Texas sunsets always seemed larger than other desert states, the vastness of it's desert embedded in your mind once you had passed through. Everything was bigger here, like they said. Dee stuck her thumb out as she stood on the heated pavement alongside Interstate 10, taking in the colors fading into each other. Bobbing oil pumps dotted the landscape, so many dipping bird heads, black against the fading light. She did not have to wait long until and old Plymouth slowed to a stop behind her, Dee briskly walked the distance to the car. A young couple in the front seat smiled and the greetings were warm, the girl opened the passenger door and scooted over to make room. All the windows were down so it was easy enough to slip her backpack in the rear seat and slide in next to the pretty dark eyed girl but the front tire caught her eye. Bare down to the steel belts in places, not a sign of tread, even the hub looked rusted and worn. As she got in the car Dee asked if they had a spare, just in case this tire blew. The young man assured her he did have one in the trunk but it was in the same shape as that one. Dee slid into the front seat.
The pleasantries were brief as the old Plymouth gathered speed on the highway. They were headed to L.A. and would take Dee as far as she wanted. “ I'm going to Colorado so I'll need to head north before too long.” was her reply, thinking she would catch a different ride in a different vehicle as soon as possible.
Stretching her arm along the door she placed her hand gripping metal and vinyl of the door and leaning her head onto her arm, closed her eyes, said a silent prayer and wrapped her mind around the tire. Holding the tire in her mind as secured, she kept it and held it for all the miles they would cover in the vast expanse of a moonless Texas night. Drifting into a dream, she ran alongside the car holding the axel so the wheel would run weightless along the pavement, then go back to wrapping her mind around the worn rubber spinning down a still-warm highway.
The edge of the eastern horizon was beginning to brighten when she sensed the slowing of an exit ramp, at long last, she thought, someone has to pee. Still her mind held the tire while they bumped across Texas potholes to the gas pumps at an old truck stop. When the car finally stopped she let go and the old tire burst. Not surprised, Dee gathered her backpack and thanked the young couple then turned toward the restaurant and it's enticing aromas.