he remarked distractedly. "Do you like dogs, Honor? Have you ever owned one?"
"I do like dogs, but I don't have one of my own. I used to have a few when I was a kid though," She replied, smiling once more, "I can tell you about them if you'd like, but otherwise I won't bore you with the stories." Honor glanced at him and the piece he was working on, though she didn't comment. It seemed more polite to wait until he was finished to comment, even though she already liked the sketch of the work he seemed to be doing.
"No, please tell me," Oscar replied easily, digging around for more colors. "I can listen while I paint. What kinds of dogs did you have? Were they a lot of fun?"
"Well, when I was really young, we had a golden retriever named Corncob because he always got lost in the fields," She started, laughing lightly at the faint memories of the happy dog, "Then we had a black and white Australian shepherd named Cow, as well as a mixed breed dog that we called Giant mostly because we figured she was part Great Dane from how tall she was. I was a teenager when we had those two and Giant easily came up to my waist in height. I loved all of them, they were really fun to have around and play with."
Oscar smiled. It amazed him just how many unique dog breeds there were in the world, not to mention the mixed breeds. He added brown eyes and a floppy tongue to the yellow dog in his painting, working quickly and loosely. "How come you don't have a dog now? Do you have other animas instead or something?"
Honor shrugged, turning as the road wound around, "I suppose I just am too busy for one. Between helping my parents with the farm and going to trade school for the past two years, I wasn't home much. Maybe when I get home I'll get one since I'm not in school anymore. I don't have any other pets no." She glanced at him, deciding to ask the question on her mind, "Do you remember if you have other animals in your world? Any that are domesticated?"
Oscar's eyes became distant as he tried to remember yet again. "I wish I knew. I guess….when I first read about pets, I thought it was a very weird idea. So maybe we don't have them in my world. They don't sound like a bad thing to me, though." He almost wished he could have a dog of his own before returning home, but something told him he wouldn't be able to take it away from Earth safely. "Maybe there are animals in my world, and I can be the first one to try 'domesticating' them. That could be fun."
(AAAAHHHHHH I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T REPLY SOONER)
A smile pulled onto her face and she nodded, "You could be remembered forever as the first person to domesticate an animal in your home world." Honor drummed her fingers against the steering wheel, relaxing back in her seat as she drove, "Hey Oscar, can you pull up the map to Talpa again so I can make sure I'm heading the right way?"
(No worries fam!! I was pretty busy over the weekend anyway x'D )
"Sure." Oscar reached over and flicked open the map, using a tiny bit of red paint to mark the town so Honor could see it better. "….And I think we're right about here, back up the road a ways." He indicated that spot too, then propped the map against the dashboard so they could both refer to it. "When I get back to my world, I also want to try building a truck like this one. I read some books about building cars and it didn't look too hard. If I have a truck, I won't have to walk everywhere. I can carry stuff and go super fast….it'll be great."
Honor smiled at his help, then chuckled at the mention of him building a truck, "Be sure to name the truck after me if you remember me, as a way to remember this road trip." A part of her hoped he was able to build a truck when he got back to his world. Then they would have something connecting them, even if she could no longer talk to Oscar. They could share in the idea that they both had a truck. "Do you remember anyone from your world that you're excited to see again?" She asked, prying further into his past than she had before, "Or do you just remember anyone from your world?"
Oscar liked the idea of naming his future truck after Honor, and nodded in agreement. When he heard her second question, he paused, then shook his head. "Honestly…..I still don't remember anything at all." A sudden worry struck him. "You do think my memories will come back, right? Once I'm home, I mean. I'll be able to remember my true name and who I really am and everything?" The idea that he might be stuck without memories forever hit a sour note, and he stared unhappily at his half-finished painting.
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