Two strange things happened that day. Firstly, my best friend Rosa took me on an unexpected road trip. Secondly, we found a mysterious settlement that seemed to be frozen in time.
Rosa had always been a bit of a free spirit, but even by her standards, this was a whole new level of spontaneity. When I was doing my own business in my room, she said, "Pack your bags; we're going on a road trip!"
Astonishment was the best word to describe how I felt. "What? When do we leave, and where are we going?"
Rosa cracked a smile. "We’ll just drive in a certain direction and figure things out as we go along."
There was a brief hesitation on my part before I agreed. I needed some excitement in my life, and taking a road trip with my best friend sounded like exactly the ticket.
We loaded up the car with our belongings, and we were off on our journey. We were in the car for quite some time, and during that time we took turns singing along to the radio and eating at wayside restaurants. It was just what I needed: a carefree, enjoyable time.
As the sun set, though, we realized we hadn't seen a single human for miles. After some initial unease, our worries were allayed upon seeing the "Welcome to Palegray" sign.
We exchanged looks of bemusement and shrugged. There was nowhere else for us to go, so we went in to see what we might find. We were on our way into town when we observed an oddity. There were no automobiles in sight, and the buildings all seemed rundown and ancient. We might as well have traveled back in time.
We stopped the car on the side of the road and got out to investigate. People were sitting on their front porches and watching us as we walked down the main street. All of them seemed to have stepped right out of a history book, so period-accurate was their attire.
In a gentle way, Rosa prodded me. "This place is giving me the creeps. Let’s get out of here," she murmured.
Then, just as we were about to depart, an elderly guy suddenly arrived and said, "To the town of Palegray, I bid you a warm welcome." "Is there anything I can do for you, ladies?"
I attempted to be calm despite my first shock. "Well, no thanks. As a matter of fact, we were just passing by."
It brought a grin to the old man's face. "Well, I get it now. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you."
We gave a curt nod and bolted for the car. We left town with an uneasy feeling that things weren't quite right.
We resolved to proceed on the road until we located a suitable overnight stop. We settled on a motel in a nearby town and spent the night there. Rosa turned to me while we were arranging our belongings and remarked, "I can't get Palegray out of my head. Something about the location feels off."
To which I nodded in assent. "Yes, the whole town seems frozen in time," I said.
We stayed up late wondering what was happening in Palegray. The town could not be located in our phones' databases. It felt like the town did not exist.
In order to dig a little deeper, we decided to revisit Palegray the next day. The town was still strangely quiet when we arrived. Yet, there was something new that we observed this time. The same symbol was engraved into the walls of each structure.
We decided to do some exploring, so we went and knocked on a door. A woman who answered the door regarded us suspiciously.
Simply put, "We were just wondering about the emblem on your house," I remarked.
Her expression brightened somewhat. "Well, that right there is the town symbol. This place has stood for many years."
Rosa and I shared brief eye contact. "May we ask you a few questions about where we are?" I made the inquiry.
After hesitating briefly, the woman nodded and welcomed us inside. In her living room, she told us that Palegray was established in the 1800s and has remained cut off from the rest of the world ever since.
They tend to keep to themselves, she explained. "We do things differently around here," she added.
Again, Rosa and I locked eyes with each other. The town's reputation was beginning to make a negative impression on us.
When leaving the woman's residence, we became aware that we were being followed. We turned around to see two individuals dressed in period attire following closely behind us. We picked up the pace, but they just kept up with us.
The elderly man from the previous day suddenly materialized on our path. "I’m afraid you ladies cannot leave," he warned.
"What do you mean? Why are you preventing us from leaving?" My question caused my heart to quickly beat.
"We can't have strangers finding out our secrets," he remarked cryptically.
At that moment, Rosa and I looked at each other in alarm. The time has come for us to leave.
A car's engine started revving suddenly behind us. We turned around to see a black vehicle coming at us full speed. The driver yelled, "Get in!" from the open window.
Although surprised, we had no second thoughts. We hopped in the back of the vehicle as it drove out of Palegray.
We glanced at the man who had saved us as we drove off. When we saw who was behind the wheel, we couldn't believe our eyes.
It was someone we had seen in the news recently. He was a well-known celebrity known for his adventurous spirit who was reported to have been missing for weeks. Apparently, the reason he went missing was because he was unable to leave the town of Palegray.
He faced us and flashed a grin. "It was a nice diversion, ladies. Thanks to the two of you, I was able to escape that place."
Our excursion had taken a strange turn, and Rosa and I exchanged looks of realization. Thanks to a missing celebrity, we were able to escape the odd town we had stumbled upon with our lives.
We laughed at the ridiculousness of it all the rest of the way home in the car. We thought we were going on a regular road trip, but instead we found ourselves in the thick of an exciting adventure. We didn't find our goal, but we did collect an interesting tale that will be told for years to come.