Getting Lost

Biggest fears, Donn Fendler and a new prompt.

I have a fear of getting lost. In cars, especially, when roads are unfamiliar, I stop seeing signs and start remembering movie scenes where protagonists make wrong turns. It’s dark, and the violins starts screeching, and soon Ray Liotta is on my tail. Or, worse, there’s no one around when I drive off a cliff, crash into a tree, run out of gas and have to hike in inappropriate footwear through hidden scorpions or car-sized spiders or forests with quicksand. I could survive these tests and still end up among members of a secret society who hate Doctor Zhivago and Subarus.

(Have I mentioned I’m a fiction writer?)

I'd like to say that GPS has eased these concerns. Instead, it provides more fuel for unplanned scenarios. The constant prompting. The power of suggestion. Each directive is an opportunity for failure.

Alternately, my phone coul…