We weren’t supposed to be responsible
That week was already full
We picked up the wrong box, wrong name
Wrong life, apparently
There was a note taped to the side
Careful handwriting, very polite
It said, “If this ends up somewhere strange, please take me places.”
You said, “Is this… ashes?”
I said, “I think it’s ashes.”
We stood there nodding like adults
Neither of us feeling like one
Inside the box was a list
Folded like it mattered
All the places they wanted to see
Nothing fancy
Just America
A desert diner
The ocean from the wrong side
A national park circled twice
A town because they liked the name
At the bottom they wrote,
Guess I’ll need help with the rest.
You laughed so hard you had to sit down
I said, “Okay, I already like them.”
So we put them in the cup holder
Like they’d always belonged there
Buckled ourselves in
You took a picture
I said, “Too soon?”
You said, “They literally asked for this.”
We learned how to drive carefully
Not because of the roads
But because suddenly everything felt fragile
Time especially
We took pictures like tourists
Urn by a motel sign that buzzed
Urn at the edge of the canyon
Urn watching the sun disappear
Like, look—you made it You’d say
And I’d laugh cuz somehow it didn’t feel weird, It just felt right.
At gas stations we made up stories
Who they were
What made them wait so long
Why the list existed at all
We never argued
We were unusually kind to each other
Like we were being supervised
By someone rooting for us
Somewhere past midnight
You said, “If I don’t get to everything I want to see
Promise you’ll take me anyway?”
I said, “Only if you make a longer list.”
We barely made it in time
The family was tired but kind.
Grateful in that quiet way
They hugged us like we were part of it
And we told them everything
About the pictures
The jokes
How we buckled the urn in
How their person rode shotgun
Across half the country
Like they were finally on vacation
They laughed
They cried
They said, “That sounds like them.”
When we got back in the car
It felt lighter
Quieter
Like someone had checked out
Left a tip
And said, Don’t waste it.
You looked at me and said,
“So… where do you want to go next?”
And for the first time
We didn’t rush the answer.
Kaimanguy
