Hope and Undead Elvis - By Ian Thomas Healy Page 0,24

car."

"We're not gonna see too much in the dark."

"There's a full moon. We can at least see how bad we're stuck, because I'm not driving anymore tonight." Hope rubbed her head and opened the door.

Undead Elvis couldn't open his; too much sand had piled up against it, so he slid across the seat and followed Hope.

The Way had slid corner first into a sand dune. The right front wheel was submerged and dislodged sand had swarmed along the passenger side, spilling into the bed and side window. Besides being buried, Hope couldn't see any obvious damage to the car except for a few wrinkles in the sheet metal. She and Undead Elvis looked at each other in the bluish light of the moon.

Hope said, "Wow. I think we were lucky."

"Seems that way."

"Do you think we can get the car out?"

"I don't know."

"I hope the sand isn't as hungry over here as it was on the other side."

"It hasn't taken the car yet. Maybe it won't."

Hope rubbed her throbbing head and squinted up into the sky. "There are so many stars. I'd forgotten they were there at all. I worked so many nights in places like Vegas and Reno where it's never dark… You don't ever see the stars. They're beautiful."

"That they are, Li'l lady."

"When I was younger, I remember my brother showing me the constellations. I never could connect the dots and see what he described, but it was nice that he even took the time to do it. He was always nice to me." She sniffled a little. "I miss him. I've barely thought about him for years and now he's gone."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah, I do. I don't know how, but I do." She pointed toward the heavens. "That's the Big Dipper there, and Casseiopia. There's the North Star, and that little tiny cluster is the Pleiades. That's all I remember."

The white band of the Milky Way stretched across the sky, the light of a million stars from a million years ago. Hope wondered if any of them had broken worlds orbiting them.

A few black feathers and one clawed leg still clung to the radiator grille from when the black bird had smashed into it. Hope swallowed her distaste and picked them out of the chipped plastic. She flung the leg into the sand and let the breeze carry away the feathers.

The breeze!

Gentle air currents swirled past the top of the canyon, making Hope's hair move. She couldn't quite believe it, so she licked a finger and held it up. Her saliva dried cool on one side as the dry air washed over it.

"Hey Elvis, maybe this part of the world isn't broken," she said. "It's nighttime, there's a breeze blowing, and look!" She pointed toward the horizon at pale shadows lit by the moon. "Clouds, and they're moving!"

"Sure enough, Li'l lady." Undead Elvis turned away from her, took off his sunglasses for a moment and wiped them on his jumpsuit. Hope wanted to make him turn so he could see what his eyes looked like, but the moment passed and the sunglasses went right back onto his face once more.

"Do you think we passed through the edge of something crossing the canyon?"

"Maybe so." He replaced his sunglasses. "I guess we'll find out if the moon sets and the sun also rises."

"I'm going to eat something and then take a nap," said Hope. "I think I've had quite enough excitement for one day. Or one week. Or one lifetime."

"I'll stay right here."

Hope squeezed Undead Elvis's hand. Maybe she'd name her baby after him. He'd been a prince and perfect gentleman to her. She wasn't used to such treatment, and it made her feel odd, like she was undeserving of positive attention.

She climbed back into The Way to rummage for some fruit and to find the water jug. She retrieved a couple of apples but the jug had split and leaked all but a few swallows into the sand in the passenger footwell. She lifted the plastic gallon, careful to keep what little water remained from spilling.

"Running low on water. This isn't good."

Undead Elvis looked at it. "Nope. You best drink it all now, Li'l lady. It'll be evaporated by morning."

Hope nodded and swallowed the last few drops. Already she could feel the claws of thirst scrabbling at the back of her mind. She ate the first apple but set the second one aside for when she woke up. "We better see if we lost anything else in that