“What?! What hell are you talking about?” I said.

“You are in Limbo my dear.” he said again.

Limbo?

I stared at him like he was crazy. Was he trying to make a weird joke? Was there a hidden camera focused on me for some stupid reality TV show?

“What do you mean Limbo? As in the afterlife? Like, the place between heaven and hell?”

“Yes. That is correct” he said.

What did I know about Limbo? Not much, I mean, I knew it was some place where dead people went before their final resting place. That was about it.

“Are you joking around?” I said.

“No.”

I looked around the Mega Mart. I didn’t know why exactly. Everything appeared to be normal, but at the same time it wasn’t. I’d been inside dozens of gas station convenience stores and this one looked the same as they all did. But, in a way, something about this place felt different to me.

What was going on here?

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me. I mean, I’m all for existential beliefs, but right now….”

He looked at me and smiled. It made me feel better… but only for an instant.

The old man pulled out a blue felt bag with a decorative gold trim from his Hawaiian shirt. He searched inside the small sack and pulled out some fragrant tobacco. Stuff it into his pipe. Then lit a match to get it smoking. He started puffing away and made happy cheeky popping noises with each draw from the pipe. He seemed quite content with his pipe smoking.

I watched him anxiously and waited for him to say something else, but he said nothing.

“Look sir, I’ve had a hell of a night. I woke up on the side of the road with my face down in the mud. My clothes were torn and full of blood. I’ve lost my purse, my wallet, and my phone. I just need to get some help!”

“Oh my dear, I definitely want to help you. What can I do for you?”

I was feeling exasperated. Was this guy for real? Didn’t he see the predicament I was in at that moment? Who walks into a gas station looking like roadkill?

“Ok, do you have any way for me to contact the authorities?”

“Unfortunately, there’s no Police in Limbo. At least not in a traditional sense.”

I smiled and decided to play along with him.

“Ok, If I’m in Limbo where are my dead relatives to greet me? Aren’t I supposed to see lights and stuff?” I said sarcastically .

He smiled and puffed his pipe a few more times.

“My dear, that’s not the way it works for us.”

I refused to believe the nonsense that this old guy was spewing. What utter drivel.

“Sir, I just need to contact someone to help me.”

“Unfortunately that’s not possible.”

Ok, that was enough. I lost my cool. I wasn't into playing games with this guy. I decided to take my chances on the road again as I felt this old guy was nuts.

“Thanks for nothing! I’ll drive to the next town.”

“Good luck my dear!”

I walked out of the Mega Mart. Jumped into my car. Pulled out of my spot, and hit the gas - hard! The tires screeched as I fish tailed across the parking lot and onto the country road.

Flooring the gas pedal of my Plymouth Satellite I soon sped up to a dangerous velocity. I was done with this place, wherever this place was. I decided to keep driving till I found a major road, preferably an interstate highway. I wanted someplace with traffic signs, other cars on the road, and even some houses would be a good start.

The car lights illuminated the roadway around me. I felt isolated. The ocean of darkness washed over me as the light of the Mega Mart faded in the distance. My face lit up from the reflected light of the gas station as I gazed into the rear view mirror. After another minute it was just me on the empty road again.

I tried the radio for a second time. Nothing.

Limbo?

I started giggling, but at the same time tears ran down my cheeks. The stress of my situation was getting to me.

“What a day, what a day!” I said.

I broke out laughing as I thought more and more about what the old man was telling me.

“You’re dead Hannah! You’re dead!” I said to the mirror.

I continued laughing for a few minutes. I couldn’t stop. The idea was so preposterous.

Who’d fall for that line of crap?

He seemed like a nice old man, so I didn’t understand what he gained from joking like that. Perhaps he got his kicks out treating people that way, or he was another late night weirdo working at a gas station. It wouldn’t be the first time.

A different thought came to me.

What if I actually was in Limbo? What if I was dead?

I did wake up covered in blood alongside the road with no recollection of what happened to me. The last thing I remembered was driving my car, so possibly I did get into an accident. I could have crashed into a tree, or had a sudden brain aneurysm while driving. Studying to become a doctor I knew that anything was possible.

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I shook the thought from my head and continued to drive.

The country road continued to twist and turn. I passed what seemed like an unending array of empty fields, grasslands, and forested hills. The road changed, but never really changed. It all seemed like the same thing over and over again. There were no creeks, no houses, no cars, no other signs of life. Nothing made any sense to me.

Driving my Plymouth gave me a sense of safety. My hands felt like a part of the car when I gripped the steering wheel. In some strange way it felt like another appendage to my body. As fast as I was going I never felt out of control. It had been like that ever since I first drove the car.

“Drive safely kiddo,” My foster dad had said when he tossed me the keys.

I wasn’t that great a driver, but inside my Satellite I never had any concerns.

As I drove I remembered sleeping in the car with my boyfriend last summer. We were supposed to be camping, but had finished work late. I booked a romantic cabin getaway for the two of us via some online site. As we drove we both started feeling frisky. So we pulled over to the side of the road and made out in the backseat under some blankets. The next thing I knew we were awakened in the morning by a police officer tapping on our window with his baton. The officer was nice and wanted to be sure we were okay. Normally, he would have given us a ticket, but he was an avid car lover, and asked to look over my Plymouth Satellite.

I always had lots of luck driving my black beauty.

In the distance I spotted some more lights.

Finally, something new!

The road turned around a bend and I spotted another Mega Mart past some trees.

“What…?!” I said.

Running into a second Mega Mart on the same road in the middle of nowhere seemed crazy to me.

A sense of déjà vu swept over me.

I drove up towards the convenience store and saw the same white Dodge Aries in the parking lot. Looking inside I could see the old man sitting at the counter, smoking his pipe, and reading his newspaper.

What the hell!

Did this road go around in a circle?

I replayed the last thirty minutes of driving in my head. Never once had I veered from the road. I didn’t stop. Didn’t turn down another road. And I definitely didn’t make a u-turn to come back here.

How was I back here again?

There’s no way I could have turned around and come back. My approach to the convenience store had been from the opposite direction that I had left.

I sat in the car staring at the old man through the glass store front. He seemed unaware of me and unconcerned by anything that happened outside.

The neon cola sign flickered in the Mega Mart window teasing me with its sweet delicious taste. I realized that I was thirsty as well as hungry. Strangely, at the same time, I also didn’t feel like eating. My nerves were too frayed at that point.

Where did I go wrong?

I decided that I must have turned around somewhere on the road. What other explanation could there have been.

The car rumbled and stuttered for a brief second.

I realized that my gas tank was getting close to empty. I knew my car well and a quarter tank of gas didn’t last very long. I had only another twenty minutes before I ran out of gas.

Pulling out of the parking lot again I was determined to get somewhere… anywhere but here.

Which way was the better way to go? That was the real dilemma.

After giving it a few seconds of thought, I decided to drive in the opposite direction that I left from last time.

I hit the road again.

The trees and route looked the same as before. No difference.

I needed to take my mind off my crazy predicament, so I started tapping on the steering wheel to keep myself amused. Music played in my mind and I hummed a few lines of lyrics. I played both the guitar and bass - though not very good. My band was fledgling at best. We played for fun. We did have a monthly gig at a pub - the Rock and Crown. It was a nice place that catered to local indie bands. What I would have given to be back there at that moment.

Driving down the road I started feeling panicked again. This road, this place wasn’t normal. All the conventional things in life were missing.

What if I was dead?

What if I was in Limbo?

The only other vehicle I had seen was a courier truck with that… that thing inside. Nothing made any sense to me.

I decided to ignore it all and keep going. What else was I to do?

In a flash, I realized that I hadn’t checked the trunk of my car. Maybe some of my personal items were inside.

I pulled over to the side of the road and jumped out with keys in hand. I opened the lock and popped the lid of the trunk. Inside I saw my spare tire and lug nut wrench.

“Aha!” I said.

I snatched up the wrench and admired it. I knew this might come in handy. I closed the trunk and got back into the car and continued driving.

Soon, again, I saw lights on the road ahead. I crossed my fingers and hoped it was something new. As I came closer I realized it was the same Mega Mart with the white Dodge Aries parked out front.

I hit the brakes hard and skidded to a sudden halt.

“Holy shit! What the hell is going on?” I said out loud.

My mind reeled with the craziness of my situation. Part of me refused to believe what was happening, while another part of me was ready to accept my plight. I knew this time there was no way I had driven back here again by accident. The road was only leading me to one place, the Mega Mart gas station.

I turned around and looked at the open grasslands on the other side of the road. A crazy thought passed through my head. I turned the car around and pointed it at the fence that lined the open field. I revved the engine a few times and gunned it.

The Plymouth bounced across the worn grooves in the road, over a shallow ditch, and struck the wooden fence. Pieces of wooden debris flew in all directions. A large chunk struck the windshield and bounced off the glass.

“Dammit!” I yelled.

The tires hit the thick clay field and spun wildly. The steering wheel swung in all directions as I tried to get my bearings. I hit the gas harder and continued through the field.

A sense of craziness permeated my consciousness. I drove like an insane person escaping a mental institution. My eyes focused straight ahead as more tears ran down my face. The car zig zagged across the open field and I knew that if I stopped the car I might get stuck.

So I kept going.

The fog closed in around me the further I got away from the road and soon I could barely see where I was going. That didn’t matter to me and I continued to plow straight ahead. I turned on the wipers as I tried to remove some condensation that had settled on the window. I examined the crack in my windshield and bit my lip in frustration. I wiped the tears from my face again and redoubled my mental efforts to stay clear headed in the moment. As psychotic as my circumstances were, I refused to lose it.

Soon the fog started to thin out and I could see that I was still zipping across an open field. The path was terribly bumpy and I knew that my car was taking a beating. I could see why farmers needed tractors to drive on their farms. My poor car would be caked in mud.

Suddenly, I slammed on the brakes. Up ahead of me was the Mega Mart. Again.

I could see my own tire tracks in the mud so I knew I had come this way seconds before. The broken fence was clearly visible to me. There was no doubt I had returned to the same place that I had left. I looked at the gas gauge on the car and it was nearing empty. I realized I had no choice but to proceed towards the Mega Mart.

I was ready to give into the possibility that I was in Limbo… or something different than the normal world. Nothing made any sense to me, nothing at all.

Driving forward I slowly pushed my foot on the gas so that I didn’t get stuck in the muddy field. I drove across the road and hastened past the gas pumps to park out front of the convenience store. I looked inside and the Hawaiian t-shirt Santa look-alike was still reading his newspaper.

He seemed like a nice old guy, so I wasn’t afraid of him. I decided to get out of the car and go in.

I opened the door. The bell rang again as I entered. The old man looked up from his newspaper and smiled at me. I felt a surge of calm wash over me. His countenance was like a spell of some sort. A feeling was over me. An emotion similar to when a parent nurses a sick child back to health, except I was the sick child.

“Ah. You’re back again!” he said. “I was hoping you’d return.”

I approached the counter and stopped right in front of him. I looked him straight in the eyes.

“Ok, I’m in Limbo!” I said.