A/N: ok, so I write this a year ago for a language assignment and I'm pretty fond of it so… there you go, enjoy.
Rain poured hard over Elizabeth Ellen while she was driving her red Chevy towards Canada, escaping that poor excuse of a life she was living. Her house was never a happy place. Not when her father drunk, and it was very lucky to see him sober.
A mixture of tears and rain blinded her vision and that's why she didn't see him standing in the rain.
A lump. That was all. A lump in his forehead. That's where the car hit him. She wasn't driving very fast, that's why she didn't kill Roger.
Roger Rows, business man. The stock market was his everyday jungle. He couldn't take it any more when -because of an excessive injection of caffeine, the stress and pressure of dealing with huge amounts of money- he snapped, and decided he needed a time for relaxing.
Mike Moon was eating some cake, watching the water fall from the black sky, thinking how much he would miss this little place: nothing at all. He needed to start over; his life was falling into pieces. That foreign piece of land would be a good place to be for year or two. He could leave this desolate building for a year and disappear. Disappear…
The lights of a red Chevy brought his mind back to earth, to his dark and dull hotel: Customers, such the joy.
"A room for two, please?" her high pitched voice came out a little higher than what she expected.
The man behind the counter scanned her and the weight she held unconscious in her arms
"And a bunch of ice?" she said impatient "please?"
"Rough night?" Mike asked small-talking.
"You could say that" She answered forcing a laugh "how about that ice now?" she repeated.
Mike left the room to get some ice, thinking of what he had just seen; he couldn't believe that people would think that was a hotel for people with hangover. The rain seemed to try to wash away the landscape with its force.
He came back into the room with a bucket of ice to find the man lying down on the floor, with his back against the wall and his head on one side, and the girl fidgeting inside her purse. He crossed all the way to the counter.
"My…my head… oh…my head…" a voice from behind made the hotel manager and the 20-year-old girl jump.
"Are you all right? Do you know your name? What year is it?" she asked quickly, leaning beside him. Mike approached her and gave her a towel with ice on it.
"No to the first, yes to the second, 2010 to the third. I believe that's your car?" the man on the ground nodded at the red Chevy parked outside.
"Yeah… I'm SO sorry. I didn't see you there in the rain!" Elizabeth hurried to say, putting the bag of ice to the lump that had formed in his head.
He looked at her with an apologetic face and said "it wasn't you fault. I crossed the road without looking. Thank you for not leaving me there."
"Here" Mike said "this will help a little" he gave Roger an aspirin and a glass of water, which he took happily. Mike examined the scene before his eyes: the girl observing carefully the man that was taking an aspirin, sitting on the floor with a lump on his head. "What happened to you anyway?"
"I was driving to Canada when I got a flat tire, so I pulled over. I crossed the street to try to shelter from the rain under a tree, when…"
"… I ran him over with my car" Elizabeth completed.
Mike laughed out loud "well, that explains a lot. "Today is my birthday, have some cake. It'll make you feel better, chocolate cures all wounds."
He cut two pieces of cake and handed them over to his new acquaintances.
"That's odd" Elizabeth said "today is my birthday too".
Roger looked up and said "mine too."
They stared at each other for a while, when Mike broke the silence and said "well, happy birthday" Lifting the cake to make a toast.
The three of them broke into laughter. "Happy birthday to you too" Roger said.
"You were headed to Canada?" Mike asked.
"Yes" Elizabeth and Roger answered at the same time.
"I escaped my old life to renew myself" Roger said.
"I escaped home because I couldn't stand my father anymore." Elizabeth said, lowering her head.
"I was escaping this hotel and making a clean start in a new land" When Mike spoke, the other two looked at him. "This ain't no fun, you know? Managing a hotel in the middle of nowhere"
Some people have it worse than I do, thought Roger. "Too many coincidences…"
"Three souls lost in their way to freedom; brought together by fate, or destiny, or chance. Call it whatever you like. But we are all here, aren't we? You said it" he addressed Roger "Too many coincidences" Mike was looking down at the cake, fidgeting with a piece, he took a bite and chewed it thoughtfully.
They kept silent for what seemed an hour. Elizabeth stood up, took a key and said "if you don't mind, today was a very hard, accidental, and stressful day. I'm going to get some rest. See you tomorrow." And she left the room.
"Yeah… I'm following her steps. Have some rest you too" said Mike throwing a key to Roger, who stood up to catch it and left the room searching for his own. "Tomorrow would be a new day".
