The forest was practically endless. After five hours on the road, the lifeless trees were still in sight and not a single decent store in range. The sky was dyed milky grey as if I was driving in the path of Hell. In a way I was….Ah Maya was right-I always over exaggerate.

The road was unsurprisingly bumpy, keeping Doll awake. Honestly I was glad, I wasn’t the only one awake.

The steering wheel was hot and slick with my sweat from hours on the road. I deserved a break.

“I’m taking a pit stop.”  I said

“Good idea, I’ll prepare some lunch.” She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes.

I parked my baby at the side of the forest. Then I covered it with dead grass and twigs. Dios knows what animals or felons might come and snatch her away from me. Meanwhile, Doll gets a can of food, a pot, a portable stove, cooking utensils, plastic cutlery and a Prussian blue blanket to sit on.

I stretched my arms like a cat and flopped down on the blanket. Driving was awesome, but man did it take a lot out of you. Doll twirls the handle of the gas pump of the portable stove and a cobalt fire lights up.  I watched  as she dumped preserved ravioli in a pot and stirs it contently.

She was certainly something, one minute gushing about the details of her favorite gun, the next confessing her grandma’s secret recipe for butter cookies.

I was about to take out my camera from the trunk from the passenger compartment until the branches crunched in the pleasant silence. The source of the crunching could either be a big animal or an obese lunatic. I hoped it was the latter.

I snapped my head to a grizzly bear almost the size of my baby marched towards us, baring its jarred teeth. Without delay, I  raced behind my baby on instinct as Amelia slipped out a pistol from the stocking of her dress. She pointed the gun to the sky, pressing a hand to her left ear and pulls the trigger.

The ear-splitting noise scares the beast and dashes where ever he came from. I shivered, still behind my car.

“ Lunch is almost ready. He’s gone now,” She reassured.

“How do you know if it was a he. What if it was an expecting mother?” I scrambled to the blanket.

“ Male grizzly bears are usually larger and females usually have shorter legs. Plus he walked in a sway…I guess you could you call me a bearologist.” 

“ That isn’t a word.” I distributed the ravioli into equal proportions on two disposable plates.

Nothing like tasteless ravioli after going face-to-to face with a bear.

“It is. There’s a word for everything…And I can make a few, you know” She handed me the disposable forks at the side of the blanket.

“ Everything?”

“Everything!”

“ Then… what’s the word for that white cap Jewish guys wear?”

“ Yarmulke.”

“Another word for…dictionary.” I waited  for the ravioli to cool down.

“Lexicon.” She wiped her palms with a wet cloth.

“ Somebody who really likes rain?”

“ A pluviophile.”

“Dang you’re good.”

.

She scratched  behind her neck, a smug grin spreading across her face.

Driving with her would surely be a ride.