Everyone Is Touching Me: A Car Journey in Five Acts
Maya Torres
3 min read · Sep 15
The dog is the only one having a good time.
Twenty-two minutes to school. An invisible line down the middle of the back seat. One dog who thinks this is the greatest day of his life.
Act one: everyone gets in. This takes eleven minutes and involves one shoe being lost inside the house it was definitely not in.
Act two: the border dispute. There is a line down the middle of the back seat. It is invisible, it moves, and only one of them can see it, which is what makes it so effective as a weapon.
Act three: the snack. A bag of something crunchy opens with the sound of a starting pistol and is gone in ninety seconds. The crumbs, by contrast, are permanent residents. They pay no rent.
Act four: the song. Someone requests it. Someone else objects on principle. We listen to it four times. I know every word now and I will know every word at my own funeral.
Act five: the drop-off. They get out cheerfully, as though the last twenty minutes did not happen, and wave. The dog and I drive home in silence, both of us slightly changed.
