[ IP ] Midnight Road

*That which divides us also keeps us moving forward. * 
 
 Mary slapped her cheek as she tried to keep the sleep away from she brain. The deadline for the submission of papers was only a day away and her revisions were still unfinished. At the rate she was going, she would never make it in time. 
 
 Shaking her head vigorously, she stared back at her computer and started typing again. It took her a few moment to realize that nothing was changing on the screen. 
 
 `` For crying out loud!'' she cried as she lightly whacked the CPU's side. The monitor remained unchanging. She tugged at her hair in frustration. 
 
 `` This is not the time to freeze!'' 
 
 But despite her best efforts, her computer refused to cooperate. Growling in irritation, she marched out of the bed and to her phone to call her boyfriend, a computer expert. 
 
 But, being 2 o'clock in the morning, John was not responding. After ten minutes of trying she finally gave up and went to the living room. 
 
'Maybe watching some TV will help me calm down,' she thought as she grabbed the remote. It was a news show, the newscaster was riding in a car as they showed real time footage of a forest fire. 
 
 **'' We are here reporting live from California as the forest fire that has been dubbed'The Sea of Fire' has raged on for over ninety-six hours. It has already claimed more than a thousand square miles of forest and has shown no signs of stopping. Residents are heavily advised to evacuate the area as the fire has already claimed nearly two dozen lives. As you can see behind me --'' ** ***CRASH*** **'' SHIT GET OUT OF THE CAR GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CAR OH SHIT NOT ANOTHER ONE'' ** ***CRASH*** -- -- - 
 
 The line went dead and the show switched to the main broadcast, but Mary had already turned off the TV. 
 
 She wanted to be entertained not to be stressed out even more. Dammit. 
 
'I guess I could always re-check my notes. Maybe I forgot something,' she tiredly thought. 
 
 As she re-read her notes, she noticed an error in her calculations. She added an extra digit to her formula, and it has drastically changed the result of her theory. Without a computer, it took her all night to correct her mistake, and light was already peeking out of her window by the time she was done. 
 
 John arrived later to ask her about calling him at 2 AM, but seeing such a contented look at his girlfriend's face, he could n't bear to wake her up. 
 
 -- - 
 
 *Days later* 
 
 `` Well, I missed the deadline for the latest issue, but at least I did n't pass a flawed paper,'' happily recalled Mary as she and John ate at a cafe. Her paper would have to be featured on the next issue of the journal, instead of the current one. She was n't entirely mad, as now she had more time to revise her work. 
 
 John bit off a large chunk of chicken. `` Yeh, ahmosh ash eff eht wash shryin tho helf youf.'' 
 
 He chewed his food a little more before continuing. 
 
 `` I mean, you and your computer did n't really see eye to eye than night, but it became your saving grace, right?'' 
 
 `` Yeah, it's like it was separating itself from me to push me forward.'' 
 
 `` I hope you're not going to do that to me.'' 
 
 Mary chuckled. `` Of course I wo n't silly. You're going to have to cause a forest fire for that to happen.'' 
 
 John laughed nervously. 
 
 -- - 
 
 If you're wondering what this has to do with the image, I noticed that the road was separating the fires and allowing the driver to ride through the flames. 
 
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 EDIT: 
 
 * A word. 
 
 * Additional details.
