Work Text:
Charlie駕駛在66號公路上，他要去伊利諾伊州探訪很久未見的高中同學。他破舊的賽昂車在出發前被他徹底清洗了一遍，在陽光下反射著紫光。乾淨到沒人想得到在他把這輛車拖出車庫之前，它早就蒙了一層厚厚的灰塵。
天是一碧如洗的藍，深秋的美國中部公路沐浴在暖陽裡，地面源源不斷地吸收著熱能，絲毫沒有涼意。
Charlie的速度已經晚了既定的日期些許，他也許需要開更快些。
路上實在太空曠了，破舊Sion的廣播系統也一早停止了運作，除了自己唱歌，他想不到有任何娛樂活動。
就在他想拿一根菸出來醒一下神時，公路右邊卻出現了讓他意想不到的美妙景色。
一片湖。一片波光粼粼的湖。
深藍色的湖面反射著碎鑽般的光芒，有些晃眼，卻讓人移不開目光。湖面深邃地好像要把人吸進去，金色的波紋更眩目迷人。
周圍深黑色的山巧妙地將這個湖泊圍在中間，所以Charlie看到的只是湖泊的一部分。但他卻已經萌生了一個有些荒唐的念頭：他要登到最高的那個山頂，看一看這湖泊的全貌。
他一定要去，沒有辦法不去。
他開到了公路邊一個小餐館，順便買了一份地圖，他喝了一口咖啡，滿腦想的全是那一片湖面，彷彿其他的一切都不能提起他的興致了。
他繞了一小段路，先去加滿了油，然後踏上了追尋夢中美景的路。
他不是一個很認路的人，中間迷了幾次路，Sion也罷工了。他銜著一支煙，右手握拳伸出，向上豎起拇指，靠在車邊等了許很久，老天，是真的很久。終於等到了一個好心的中年人停下。他借用了中年男人車上的修車工具，終於修好了車。等那男人把工具放好，那男人操著一口南方口音，嗓門十分大，問他：「那片湖？你為什麼要去哪裡？伙計，我實在不覺得那是個好主意。」
Charlie沒說話，笑了一聲又繼續踏上了旅程。
他已經遲了預計到達伊利諾伊州的日期有三日，但他不太在乎，他甚至連定位系統都沒有。
但他知道，天哪，如果開不到那裡，他會瘋掉的。
上山的路崎嶇不平，他的Sion如果這樣開上去一定會爛掉，他只好把車停在山半坡，徒步走上去。
他抱怨自己為什麼沒有在以前多運動，踉踉蹌蹌走了好久，也沒帶夠水，走到口乾舌燥，近乎嘴唇開裂，他卻很肯定自己走的方向的是對的。
走啊走啊，直到他抬頭，瞥見了湖泊一角，他知道就是這裡了，再跨出兩三步，他就能看見這片湖的全貌。
他深吸了一口氣，一種前所未有的快樂充盈了他的胸腔。他邁開腳步，往前走去。
沒錯，就是這片湖。
可是，他如氣球洩氣般嘆了口氣，這不過只是一片普通的湖泊。要說漂亮，確實是漂亮的，但是山遮住了陽光，沒有了波光粼粼，沒有了深邃的藍色，一切的一切都是這麼普通。
只有在那一段公路望下去，這片湖才是最美的。但是開過了，就是開過了，他也不能永遠停滯不前吧。
他現在才明白，那片閃著金光的湖面從來不是為他而存在。
Charlie苦笑了一下，他坐下，掏出了襯衫口袋的煙。
抽完煙，也差不多要上路了。這次異想天開的旅途確實花了他很多精力。
「嘿！小子！你覺得你在幹什麼？！」Charlie把煙丟在腳下碾滅時，聽到了右後方傳來的大聲吼叫。
「先生⋯我只是經過這裡⋯」
「這是我的私人領地！我想你很清楚我可以現在把你擊斃！」這片地的主人揚了揚手裡的獵槍，「現在給我馬上滾出去！」措辭毫不客氣，Charlie覺得那男人的口水都噴到了他臉上。
他雙手舉在頭邊，一路道歉一路往後退，身後隱隱約約還有男子的咒罵聲傳來。
他一路跑下了山，回到了車裡。他長呼了一口氣。他終於承認，是自己錯了，從一開始就不該踏上這條路。
他調轉方向，往伊利諾伊州的方向開去，輪胎飛馳在公路上揚起一道沙塵，應該快一點趕上行程了。
After all, the shining lake was never for him.
Charlie is driving down on Route 66. He's on his way to his high schoolmate who he hasn't visited in years in Illinois. His crappy Sion got cleaned well before he took off, reflecting purple light under the sun. It's so clean that no one would guess it got a layer of dust before towed out of the garage.
The sky is clear as if washed. The highway road in middle America is covered by the sunlight while the ground is absorbing all the heat. You can hardly feel the chilliness in the air in this deep fall.
Charlie has already fallen behind the schedule a bit, maybe he should speed up a little.
It's so spacious on the road. The radio on the crappy Sion had broken down long ago. He can't think of any entertainment except singing himself.
The moment he wants to wake himself up with a cigarette, a fantastic and unexpected view appears on the right side of the road.
A lake. A shinning lake.
The dark blue lake reflects the light of sparkling diamonds. It's so dazzling that you can't take your eyes off it. The surface of the lake is deep and luring. The golden waves are even more attractive.
The dark black hills surround the lake artfully. So Charlie only sees a part of the lake. But out of nowhere a ridiculous thought come up to his mind: he has to go to the tallest hill, and see the full appearance.
He has to go, there's no way not to.
He drives to a little diner on the side of the road, and buys a map in passing. He takes a sip of the coffee, all he can think about is the lake. As if nothing can cheer him up anymore.
He takes a little detour, fills up the petrol, and sets the foot on the way to his dream place.
He’s not a person with a strong sense of direction, he got lost a few times, his Sion has already broken down. And there he is, standing right on one side of the highway, with a cigarette hanging on his lips.
He reaches out his right fist with the thump pointing up, and leans against his car for a long time. God know how long he has waited, and finally, a good hearted middle aged man with a southern accent pulls out his car. Charlie borrows that man’s tool and gets his car fixed. As the middle aged man takes his tool back in the car, he asks Charlie where he’s going. “That lake? Why are you going there? Man, I really don’t think that’s a good idea!”
And Charlie just answers with a smile and continues his journey.
Charlie has already ran behind his schedule to Illinois for about three days, but he doesn’t really care, he even has no GPS with him.
But he knows, if he doesn’t get there, god, it’ll drive him crazy.
The road up to the hill is indeed a bumpy ride, there’s no way his Sion can make it to the top. So Charlie parks his car on the hillside, and takes a walk.
He starts to complain why he didn’t work out frequently in the past. He staggers all the way up, he has no water with him, his lips are so dry that almost cracks. Though he is sure that he’s walking towards the right direction.