It’s #PhotoStoryChallenge time! Write the opening or part of a story based on the image below. One rule: your story *must* begin with the word “no” and end with the word “road.” Optional, for the screenwriters out there: write it as a snippet of a screenplay. #WriteFightGifClub pic.twitter.com/yJtxNONUxj

— Radina Valova (@RadinaValova) March 1, 2018

Photo by Radina Valova

“No.”

“Wait-what?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, have you forgotten how to English? Here: nein, nyet, non, iie, bu. Are those any better?”

I looked at Sarah, sitting so prim and proper on the broken down doorstep of a former roadside shop, and sighed. “Fine.” I dropped down to sit next to her and instantly regretted it as my ass informed me that it had found a multitude of rusty nails and sharp pebbles. I grimaced but ignored the pinpricks of pain to focus on the more important pain in the ass. “If not here, then where?”

“I don’t know,” Sarah kicked at the ground, sending a plume of dust into the air. “Anywhere.”

“Anywhere, but here.”

She shrugged.

‘The customer is always right.’ I reminded myself. Leaning back on my hands, I stared up at the jagged hills lining the road. They tried so hard to look like mountains, but all I could see was a bunch of try hards and failed wannabes. I sighed again and stood up.

“Alright. You win. We’ll try somewhere else.” I shook my head at the grateful smile she sent my way, and headed back to my rental car. I could hear her footsteps as she scrambled to catch up with me. I waited until she was in her own car before pulling off the shoulder, leading her further into the country side.

I suppose, if I was going to pick a place to die, I, too, could think of better places to be killed than on this lonely road.