Outside the Oasis: Part 1

Mason shoved the last item of clothing into his backpack before zipping it closed. He hadn’t slept much the night before, but no one could say he didn’t try. He couldn’t decide if the sheer excitement of the road trip kept his mind awake or the fear of what his mom would do to him if he were caught. Either way, this was the day he had dreamed of for years.

His movement was quiet. Mason tried to keep tabs on his parent’s location by listening to every small noise that came from the house. The last thing he wanted was for one of his parents to come into his room unannounced and see him packing a bag. Mason’s phone buzzed and he grabbed it quickly to view the latest message.

Claire was ready to go.

Taylor had sent him a similar message five minutes ago, which meant that it was time to leave. Mason shouldered his backpack and opened his bedroom door with a button. The door slid to the side and revealed an empty hallway in a silent house. It was early Saturday morning, and Mason prayed that his parents hadn’t bothered to leave their bedroom yet.

Creeping his way down the hallway, Mason’s head was on a swivel. The front door was only a couple of rooms away, but so much was at stake. If Mason was caught now, the whole plan could go downhill. He was already grounded as it was, and taking the car would result in dire consequences.

Mason entered the kitchen and froze.

“Hey kid,” Mason’s father greeted him.

“Hey Dad,” Mason replied quickly as he dropped his backpack in the hallway, out of sight of his father.

Sitting down at the table with a bowl of cereal, Mason’s dad continued to eat, “Off to the greenhouse?”

Mason nodded, “Yeah, Claire, Taylor, and I are walking there, so I need to leave early.”

His father nodded in approval, then motioned to the hallway with his eyes, “Don’t forget your backpack.”

Mason chuckled nervously, “Sure thing Dad, see you in a couple of days.”

Snatching his backpack, Mason walked to the door and exited promptly. He couldn’t keep having these close calls. He entered the elevator, and instead of pressing the main floor, he pressed the garage floor. As the elevator lowered, his stomach climbed into his throat. The plan would have been a lot simpler if he still had permission to drive the car, but due to Taylor and his’ adventure yesterday, he was going to have to hope for the best.

The doors opened to the dank underground garage and Mason began to jog towards the solar car. After greeting Mason with a friendly flash of lights, the driver and passenger door opened.

Taylor was already leaning against the hood of the car with her backpack between her legs. She wore acid-washed jeans and a red t-shirt that depicted a construction company’s logo that Mason didn’t recognize. “Are you ready?” She asked with a smile.

“I feel like I was born ready,” Mason replied as both Taylor and he climbed into the car and began driving to pick up Claire.

--=|=--

Mason pressed the “hazards” button on the dashboard and sat back. He had parked the car in the underground garage beneath Claire’s building. It didn’t look much different than his home garage, but there were a lot more people in this one. The garage here allowed parking for the residents as well as customers of various restaurants and shops in the building.

“I thought you said Claire was ready,” Taylor said as she scanned

“That’s what she texted me,” Mason replied as he checked his phone.

Before Mason could type out a message to Claire, the elevator doors closest to them opened up. As the throng of people left the elevator, Claire stepped out, fixed her sun hat, and headed towards the solar car.

Mason rolled the window down and looked at her with a goofy smile, “Sorry, this taxi is full.”

“I guess this box of doughnuts will have to go to another car then,” Claire retorted with a giggle and gently shook a familiar box.

After Claire entered the vehicle and secured herself in the backseat she grabbed the box and found her doughnut. Taylor watched through the rear-view mirror as Claire took her first bite. Taylor loved the way that Claire smiled when she sunk her teeth into a pastry. Claire placed a doughnut in Taylor’s and Mason’s hand and they both graciously accepted it.

Claire positioned her backpack next to her and pulled out her laptop as Mason exited the parking garage. Her floral button-up shirt was tucked into a pair of skinny jeans that had embroidered flowers on them. Taylor wanted to stare but realized that she had been caught staring at too many people as of late.

“Do you know how to get to the city exit gate?” Claire asked as she began typing on her computer.

“Yes, I know how to get there,” Mason replied as he took a second to view the street signs around him.

“Good. I’m about to send the first automated text to our parents. This one has a photo of us at the greenhouse. After I press this button, every two or three hours our parents will get a message with various photos of us doing tasks at the greenhouse. Does everyone have what they need?”

Taylor patted her pockets before responding, “You bet.”

Mason rolled his eyes, “Of course I have everything.”

“Perfect,” Claire’s chipper tone put a smile on Taylor’s face, “In that case, I’m pressing send. We are officially in two places at once.”

Mason smiled victoriously. He was officially on his way to get his dream car, and nothing could stop him now. By the end of the weekend, he would be driving around in his new Camaro.

Claire reached into her pocket and pulled out a small black device. It was about the size of her phone but as thin as a pencil. She then passed the device to Taylor.

“Pass this to Mason so he can use them at the exit gate, please,” Claire told Taylor as she passed off the device.

Taylor accepted the device and pulled out a device of her own, stacked it on top of Claire’s, and then held them out for Mason.

Mason’s stomach dropped. He knew what those black devices were. Everyone was issued one when they became a resident of the city. Identification Devices were used in place of driver’s licenses, social security cards, birth certificates, and any other certificate, license, and degree that one obtained. It was a storage device that was required to be scanned if you were leaving the city, and Mason didn’t have his.

“Guys I left my ID at home. We need to turn around,” Mason said sheepishly.

“What do you mean turn around? We can’t turn around,” Claire replied, “Our parents officially think we are at the greenhouse. If they see us again they are going to have questions and it may uproot our entire plan!”

“Yes, but if I don’t have my Identification Device, we aren’t going to be able to get out of the city, also uprooting our entire plan,” Mason reasoned.

“What are we going to do?” Taylor asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“I’m going to sneak back into my house and get the device. I will be in and out before my parents even know I’m home!” Mason looked in the mirror to gauge how his friends liked the plan. Claire didn’t seem to approve.

Claire sighed, “I think that’s our only option. We’ll wait in the car.”

“What if your parents look at the garage camera,” Taylor followed up, “They will see us in the car.”

Mason had turned the car around, and now nervously drummed his fingers on the steering yoke, “Claire, can you loop the feed of the car being empty”

Claire grumbled, “It’s hard, but not impossible.”

“Please,” Mason begged, “Once I get my car, I will do whatever you say for a month! We are so close! I need this!”

Claire furrowed her brown and sunk into her laptop once again, remaining silent for the rest of the drive.

--=|=--

When Mason had left this morning, he had hoped that the next time he stepped through his front door, he would be the proud owner of a 1970s muscle car. As he opened the door to his family’s apartment, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. His mother and father were definitely awake now, and he could hear the conversing in the bedroom.

Mason tip-toed through the entryway and down the hall towards his room, conscious of every little sound the floor made. Claire was right. If he was caught now, the whole plan might go up in flames.

His father was no longer in the kitchen, which made it safe to pass through. As he approached his room, he heard his parent’s room slide open. Mason dashed into his own room and shut the door. Listening for only a moment, Mason decided that he wasn’t the main subject of their discussion. He stopped eavesdropping and began searching the room for his Identification Device.

Suddenly, he heard his mother sigh in relief.

“I just checked the garage camera and our car is still there,” Mason’s mother began, “I don’t know what I would have done if I grounded that boy and he still took the car to the greenhouse.”

“Why are you checking the garage camera?” Mason heard his father in the other room. His father sounded startled.

“To make sure our honest boy is staying honest,” his mother continued.

“You know our son,” Mason’s father’s voice came again, “He’s a good kid. He wouldn’t get into trouble.”

“I know you’re right, but I still worry. I still can’t believe he wants to get a car from North Dakota! I don’t want him to leave the city. It’s dangerous out there!” Mason’s Mother’s voice was distressed, and his father did his best to soothe her.

“He’ll be fine. He knows how to take care of himself. Why don’t you start getting ready for the day and we can go for a walk.”

“Why do you talk like he’s already left? He shouldn’t have to take care of himself because he’s in the protection of the city,” she objected before returning to her room.

Mason continued his search for his Identification Device until suddenly his door slid open and his father stood in the doorway. Their eyes went wide as they both seemed shocked to see each other. Mason began to quietly stutter as he desperately thought of a lie. “I forgot my phone. I was going to grab it and head back to the greenhouse.”

“Wait, you are actually going to the greenhouse? I thought you were going to get your car!” His father hissed as he closed the door behind him.

Mason blinked absently as his father’s words surprised him, “Wait, you know I’m going to get the car?”

“I thought we had a long talk about this,” Mason’s father looked over his shoulder “I gave you the keys to the solar car!”

It all made sense to Mason now. Taylor was right. His father was giving him permission without giving him permission. “My friends and I were about to leave the city, but I forgot my Identification Device.”

Mason’s father was still uneasy, but he nodded his head, “Grab your ID and I’ll help you sneak out of the house again. You better be quick! Consider yourself lucky that the car was still here when your mother looked at the camera,”.

Both Mason and his father tore apart Mason’s room in search of the Identification Device, and the moment Mason found it, Mason’s father put a hand on his son’s shoulder.

“You have to promise me a ride in the car once you get it,” his father smiled at him.

“You know it,” Mason reassured him.

Mason’s father opened the door and poked his head out of the room like a meerkat, carefully locating his wife’s location. After a moment of silence, his father waved for Mason to follow him. The two men snuck through the halls of their home, keeping their ears keen to any noise that the woman of the house might make. Just as they rounded the corner into the kitchen, the bedroom door opened with a hiss. Immediately, Mason’s dad pushed his son into the next room so that his mother wouldn’t see him.

Mason stumbled but kept his footing and crouched in the kitchen and listened. He realized that crouching wouldn’t help make him more stealthy, but it still felt like the right thing to do.

“Hey, honey, ready to go for our walk?” Mason’s father acted inconspicuously, and Mason was impressed with how relaxed he looked, taking mental notes for the future.

“Now that Mason is gone for the weekend at the greenhouse,” Mason’s mother’s voice had an alluring and sensual tone that made Mason uncomfortable, “Why don’t we have a little fun.”

Mason watched his father turn a deep shade of red and a grin creep across his face. He was watching something down the hallway, and Mason didn’t want to know what it was.

A moment later, the bedroom door closed and Mason’s father turned to face him, “I think it’s best you get out of here, and fast,” his father looked at the door again, “I’ll distract your mother,”

--=|=--

Mason could not run fast enough through the garage. As he approached the solar car, the driver’s door rolled open, allowing him to jump into the driver’s seat without stopping.

“Did you get it?” Taylor asked as Mason buckled his seatbelt.

Mason took the black device out of his pocket and waved it in the air, “You bet I did.”

“Good, we are behind schedule. We need to go now,” Claire said quickly, her tone sounding agitated.

“I agree, and hopefully this car can drive fast,” Taylor replied. Mason and she shared a smile before Mason turned the car on.

He navigated out of the garage and began heading for the exit gate once more, “Claire, how hard would it be to continue looping the footage on my family’s garage camera to make it look like the car is still there?”

“It would be hard. Why does it matte? Your family is going to assume that the car is at the greenhouse,” Claire responded.

“Well, Taylor and I took the car yesterday and we got a speeding ticket. My mom grounded me from using the car, so I’m technically not supposed to be driving it right now,” Mason winced as he told Claire the story. Even Taylor put her head down in shame.

“What?” Claire said in disbelief. Her bright blue eyes filled with frustration as she look at both of her friends. Her gentle nature was beginning to erode and Mason was surprised that she seemed angry. He had never seen her get angry at anything, no matter how large the inconvenience was.

Claire watched Mason from the back seat through the rearview mirror before sighing, “Let me see what I can do.”

Mason flashed an innocent smile back through the rear-view mirror and then looked at the road ahead. Once again, he was back on track to get his dream car. He secretly hoped that Claire would mellow out once they hit the road, and maybe after all the stress of leaving the city was done she would relax and have fun.

As the solar car approached the exit gate, Mason readied the three identification devices and pressed them against the travel kiosk. The kiosk chirped with a playful tune after scanning each device and then wished them safe travels. The large, solid metal doors in front of the car began to part, revealing a barren landscape. While Mason had seen what was past the walls from the height of Sunset Tower, he had never been this close before. Claire looked up from her laptop to stare at what was in front of them. Taylor seemed unfazed by the dry horizon they were about to embark across.

“Wow, it looks a lot different when you’re this close,” Mason said under his breath.

Taylor sat back in her seat and yawned, “Home sweet home,”.