After much delay, here it is. Sadly, my spelling and grammar in the last chapter was completely off. Apologies.

Lip Balm

…

There it was. Like looking in the distance with the wrong side of a spy glass. Arnie had spotted it before he did, pointing out the exact location where they first met Becky. Gilbert had been thinking about it for too long, the aging houses lingering in the back of his mind like a meshing gray photo. Faces like blurred trees, swiping by as the days droned on. The once familiar voices, the buzz of mosquitoes when the sun fell.

Everything was dissolving, and he wanted to see it one more time. One more time before deciding. Did he love Endora more than he loved the world?

"There it is, Gilbert. There it is," Arnie exclaimed happily, finger jutting out of the window. He clutched at Gilbert's shoulders and nudged him.

Gilbert could not speak. His mouth was clamped shut like a tight lipped mouse trap. Why is this so hard? Gilbert thought. Why is this so difficult? I've wanted to come back here for ages. Swallowing his stone face and stocky mood, he cracked a small smile reassuringly and then pressed on the pedal, allowing the RV to trudge ahead.

It had not changed. Surprise surprise. It had not changed in the slightest bit. He passed by Mr. Lamson's grocery store with effort, eyes peering into beyond the road. It was the same. The dust clotted road leading to the door looked as if it had not met a gust of wind or a sweep in ages, the counter in the center the same shade of the murky depth. He rode on, looking up at the water tower in remembrance.

I know a boy who's name is Arnie..He's about to turn 18 and have a big party. Gilbert had held the megaphone over his mouth and then sighed. Will I always be looking up at water towers my whole life?

Passing by a familiar road, Gilbert looked out of the window, finding not a house that held his footprints, his fingerprints, his first words, but rather, a mound of dirt. A mound of orange dirt that sifted this way and that at the slightest wind movements.

He passed by the growing, modern Food Land, the rickety homes, the same children out playing ball. Gilbert turned around to face Arnie, only to find his face scrunched, splotched red and with spilling eyes.

"Where's home, Gilbert?" He whined.

He opened his mouth to speak but found that his throat had closed up, words leaving him. Endora was just as it had been when they left. Endora would forever be the town of memories, the town of foundation, the town of forgotten campfires and songs, the town of life and death. Nothing more.

Just as it had been. Always.

"Arnie…" Gilbert let that word filter through the air. "Endora is the same as we left it. See ol' Barney and Johnny Smith over there? And Mr. Lamson's and the water tower…"

"No," Becky interrupted and placed a hand on Gilbert's arm. Gilbert jumped slightly, he had almost forgotten that she was beside him. "Gilbert…what's missing?"

Arnie was beginning to whine now, thrashing about and wrenching at invisible phantoms. Trying desperately to make the pictures in his mind into words.

"Where's… Where's.."

"Momma," Becky and Arnie said together.

"Momma…" Gilbert echoed. "And Amy and…"

Gilbert stopped, nodding understandingly before circling around a dusty road and driving steadily to a nearby grocery store for directions. He felt like a stranger. Staring out into the road, he felt an icy hand tighten around his heart, reminding Gilbert that he belonged no where.

He had thought that Endora was a prison, binding him to a town where everything was a sickening jest. However, complete freedom was a shackle, weighing him down to below the earth's core. He felt like a selfish swine, hitting realization with a sudden thought.

It's not about me. It's about Arnie. It's about Becky. It's about Endora. It's about Arnie's goddamn 20th birthday. That's why we're here. That's why we came to Endora.

And though he repeated the foreign words in his mind, he felt nothing but nausea, knowing that those words were wrong.

…

Ooh. Gilbert going through some trauma here .I don't blame him. All his life he's been caring for everyone but himself. And now he feels sickened by the thought that he's done something..for himself! What will happen next? I honestly don't know. But I'm on it! [Puts on detective hat]

Until next time! Reviews are splendid. :]