Her teeth hurt from the elevation, uneven gusts of wind making Moira nauseous after the sun went down. Everything that shined was shit, but the stars were still incoherent and blurred to perfection. “All there is worth looking at in this world,” Caden would say that about everything, and most of the time, Moira believed him. He wasn’t in search of complex answers or sophisticated opinions. Whatever was happening usually satisfied, and she often enjoyed the aftereffects, letting his heart perpetuate every good vibe to its maximum elasticity.

            When he held her, she knew his grip to be genuine; his intentions clear yet unbounded. They could float or remain stationary, letting the shared air expand their lungs before settling. That movement and its subsequent vibrations were all Moira ever needed until she turned twenty-six.

            “So what’d you take?” he stared up as Moira adjusted on the roof of her sedan. Another man who couldn’t grow a mustache rocking ratty dreads and bare feet. She liked the turquoise tie dye, but hated the band who overcharged for it.

            “Excuse me? What kind of question is that to ask a complete stranger?” Moira suggested.

            “If I had to guess, I’d say acid, but it might be the subpar junk that’s been floating around here since last summer.”

            “I didn’t take anything, and I’m not into buying whatever you’re selling.”

            “Hey cool out there, kitten. I was just throwing a little net out there, seeing if you were my kind of butterfly.”

            “Yeah, I don’t think,” Moira replied.

            “Too bad. I seem to have misplaced my friends, but something tells me we’ll all find our way back to each other when it’s right,” he bobbed as if each word perpetuated a necessity to move. “That’s usually how it goes at these things. Happenstance. Were you here last year?”

            “No.”

            “Last year was more of a jolt. Better bands, people, you name it. I rolled for forty hours and still had enough kick to work a double on Monday morning, then slept for a day and half. It was all kinds of karmic. You wanna head down and watch some music?”

            “Ya know, I think I’m good here,” Moira nodded.

            “Cool, well come find me later, and I’ll put your mind where it needs to be.”

            She wanted to tell him not to make assumptions, but let the dullard drift with a cluster of rovers from another campsite. Caden would try to communicate to her telepathically on occasion, but very little sunk in, where as she could always tell what he was thinking. Food, drugs or sex usually fit the bill with the occasional dash of general displacement. Moira often sensed it when he recoiled or wouldn’t look her in the eye. It went beyond the incidental white lie or nervous tick. Periodically, he’d just become uncomfortable, no matter how good or natural they were with relation to the earth.

            A recognizable groove bellowed through the treetops, letting the leaves flow in odd cycles. Heads and hairlines didn’t match as they passed, only a few eyes edging back to catch a glimpse of Moira, barefoot on metal with little motivation to coast. She had friends down by the stage, most paired off or lit beyond recognition. Then came the subtle acquaintances, remarkably vacant or conscious enough to know she’d soon be passing through. Maybe a few wanted to offer a proper goodbye, whatever that constituted. People weren’t trying to be good anymore, usually turning it off to the point where they could indulge under the guise of self-preservation or discovery.

            “Did you run into that bear coming here in the middle of I-91?” Another boy too presumptuous for his own good; short blonde locks, glasses and of course, tan cargos.

            “Must’ve missed that mama,” Moira said.

            “Well it was something. A little scary, but peaceful just to stop and watch nature slow the rest of the world down, even if only for a moment.”

            “It doesn’t happen as often as it should.”

            “Unless it’s destructive like a tornado or something.”

            “Yeah…”

            “So where’d you come from?” he asked.

            “Up north. You?”

            “Out west.”

            “That’s where I’m headed,” Moira sighed.

            “And here we are just passing each other by on separate ways to somewhere else.”

            “I suppose you could say it like that.”

            “You know a better way to say it?”

            Moira pondered a moment. “We’re heading to new homes, be they temporary or long lasting.”

            “Sure, I could get behind that,” he shifted his weight and pulled a joint from behind his ear. “You wanna partake?”

            “That’s alright. I’m good.”

            “Suit yourself,” he lit an end and held his words back. “You take something else?”

            “Just here getting high on these vibes for maybe the last time,” Moira replied.

            “So you’ve been here before?”

            “I have.”

            “Cool. Ya know, you can meet some really great people at places like this, even in times like these.”

            “Oh believe me, I already have.”

            Moira let him stand by her car awhile and then watched the smoke drift above his skull into the sky. She lied back again and squinted at dots, recalling her first year. It was a similar crop of skin and fog, the same electronic patterns repeating loudly as threads all blended together.

No one noticed another gray beard passed out in the mud, but there was Caden down on one knee with fresh water, standing him upright and walking him to a picnic table. She watched from a distance as he talked to a stranger for an hour, and knew in all of the surrounding chaos that he would do the same for anybody. A virtuous soul should always be enough, but how well it fit inside could make even her favorite song sound like a ringing phone at the very bottom.

Christopher S. Bell is a writer and musician. His work has recently appeared in Saw Palm, The Mortal Mag, In Parenthesis and Nonstalgia. His latest collection of short fiction Double Feature is out now. He currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.