Lulu held the open map on her lap, studying it carefully although by now she could have drawn it in her sleep. Come the day she would sleep. It illustrated to possible lifts that she was a serious traveller. The small white suitcase gave those same possible lifts the reassurance she was no vagabond. They had no need to know it was empty. Lulu had no need to wash or change her clothes.
Lulu also wanted to make extremely clear her destination. Hence the globe which sat on the case, visible from all around, including the sky.
Earth was where Lulu was headed, and her perch in the middle of the long runway assured her that all space haulage ships had no choice but to spot her.
It was only a matter of time before Lulu got her lift. And once on Earth, she would achieve her dream, and sleep and sweat, because the whole world knew Earth was only for humans and that’s what Lulu wished to be above all else.
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A clear, straight country road and Tom couldn’t believe his eyes.
There, right in the middle sitting on what appeared to be a suitcase, was a young woman. She wasn’t even looking out for approaching vehicles – just staring intently at a map in her hands.
The strange thing Tom noticed was a globe of the world perched on another suitcase beside her.
He slid his car to a gentle stop not far from where she was sitting.
“’Scuse me, miss,” he called through the open driver side window. “You’d better move or you’ll get run over.”
The girl looked up and suddenly burst into tears.
Tom immediately left the car and rushed to her side. “What’s wrong, miss? I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“It’s not you,” she sobbed. “It’s my boyfriend. He dumped me.”
“What? Here?”
She nodded sadly. “Yes. We had this big fight and he just told me to get out of the car. I don’t even know where I am, which is why I was looking at the map.”
Tom felt sympathy for her plight. Not nice being dropped in the middle of nowhere with little chance of receiving a lift – especially in this day and age.
“Well, I’m sorry he has left you stranded. However, I don’t think it wise to sit in the middle of the road like this because you might get run over.”
The girl stopped crying and looked around and, for the first time, appeared to be aware of her surroundings.
“Oh,” she said, startled. “I hadn’t noticed,” and began to gather her possessions to move them off the road.
“Look,” said Tom. “Would you like me to give you a lift. I am heading to Broken Hill but I’ll be happy to drop you wherever you want to go.”
The girl smiled, her face lighting up in gratitude.
“Would you,” she breathed. “I would be ever so grateful. It just so happens that’s where we were heading.”
“Not a problem,” replied Tom. “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Felicity,” she said. “Felicity Collins.”
“Tom.” He held out his hand. “Tom Dawkins.”
Felicity picked up her belongings and loaded them into the back seat of Tom’s car.
She then settled happily into the passenger seat as Tom fired up the engine.
“By the way,” he said. “What’s with the globe?”
“I love travelling,” she replied. “And the globe is a great way of checking out what country I want to go to next.”
Tom smiled kindly and settled down for the long drive ahead as Felicity gazed contentedly out the passenger window.
All sorts of possibilities here!