There's something very wrong with this radio station.

You know those trips you go on? To get away from life. To find yourself. To hide from responsibilities. Maybe a combination of all three. That was what it was for me. Fresh new license and starry eyes I offered a road trip to those in my friend group. No one was keen. All had jobs and such for the summer and I was the odd one out.
So, I picked up a bundle of clothes and blankets, chucked a fold-out mattress in the back (it was slightly too small but I made it work) and bought a bunch of snacks and lollies from the grocery store. Then I was on my way, waving goodbye to my parents and teasing my little sister about never coming back.
My girlfriend was the hardest to say goodbye to, we had been having some issues and I was worried she was going to try something with a mutual friend. But I had to trust her, so I felt her arms wrap around my waist as she whispered into my ear.
?I?ll see you soon babe,? a quick kiss and I was gone.
I slept overnight at the top of a mountain range, around five hours out of town it was too dangerous for me to carry on longer. Leaving the boot of my car open I was able to lay the mattress flat and snuggle under blankets, hiding from the cool air. I watched as shooting stars flew above and traded artificial music with the sounds the animals made.
Clarity hit me that night.
The next day I traveled through windy roads and small towns. Music was my greatest companion as I listened to playlists my mutual friends created. My first stop was at a gas station. Where an elderly woman glared at me the entire time. Flies buzzed around the rusty fuel pump and I got the shivers. When I asked her what was beyond the town she just shrugged.
I pulled up google maps on my phone, but there didn?t appear to be any major cities anywhere near that direction. There were a couple to the North, but I was drawn to this windy road in the South. So, I thanked the lady, paying for the fuel and buying a packet of gum before heading off.
After about twenty minutes I spotted something unusual. In the woods surrounding the road, a small sign for a caf? caught my attention. I still had plenty of food in my car, but I was really craving something hot so I pulled up into a gravel parking lot.
Pale blue paint was peeling from the building and the front looked overgrown. I was worried it wasn?t even open, but the sign had obviously been flipped. Neon fairy lights scattered around the building, with a variety of food in cabinets to the left.
At the counter, a bored-looking figure sat. They looked up. They appeared to be my age, with short black hair and wearing all black. Long-sleeved t-shirt and dark jeans. I honestly couldn?t tell you if they were a boy or a girl. I was trying to figure it out when they spoke.
?Keen for a walk?? They asked.
?A what?? I replied.
?A walk around the woods,? they nodded their head to the direction of the windows.
Looking out I saw what appeared to be a bath going into a cluster of woods. They carried on longer than my eyes could see. It was getting cloudy, the ones that you just know are going to cause rain. So I shook my head.
?Alright, if you?re not going for a walk, what would you like to eat?? They smiled at me. They had a black lip piercing on the left side of their bottom lip. I admired it, I had always wanted one. ?Nice septum,? they said to me as if they had read my mind.
My hand naturally went to the metal jewelry hanging from in between my nostrils. I generally wore it up when I was at home- parents didn?t approve. But I had let it hang for this trip, feeling content in the knowledge that my parents would not be able to tell me off for it.
?Thanks,? I replied. ?I love your lip,? I stumbled over my words but their toothy smile told me that they understood what I meant. ?I?m Alliston- Ali for short,? I stretch my hand out.
They take it, ?I?m Caiden.?
?So, Caiden, what on the menu would you recommend??
Caiden smiled, ?sit and wait, we?ve got some food that needs to be chucked out at the end of the day so I?ll heat it up for you. Free of charge.?
?Are you sure?? I asked, surprised at their generosity.
?? Course.?
Thirty minutes later I had had some of the best food of my life, Caiden was telling me stories about what one of their friends had been up to. I think his name was Teddy. ?I?m so glad you didn?t choose to go into the woods,? Caiden told me after I finished my meal.
?Why?s that??
?Bad things happen in those woods, and I like you.? My cheeks turned pink, I hadn?t spoken to my girlfriend since leaving home yesterday and Caiden?s hand had somehow found its way on top of mine on the table.
Glancing at our hands I cleared my throat. ?It?s been really great meeting you, but I really better get going.? It was starting to get dark outside and I wasn?t sure where I was going to be sleeping for the night. Something about the woods creeped me out, I wanted to at least get a little further through them before it got dark.
Caiden nodded, removing their hand they started to stack the dishes in front of us on the table. ?Take this for later,? they said, passing me an uneaten slice of chocolate cake wrapped in a napkin.
?Thank you, for everything,? I told them as I took the cake. Walking back out I put it in the glove box of my car, for lack of a better place.
Dusk started to settle as I continued on the windy road, playing music so loud it could be heard from outside of the car. I was glad no one had decided to join me on this trip, for then I wouldn?t have been able to sing along without feeling self-conscious.
Disaster struck about thirty minutes later when my speaker ran out of battery. I had a USB charger so plugged it into the cigarette lighter. However, I still wanted to get a bit further on the trail so I pulled over and started fiddling with the radio. Trying to find any station that reached this far out.
After what felt like an eternity of white noise and static, I eventually found something. It was so quiet I had to turn my radio as far up as it could go. Even then it was barely louder than a whisper. Two hosts appeared to be talking to each other, discussing the best way to season food.
I rolled my eyes, I appeared to have found some random cooking radio station out in the middle of nowhere. But I had nothing else to do, with my speaker charging and no way to plug my phone into the radio I signed and started the engine back up.
Oddly, as I continued through on the road the radio got louder. Soon, the two men?s voices were far easier to distinguish. They were tasting food at the moment, doing a segment called guess the age of the meat. I was annoyed, I figured they would have played at least one song by now.
They started listing off the names of the different stores they had bought the meat from. A non-descript caf? was mentioned and I wondered if it was where I had just been. They also mentioned the names of several people I assumed to be butchers.
When they started gloating about how fresh the meat tasted I turned the station off. Annoyed at the idea they were just going to talk forever. It was getting dark by now and my heart sank, I was going to have to park up next to the woods.
A couple of kilometers further lead to a rest stop, it was nothing more than a gravel pit on the side of the road but I pulled into it, rubbing heat from my eyes I stretched out. After a quick trip into the woods to do my business without anyone seeing I settled in the car for the night. Leaving the boot of the car down I played some music through my now unplugged speaker.
Outside of the car, the forest was dead silent. It was an eerie compared to the noises the animals had made the night before. I cuddled my teddy as I played on my phone, there was spotty reception so it was hard to know if no one had bothered to check in with me or if I just wasn?t getting any messages.
I decided to shoot one to my girlfriend, just to let her know I was doing okay. Also to let her know that I was thinking about her.
Ali: Hey babe, trip is goin well. Stopt at a nice caf? today. You wld have likd who I met there. Had their lip done like I wntd to. If parents had let me. Thinking of you xoxo.
She texted back reasonably quickly.
[I]Stella: Sup babe! Glad trip is goin good!!! At Nats! He?s thryn a party and Kae just chugd Dav?s vodka. Missin you!!!! Stay safe bby