Polaroids and Postcards | ✔️

Chapter 6: Trouble in Tennessee

"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles."

•••

"I'm telling you, there is a gas station in a few more miles. There's nothing to be con—"

"We are already on empty, Della! We're gonna run out before we get there."

"Well, we definitely won't make with that kind of attitude in the car," she scoffed, rolling her eyes and turning up the radio.

"I don't have an attitude, Della. I am simply stating a fact."

"But you can't know about things like that ahead of time. Not really."

I crossed my arms and leaned over to rest my head on the window. I still didn't know how to handle the arguments she threw at me. It was weird. Her mind seemed to run in a totally different direction than mine, so I was never sure what to expect from her. It was intriguing and confusing at the same time.

"One can know about the probability of imminent failure. So, yes, you kind of can."

"Uh-huh. Tell me, when did you start being such a glass-is-half-empty-person?"

"I'm not cynical," I sniffed, "I'm being realistic."

"You know, there's a difference between realism and cynicism," she sighed, her grey eyes searching the road ahead. "One says 'this is the way things are' and the other says 'this is the way things turn out every time'. The first one looks at the world and accepts it as it is. The second one takes previous situations and draws a blanket conclusion for every other situation that follows. And usually those are the same people that say things generally tend towards the negative outcome."

"That's because they do," I shrugged, "I mean, think about Murphy's Law. 'Anything that can go wrong will go wrong'."

"The person who invented that was obviously a cynic. Because that doesn't take into consideration the numerous other possibilities that come out of acts fueled by positive things," she stared at me intently. "You can't solve an equation without accounting for all the variables."

I fiddled with a guitar pick I took out of my pocket. "And what are some of these positive variables? Enlighten me."

"Optimists," she grinned, "Dreamers. Acts of kindness, love, and mercy. When you add those in, everything wrong that can happen won't happen. Some of them might, but not all."

I wasn't sure what to say. She seemed so sure of herself, I almost didn't dare to argue.

"But, if you wanna get technical, it also depends on what your definition of 'things going wrong' actually is," she added, cheekily.

I raised an eyebrow. "So now you want to question the existence of right and wrong?"

"No, not that kind of right and wrong. I mean the right and wrong in the grand scheme of the world—the 'accidents' that aren't really accidents."

"So, you mean fate?"

"'Design', I think is a better word."

"Uh-huh... Explain."

Della pursed her lips and let out a small sigh. For a moment, the sun hit the rearview mirrors and reflected onto her hair, creating a sort of iridescent halo. In half a breath, I forgot what we were talking about and wished that I had the stupid camera in my hands. She looked...

Get it together, Jason.

"I think that the so-called 'accidents' or the things that 'go wrong' aren't always bad. Like, your car breaking down when it did... You consider that an accident or a negative occurrence. But I think of it as a good thing!"