Outside the Oasis: Part 1

It had been a couple of days since the greenhouse adventure, and after Claire had finished 3D scanning each of them she had made it clear that she couldn’t be bothered while she edited the photos together. This, of course, made Mason stir crazy. He couldn’t stand waiting for this long, and if it were up to him, they would leave tonight. Mason tapped his phone on his knee as he sat at the dining room table.

“What’s got you so jazzed?” Mason’s father entered the room and opened the refrigerator door.

“Nothing,” Mason answered quickly. Too quickly. His heart rate raced as Mason’s father paused his search for food to inspect his son’s body language more closely.

“Really?” Mason’s father replied. It was less of a question and more of a comment of disbelief.

“Yeah, and I forgot to run this by you and Mom first, but my friends and I are going to volunteer at a greenhouse this weekend,” Mason smiled innocently, hoping that his father wouldn’t ask too many questions.

Mason’s father smiled as he began cracking eggs into a bowl, “I never took you for a volunteer. I’m proud of you.”

“I like volunteering. I just don’t like being told to volunteer, like when mom offers my help to strangers,” Mason felt his body relax. It didn’t seem like his dad was suspicious of anything, and Mason complimented himself on finding the perfect time to plant the fake story about the greenhouse.

A grunt left his father’s throat, “You aren’t the only one that gets offered up, but it’s always good to help out. Your mother just has a habit of finding opportunities for you.”

Mason’s phone buzzed and a message from Taylor illuminated the screen. After skimming over the text, Mason stood up and pushed his chair behind him, “Well, looks like I have to run. My friends want to meet up.”

“Is one of those friends Taylor?” Mason’s dad perked up as he turned on the stove.

Mason nodded, “She seems to like hanging out with Claire and me.”

“Good, I’m glad that you are showing her around the town and making her feel welcome,” Mason’s father pointed a spatula at his son before Mason darted out of the house, “Try to be home at a reasonable time for dinner. And keep yourself out of trouble. Your mom is still reeling about the Camaro.”

“Will do Dad,” Mason, with one foot out the door, saluted to his father, “I’m goody two shoes from here on out.”

--=|=--

Taylor spun a coffee mug in circles with a finger, letting the ceramic slide against the table. The beige liquid inside the cup rippled as the mug twisted and Taylor’s eyes were lost in the minute waves.

“I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s restless,” Mason commented as he took a sip from his own mug.

“Claire hasn’t texted me in, like, a day,” Taylor’s voice was hasty and she checked her phone again. “I even sent her a message and she hasn’t responded.”

“Claire is working her magic,” Mason attempted to soothe her nerves, “Give her time.”

Taylor looked up at Mason and began to shift her weight uncomfortably, “You and Claire aren’t dating, are you?”

Mason pressed his palm towards her, “No. Claire and I aren’t a thing. We are friends, and neither of us wants to change that.”

She sighed with relief, which made Mason eager to interrogate further, “Why do you ask?”

Taylor felt her face get hot and she quickly tried to mask the butterflies in her stomach. If Taylor was being honest with herself, she didn’t know why she wanted to know. She had only known Mason and Claire for a couple of days, but it frightened her how connected she was beginning to feel to them.

Claire messaged Taylor throughout the day, asking various questions to help create a friendship, and Taylor was beginning to look forward to those messages. This was the first person she had really gotten to know in a long time. Taylor wanted to spend more time with Claire and learn about her interests, but a voice in the back of her mind reminded her of the danger of close relationships.

“I don’t know. I just don’t want to ruin whatever emotional dynamic you two have,” Taylor responded bluntly, being sure to remove any hints that she cared.

Mason leaned back, picked his coffee cup up with one hand, and studied Taylor. He suspected that there was more to Taylor’s feelings than she wanted him to believe, but he wouldn’t push any further, “So what should we do to pass the time?”

“I don’t know,” Taylor shrugged while taking a sip of her coffee, “What’s fun to do around here?”

Mason thought of the plan again, like he had been doing for the last week. He probed his mind for anything else they would need before they departed. The photos and messages would be handled by Claire, the navigating would be handled by Taylor, which meant that the driving was Mason’s responsibility.

“Well, since I’ll be the driver, I guess we better make sure the car is in working order before we depart,” Mason said with a thoughtful smile, “Have you ever seen a solar car before?”

--=|=--

Sitting in parking stall number nine was Mason’s father’s pride and joy. A small, white vehicle sat snuggly in an allocated parking spot, and the two SUVs parked next to it made his father’s car look like a toy. Small tires nestled underneath aerodynamic body panels peaked out below the chassis. The car looked bulbous, almost like it was a helicopter with wheels, rather than a roadworthy commuter vehicle. Dark solar panels covered the roof of the vehicle, as well as any parts of the chassis that pointed up toward the sky. The mixture of large headlights and the curvaceous design of the front of the vehicle reminded Mason of a face, which gave the car a unique personality.

“What do you think?” Mason asked Taylor as he gestured towards the car.

“It looks like a clown car,” Taylor said as she scanned the garage for anything cooler.

“Well, this clown car is going to take us to North Dakota and back!” Mason whispered under his breath as he patted the hood.

Taylor gave him a curious glance, “Why are you whispering?”

Mason pointed towards the ceiling. Arranged in a neat grid were hundreds of cameras, all pointing at the car below it, “This building has cameras in the garage so each car owner can view their car. It helps reduce theft.”

“Why would anyone steal? There is plenty to go around, It’s like the Garden of Eden here,” Taylor commented as she got a closer look at the solar car.

Mason didn’t know what an “Eden” was, but he didn’t let that slow his inner salesman. He pulled out his phone and pressed a couple of buttons to unlock the vehicle. Yellow lights flashed in various spots on the solar car and a soft click followed. He cleared his throat before speaking again, “Powered by the sun itself, this car has a whopping seven-hundred-mile range, and it can even charge itself while it drives.”

“Does that mean it could drive all day and never stop?” Taylor asked as she peeked through the window.

“Not exactly,” Mason responded, “It doesn’t charge as fast as it uses energy, so you will need to stop eventually, but it’s still cool!”

“What other features does it have?” Taylor knew that Mason was excited about the car and she didn’t mind acting curious.

“I thought you’d never ask!” Mason replied with a devious smile. He began sifting through his phone and naming the various features he saw: Heated seats, Heads-up display, and phone charging capabilities in every seat. “It even has a tint slider!”

Taylor pulled her face from the driver’s window, “What is a tint slider?” Before Mason responded, she saw the window in front of her darken until she was unable to see through it. Taylor smiled. It was hard for her to deny that it was cool. For a little car, she was impressed with its spacious interior. It didn’t look bogged down with features or unnecessary cupholders. It was no work truck like she grew up with, but for a commuter car, it seemed to do the trick.

Mason pressed a button and the car began to hum quietly. The various lights positioned around the vehicle danced and the suspension raised the chassis a couple of inches from the ground.

“How about we take a drive and kill some time?” Mason proposed to his guest.

Taylor agreed as she headed towards the passenger side of the car, “Of course,”. As she reached for a door handle she immediately realized that she couldn’t find it. Mason giggled as he watched her face twist in confusion.

He walked over to where Taylor stood and curled his fingers under a ledge at the bottom of the car. In a swift movement, he pulled and the door slid upwards, disappearing into the roof. “After you,” Mason gestured into the car and bowed.

“You and your fancy car with its fancy tricks,” Taylor grumbled with a smile as she climbed into the seat.

Mason ran to the other side and climbed into the driver’s seat. The moment he gripped the steering yolk with both hands the car closed its doors, locked them, and then switched into drive. The soft hum increased as Mason pressed the accelerator to the floor. Taylor was disappointed with the lack of noise that emanated from the car. She was used to heavy machinery and had grown to love their noises.

Taylor paid close attention to the way Mason drove. After all, he was going to drive her to North Dakota and back. He was sure of his ability and seemed confident in his driving. Mason wore a smile behind the wheel, and his eyes shifted to his digital mirror with rhythm. During one of the routine checks of his surroundings, he noticed Taylor staring at him.

“What do you think of the car?” Mason asked without taking his eyes off the road.

She felt embarrassed that she had been caught staring at Mason, but was glad that he didn’t bring attention to her embarrassment. “Why does this city make it so hard to own a gas car? Why did you need to apply for a permit?”

“The city was designed with green energy in mind. This city is completely off the traditional grid. Electric cars are better for the environment, especially when the energy they use is created by renewable energies,” Mason began, “and it’s not hard to get a gas car. The Internal Combustion Engine permit was created so that the people who care about cars, like you and me, jump through a few extra hoops to get a car that harms the environment. That way, the people who simply want a car to take them from point A to point B are discouraged from buying a gas car.”

Taylor could see his point but still didn’t like the idea of needing a permit for a gas car. Mason’s explanation sounded like propaganda. She didn’t want to have to ask permission to buy the things she wanted.

Taylor turned her attention out the window. They had exclusively driven underground so far. All the roadways that Mason turned onto were illuminated with bright streetlights and windows that lead to the sunny sky above. There weren’t a lot of other cars on the road, and there was no traffic in any traditional sense of the word. Taylor looked ahead of them and was blinded by bright sunlight. They were coming out of a tunnel, but she couldn’t see what was yet to come.

“When I get my Camaro, I’m going to take it to this road,” Mason slowed his sentence as he tried to time his words with their surroundings, “Right here.”

As he spoke, the car exited the tunnel and revealed a bright green landscape. There were no skyscrapers or buildings to be found. Instead, along the right side of the road flowed a lazy blue river. Grass covered the ground around them and white, wooden gazebos dotted the hills nearby.

“This road is the only road that isn’t underground. It’s five miles of fresh air that you can drive through,” Mason smiled and pushed the accelerator down quickly.

Taylor gripped the door handle as the acceleration of the vehicle pushed her into her seat. Her eyes went wide and Mason laughed. With the press of a button, every window rolled down and the wind rushed into the car, the smell of fresh grass and flowers following. Mason relaxed and tinted the windshield to filter the sunlight. Taylor put her head out the window and watched the scenery go by with a wide smile.

--=|=--

Mason had pulled the car over to a small dirt lot that overlooked a large concrete dam. Taylor leaned against the hood while Mason stood a couple of paces away near the water’s edge, desperately looking for flat stones. She looked up at the sky and focused on the warmth that the rays of the sun gave her skin.

“Why are there no buildings out here?” Taylor asked after a couple of minutes of lush silence.

Mason took a break from skipping rocks and looked at her, “It’s kind of like a nature reserve. This is the Euphoria Reservoir. It started with the dam that generates electricity, but city officials thought that this would be a nice place for people to relax outdoors.”

“I thought people could do that on the roofs of the sky-scrapers,” Taylor replied.

“Yes, but here you can swim, fish, and boat,” Mason smiled before returning to skip rocks.

Mason looked over the water and couldn’t help but think of the various memories he had of this man-made lake. His parents used to take him here when he was a child. Before his parents had gotten busy with life, they would sit and eat lunch in the grass as a family. He could recall countless memories of rolling down the soft hills, and his mouth salivated at the thought of his mother’s homemade lemonade.

Taylor approached him and took a rock from his hand, “You seem lost in thought.”

“Kind of,” Mason chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, “I used to come here a lot.”

“Yeah? You and your parent’s catamaran?” Taylor mocked.

“No. Just picnics. It’s nice out here, especially in the spring,” Mason replied. He let a moment pass before speaking again, “How are you adjusting to city life?”

“You say ‘city life’ like it’s that simple. Where I came from wasn’t just some small town in the country. I don’t know if Solar Oasis is heaven on earth, or if I grew up in hell. A lot has been on my mind, and I don’t really know what to think. Part of me wants to leave my past behind and begin a new chapter of my life here, but the other part never wants to forget what I had to go through to get here.”

Mason nodded, “Understandable. If you ever want to talk about it, just let me know.”

Both Mason and Taylor began to skip rocks in silence. Occasionally, a sailboat would drift across the lake or a car would pass, but for the most part, they were alone. Taylor felt her bones relax. There were so many people in the city that it felt like they walked on top of each other, and sometimes just stepping outside was hard for her. For the last couple of days, it felt like she was living a life that had nothing to do with the one she had lived for nineteen years. It frustrated her that it was taking her that long to adapt to her new surroundings.

Mason looked at his watch and spoke, snapping Taylor out of her self-loathing, “It’s time we get back. Want to drive?”

Taylor looked at him in disbelief, “you are letting me drive your car?”

“You know how to drive, right?” Mason asked, “I guess I just assumed. Claire doesn’t have her license either, so don’t feel bad.”

Taylor shoved him playfully, “I know how to drive dumb nut. Just give me the keys.”

“Well there aren’t really any keys,” Mason chuckled, “Just get in.”

Both Taylor and Mason hopped into the car. Taylor moved the steering yolk from side to side and the wheels crunched in the gravel below. She nodded in approval. Next, she pressed the accelerator to the floor. The motor whined and the back wheels spun, kicking rocks and dust into the air.

“Careful there,” Mason said as he finished putting his seatbelt on, “I don’t want to sound like your dad here, but take it nice and gentle.”

Taylor sighed and slowly moved the car from the dirt lot to the asphalt. She feathered the pedal under her foot and the car responded immediately. There was much more torque and power within this little car than anything she had ever driven before. She smiled as she continued to gun the accelerator here and there, giggling to herself whenever the g-forces pushed her body into the seat.

The two of them drove back into town and now with the sun setting against the water their surroundings were a rich gradient of red and purple. Taylor let the car fly down the road, weaving in and out of the few cars that dared travel in the same direction as her.

She let the car’s regenerative braking slow the vehicle to a stop once they arrived at their first intersection. They had entered the underbelly of the city a couple of minutes ago, and now that there was no beautiful scenery to distract Taylor, she was able to focus on the road and drive even faster.

The two of them talked for most of the ride home. They discussed their various interests, hoping that they were interested in the same things. Mason had discovered that Tayor was into disco music and fixing cars, and Taylor had found that Mason enjoyed sci-fi films and video games. Neither of them had experience with the other’s hobbies, but they enjoyed listening to each other just the same.

Rumbling the tunnel, a car rolled to a stop next to them. Its exhaust grumbled and coughed as the driver continued to rev the engine now and then. Taylor surveyed the car as it stopped at the red light. It was a small, orange two-door vehicle with enough modifications to qualify it as a racecar. The man who drove the car was about her age, wore sunglasses, and chewed a stick of gum arrogantly. Once he caught Taylor inspecting his ride he revved the engine and smiled. Taylor rolled her eyes and switched her gaze to the traffic light.

Rolling his window down, the man called out to Taylor, “What? You look like you’ve never seen a fast car before.”

“I’ve seen plenty of fast cars, I’ve just never seen a car that obnoxious before,” Taylor responded with an arrogant tone.

The stranger laughed, “This car could run circles around your solar panel with wheels, trust me.”

“I wouldn’t shy away from a friendly street race,” Taylor continued her pompous attitude.

“Oh?” The stranger smiled, “You’re on. The next intersection is half a mile away. The first one there wins.”

“I’ll see you there” Taylor mocked before turning to Mason, “I hope you don’t mind if I use your car for a street race.”

Mason tugged on his seatbelt to check if it was secure,” No, go ahead,” Mason responded with a smile “I’m late anyways.”