#rest stops

[askundeadbluelesbians]

To Vicky, Polly, Isis, and Hazel, what do you girls do at the rest stops?

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Written by @segasister Art by @hey-haven

[ratingreststops]

I-55 south, approx 5-10 min north of Cape Girardeau, MO

bathroom - 2/10. smelled bad, diaper and other nasty stuff on the ground, sinks were nasty, a stall was closed, if your pee is an emergency it'll do but otherwise gross

food and drink - 1/10 bc there were (possibly diseased) water fountains, but other than that nothing, no vending machines or anything

novelty - 1/10, there's nothing there but the neighbors are Mr Poop and Mrs Pee and some might consider that a downside but I think it's funny so they get +1 for that

grounds - 9/10, lovely trees and great walking room, well cared for. Deducted a point for the neighbors bc even though I don't consider it a downside, most would.

overall - 3/10, if you HAVE to pee or stretch your legs, it'll do, but you could also drive 5 minutes into Cape and do that there and not have your nose hairs chemically burned off

[fatelys]

I was washing my hands and had this sudden image of a rest stop place building (???) in a desert? And I thought that if anyone would know how that would be possible, it would be tumblr, right? Like using the sun to power everything, but with materials that could withstand the sandstorms? And maybe an indoor garden with trees that have fruit and other veggies for emergencies as well? Potentially with a weekly/monthly imported water (like a lot of it, I guess?) and some good dirt every now and then to make sure the garden has what it needs?

Tumblr, I need answers. Please.

[nulliustram-webfiction]

Creature Watching - Rest Stop

There was a rest stop on the highway, miles from any kind of civilization. A shining outpost of fossil fuels and cheap convenience store snacks, standing tall against the wild mountains that overlooked them.

Most people did not stop here unless they were short on gas. At which point, they would stop for as little time as possible, and then go speeding out of the place.

They justified it by saying that they had places to be. Best not to linger. Just ride on past. They could stretch their legs out on the side of road, preferably three miles away from this place. People only stopped at the gas station if they were desperate.

And Elizabeth Newman was very desperate. As in, rolling her broken-down car along the increasingly steepening highway desperate.

She had just passed into Churyl city limits some minutes ago, and she had been desperately looking for the first sign of help in this place devoid of human contact. Except for the metaled roads and the telephone wires that stretched overhead.

Her eyes lit up when she realized what she had stumbled upon, and her failing limbs regained their vigor. In mere moments, she had the car on flat land, and was stumbling into the convenience store.

As she made her entrance, she tried to wipe away the grease and sweat that was no doubt staining her face. She didn’t think it helped much, but whatever it took to make a half decent impression.

There was a cashier at the counter, but they didn’t look up at all when she entered. Elizabeth wondered faintly how they could work at such a remote location in the dead of night and still manage to not get spooked by the slightest sound. They must have nerves of steel.

“Hey.” She waved, more honestly, rasped, “I need… help with my car.”

The person looked up and nodded agreeably. They had on eyeglasses, but one lens was cracked, making their left eye appear warped and multicolored. It was disorienting to look at.

They said something, but Elizabeth didn’t hear. She felt off-balance, all of a sudden. As if she had been bowled over by some great thing, but there had been no motion. No contact. No great beast. Just a person standing there, with disconcerting eyes, but it wasn’t that jarring, so why was she reacting like this?

The cashier was still talking. Repeating what they had said before. Elizabeth had to force herself to pay attention.

“There’s a mechanic on the other side of the stop.” They were saying, slow and steady as if her reaction to being in their vicinity was not an uncommon occurrence, “I’ll go get him, you can freshen up, get a bite to eat, whatever you like.”

“No, that’s alright.” Elizabeth protested, despite the fact that she would like that very much, “I’m sure everyone’s really tired in the middle of the night and all…”

“Nonsense.” She was shut down firmly, “This is a twenty-four-hour establishment. We never shut down. How about you go get yourself settled? At least wash your face. You look a sight.”

With no rebuttal to that, Elizabeth found herself nodding. The next second, she was sitting at a small table, out on the cement parking lot where a series of plastic foldout chairs and tables had been set out for customers. She… wasn’t sure how she got here.

There was a quaint roadside restaurant in front of her, though, with a curious waiter casting glances through it. He must be getting impatient with her. She should decide what to order quickly. Didn’t want to hold him up any more than she already had.

She had a menu in her hand. How hadn’t she noticed that before? Oh well, all the better to order from.

Except when she looked at it too closely, the words seemed to meld together, becoming unintelligible. The pictures warped and twisted, until what had looked appetizing turned downright foul upon closer inspection.

She would simply get a sandwich. That was a menu item on every rest stop restaurant, right?

The waiter appeared without any prompting from her, and she was so tired that she could do nothing other than simply ask for a sandwich and a coffee. When she asked how much that would cost, the waiter simply laughed and went back inside. Oh, well.

Elizabeth’s eyes wandered away, looking through the glass and into the indoor dining area. There was a painting on the wall opposite the door. A large family – mother, father, grandparents, five children – all standing in front of a backdrop of scenic mountains. Or, no, not a family, upon closer inspection. Not a family of humans, at least.

It was a portrait of bread. Just… loaves of bread where there should have been heads. Little nubs of dough poking out instead of hands. It was bizarre. And the longer she looked at it, the more off-kilter she felt. Almost like with the cashier at the convenience store, but more subtle. A creeping sensation of dread instead of a nausea-inducing wave.

There was a banner underneath the portrait, she saw. It had words on it. Elizabeth had to squint to get a better look at it, and yet she still couldn’t make them out. What did it say?

“Join the family?”

The waiter was standing in front of her again, blocking her view. She blinked up at him, confused, “What did you say?” She asked, voice too shrill to be polite.

“Your sandwich, ma’am.” He repeated, and she felt the cold flush of embarrassment fill her.

“Right. Thank you.” She muttered, handing over the amount of money that seemed reasonable for a sandwich. The waiter didn’t complain, pocketing it and leaving her to smother her anxiety with food. The sandwich was as tasteless and dry as sand, but she didn’t dare complain.

The second she had choked it down, she was standing back up, rushing over to where she had left her car. There was a mechanic there, and he of all the people here seemed to be the most normal, filling her ears with talks of radiators and oil changes.

By the time her car was humming again – just needed a jump, no need for the lecture – and she was getting ready to return to the road, she felt a lot calmer. Driving out of the rest stop was a little more challenging than getting in, because the place seemed to be shifting around to box her in, but Elizabeth didn’t think too deeply into it. There could simply be three different franchises of the same restaurant on this one rest stop.

She managed to navigate out of it, though, and was soon out on the open road again.

A milestone zipped past her, displaying the words ‘Churyl Proper – 300 km’ and a smile came to her face. Her new life was right there for the taking. She could just feel it.

Wind whipped through her open window, only serving as a reminder that she never did freshen up the bathroom as she had been offered. Oh, well, no way she was turning around now.

Amber Leroy wandered up to the rest stop early one morning.

The sun was bright, albeit hidden by the clouds, and the air was pleasantly chilly, the mountains in the background an enticing promise on what was to come next. But first, before she got down to business, she needed to eat.

Not a moment could be wasted in Churyl for food or refueling. She was determined to make the most of the trip, especially because she only planned to stay for two weeks. That just wasn’t enough time to get all the material that she needed.

Even now, miles away from Churyl, she made sure to have her camera out and filming, just in case something interesting passed by her.

“Do you have chicken sandwiches?” She asked the staff – wow, they were efficient, already waiting for her even though she had just parked her car. He nodded and went inside. Amber wished that she had talked to him some more. Made conversation. Pressed him about the strange reputation Churyl had. But the moment was gone, now.

Her eyes wandered over to a picture set up inside the indoor dining area. A picture of a generic tourist family standing in front of the mountains. A mother, a father, grandparents, five kids, and maybe an aunt? Or another mother, if she had to guess.

Except they weren’t people. Someone had photoshopped loaves of bread on their faces.

Muffling a snort, she took a picture on her phone, making sure to capture the moment on camera. Hopefully all the weird testimonies from Churyl weren’t like this, because her job was depending on there being some kind of real monster in the area. There were only so many times you could do the ‘sewer monster’ thing without showing any proof, and if there was one place Amber was convinced she would find proof, it was in Churyl. She ate her sandwich in peace, already planning out the script for this next foray into haunted cities.

I hope you enjoyed this!! This weird rest stop is a place that I have actually gone to. No one talked about it but it was really uncanny valley with that bread family portrait and multiple copies of the same stores in such a small area.

This is a pilot for an absurdist horror series that I plan to do if this gets enough attention. I have five different pilots for different web series I want to try out, and have put up a poll to see which one I should develop more. You can find it here.

In the meantime, if you want more of Creature Watching, there are utterly unique three chapters on all tiers of my Patreon, or on my ko-fi for pay what you want.

Please consider reblogging this to help me get an audience. It's hard to do this as a writer on tumblr.

[thepeacefulgarden]

[prattlinpeach]

Nova Scotia here we come... first stop Vermont.

We woke up before the alarm, go figure. Maybe we were just a little excited, not looking forward to riding in the rain, but ready to get going! We were expected in Vermont about 12p, plenty of time! Breakfast…the most important meal of the day, as you may have heard! A quick breakfast including the perfect waffle, and then we’re off!  We rode through NY State, mostly on the highway, so we could…

[skeleton-squid-boy]

you have GOT to remember when watching the new doctor who that the question is not is this good. doctor who is only ever actually 'good' once a season at most. THE ONLY QUESTION IS is it fun, camp, and has aliens. also remember the worst doctor who showrunner is always the current doctor who showrunner. now go watch the new episodes as god intended like you're ten years old and still remember how to experience joy and whimsy.

[soraritsuka]

Back in my Tumblr prime, I remember coming across a post about how rest stops exist on a different plane of existence, a liminal space, if you will. It was an ENORMOUS post with people's weird experiences at them all added onto the reposts.

Maybe the original post got deleted, but it's nowhere to be found on my Tumblr anymore; in my archive and my likes. I feel like that adds to the strangeness of it. But I really wish I could find it again, it was so interesting.

[flaxenshit]

[lgbtlunaverse]

There's a version of the "don't go grocery shopping while hungry" rule specifically for writers where you should never under any circumstances be allowed to touch your draft within 3 hours of reading a really good story. Because sometimes when you read something great your head goes "fuck this is so much better than my stuff I should make that more like THIS instead!" Look at me. That's the devil talking and you should close the document NOW.

[jaynovz]

if yall ever want like serious advice from me about how to solve burnout as a creative it's like...

literally ignore it. stop pushing. go do something else, enjoy your life, fill it with other things, do what brings you joy in the moment if you can.

go to the gym, take a walk to touch grass and look at dogs and smell flowers, cook dinner, watch tv with your friends, talk about your feelings as needed with ppl you trust, take a drive and blast your music, do the chores you need to do, the job hunting slog you need to do, read books that aren't for research, stop cordoning off your brain for The Craft or The Draft or whatever the fuck

forget about the project, stop thinking about it for as long as it takes to be excited again.

fuckin rest, basically

[isthatacalzone]

thinking about how Edwin just. doesn't actually swear throughout the entire show except for in hell when he screams "THAT IS SO FUCKING STUPID IT'S UNBELIEVABLE" at Charles for coming to hell to save him

[ratingreststops]

I-70 East in Edwards, CO

bathroom - 7/10, moderately clean and didn't smell

food/drink - 6/10, your average drink and snack machines, but did not notice a spigot

novelty - 7/10, on the inside there's a lot of information about native plants and wildlife! I used the pic I took of their evergreen identification guide all the time for the rest of my trip

grounds - 9/10, not super spacious on the outside, but they make the space they have count! The mountain view in the distance is gorgeous, and it runs along a beautiful creek that leads to a trail down below. there are some very nice and large picnic shelters, and the paths are handicap accessible!

overall - 7.5/10, beautiful on the outside and clean on the inside, can't ask for much more!

[rawlaratanpur]

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[captain-flint]

Tommy 'my priority is Evan' Kinard

[hussyknee]

Her final tweet on October 8 reads:

“Gaza’s night is dark apart from the glow of rockets, quiet apart from the sound of the bombs, terrifying apart from the comfort of prayer, black apart from the light of the martyrs. Good night, Gaza.”