2 Minute Worlds

The truck driver and his trainee stood outside a roadside hotel, the kind of place where time doesn’t pass so much as hang around awkwardly. The driver had smoked two cannabis cigarettes and was now floating somewhere between wisdom and nonsense. He told the trainee, “Listen, nobody remembers anything anyway. Today you drive the truck. Just check the tire water before you start.”

The trainee lit up inside, as if he’d just been handed the keys to adulthood. He ran to the radiator, checked the water, all fine. Then he reached the tire and discovered it sagging like a secret nobody wanted to tell. He reported it to the driver, who waved a lazy hand and said, “Big jack. Change the tire.”

The driver smoked two more joints and slipped into sleep the way a person slips into a pocket. The trainee changed the tire, jumped into the seat, and started driving. Or at least what he believed was driving. A little enthusiasm, a little herbal courage, and the truck felt like a rocket.

After a while the driver opened his eyes, still half-dreaming.

He asked, “So, brother… where have we reached?”

The trainee said, “Teacher, I don’t know the place. But I’m going very fast.”

The driver blinked, let the confusion settle, then said, “Alright, pull over. I’ll drive.”

The trainee eased off the accelerator. The truck stopped. The driver climbed out and saw the same hotel right in front of them. Same chipped sign, same bored-looking staff.

He asked the hotel attendant, “Brother, what place is this?”

The attendant looked at both of them with the expression of someone solving a very small and very sad mystery.

“Sir… this is the same place where you ate dinner. Your truck is still on the jack. We thought something was wrong with it, so you were testing it by flooring the accelerator.”

This is basically our country, seventy-seven years in. A truck lifted off the ground, roaring loudly, proudly announcing speed while going absolutely nowhere. And the people in charge? Two joints past responsibility, convinced movement and noise mean progress.