a-heh, originally uploaded by toyfoto.

I took a left when I should have taken a right.

As I turned I knew I'd gone in the wrong direction.

I thought about turning around.

One street. Two streets. A mile of streets. Another mile of streets.

Might as well keep going. Eventually we'll find something I recognize.

"You don't KNOW where we ARE!?!"

"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"We're LOST?"

"We're not lost, really. I know generally where we are, I just don't know exactly where we are."

"You know what this means, right?"

"It's going to take us longer to get home?"

"No. We are going to have to sleep in our car, and in the morning we'll have to go to one of these houses and beg for food. ... Only they probably won't give food to you, because nobody will give food to an adult ... so I'll have to go up to the door and you'll have to hide in the bushes. ..."

"I am not hiding in the bushes. We are not going to pull a bait and switch on a homeowner. Besides, we are NOT going to be lost for long ... I'll find the highway and we'll be home before you know it."

"You know. ... if they have oatmeal you will have to eat it. Beggars can't be choosers."

"We are not going to have to beg for food. Look, there's a sign for the highway. We're almost back to where we started."

She's quiet for a while as I turn onto the highway.

"Ah ... mom?"

"What, hon?"

"We're on the highway?"

"Yep."

"You know what this means, right?"

"We'll be home soon?"

"No. It means we are going to STARVE. There are no houses on this road."