A New Beginning

We had been driving around in the wilderness for too long, with no directions.

The sight of an inverted umbrella boosted my sagging spirits. Maybe, there was a brilliant, young mind at work somewhere close, who was on a network. If this was a dish antenna, there was some hope of being reconnected to the civilized world for help.

I drove closer, and called out,

“Is there someone around? Are you listening?.......”

The sound just dissipated in the wilderness. I decided not to lose hope, and walk all around that umbrella. I needed to conserve gas, till we reached help.

I touched the umbrella, and there it was, in my hands. It was not fixed to the ground. So …. It was just an umbrella, and not a dish antenna. I swirled it around in disappointment, and decided to keep it. It might prove useful to protect myself against unknown elements. As I closed it, my eyes stopped at a name “Alice Jones”, in red paint.

Oh, my God! So, Alice was somewhere near, trying to get over the break-up, just as I was. In what state would I find her, and how?

A new chapter of the story began.