CHAPTER 24
Cole woke with a start. He had been driving along the coast and stopped in a quaint little town called Mendocino. The coastline was beautiful there with huge rocks jutting out from the water and trees all around. The small town was raised up on land that looked over the ocean with the beaches lower down. He had pulled his bike off to the side of the road and started walking through some of the trees and shrubbery. Night had fallen. Cole went a little ways from the path and spread his blanket across a soft patch of brush to get a few hours of rest before heading back on the road. He slept a little longer than he had meant to and heard a woman talking right next to where he was laying.
“Smile honey, why aren't you smiling? Why do you keep pointing to the side? Are you trying to play a trick on your brother and sister? Just smile so I can take the picture. What are you pointing at?” Slowly the woman turned her head to the side and looked at Cole. Her eyes popped in astonishment.
“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to um, wake you.” she quickly trotted off. Cole could hear her and her son's laughter as they quickly turned a corner and then disappeared from sight.
“Uh, I slept too late.” Cole said aloud to himself. He stiffly stood up from the ground and folded his blanket up, shaking it off. He had a little money left but not a lot. He felt the pull to keep heading south. He decided to keep driving but he knew that soon he would want to get some work and earn a bit more money. He wanted to have some cash saved when he finally reached Arlana so that he could get her whatever she needed and she could be comfortable. He pulled her picture out of his jacket and stared at her beautiful face. He slowly traced his thumb on the edge of the picture and pressed his lips against the image of her face. He was lonely, and he missed her so much. For so long he had held on to his heart of stone and just when he let the stone crumble from its soft tender flesh his heart had been ripped away from him. He trudged out of the darkened forest and the light from the sun shone across him. He stood there for a moment letting the rays penetrate warming his skin. He was determined to find her; nothing would stop him, not even time. He jumped on his bike and headed back onto the road.