There weren't many options for shade unless Kandice had wanted to trek through the woods, which didn't seem like a viable option given she hoped to not have to walk forever.  She had passed the Tennessee State line a few days ago, and if her calculations weren't entirely off, she assumed she'd soon be crossing the Mississippi River into Arkansas, but with no map and no real sense of direction, she really had no idea where she was except that she was bound west.  She wasn't home, and really, that's all that mattered. The overpass where she perched herself provided a bit of relief from the relentless sun, a mountain breeze aiding to keep her cool as she took the time to nibble on a bag of sunflower seeds she had snatched from a running car at the last rest stop.  It was Sunday, and not many people were on the interstate, the few who had sped past her suggestive thumb, showing no pity for the slender blonde as they kept forth in pursuit of their own destinations.<br/><br/>Crossing one leg over the other, Kandice hiked the full length of her whimsical skirt up over her knee, wobbling slightly atop her packed duffle bag as she cracked open another seed with her front teeth.  Her eyes shifted left then right, looking for signs of life, but saw nothing past the hills and bends that obstructed her view in either direction.  She had to stay alert though if she wanted any luck with a sympathetic traveler.<br/><br/>The last fellow who has offered her a ride had been a plump, jubilant man if the Lord, which hadn't been so bad for the first few dozen miles, but had grown suffocating rather quickly.  If she had wanted to be preached to she would have stayed in Louisa.  She had felt quilty though, helping herself to the cash in his wallet while the man slept, but not an outright thief, she hadn't cleaned him out either.  Kandice left him with more than what she took, after all, he had been kind, sweet even; it wasn't his fault Kandice had little desire to be subjected to his outbursts of hell fire and Godly grace.  She'd heard enough of that to last a lifetime as it was.<br/><br/>Finishing the last of her sunflower seeds, Kandice shook the billowy fabric of her skirt to rid the dusy remains that had clung to its bright floral pattern.  Once more she looked up and both ways, expecting to be disappointed with the vision of nothing coming her way, and wasn't exactly ready to see a car barreling down the pavement towards her.  Springing to her feet, Kandice was trying to make it closer to the shoulder, which she would, though to say she did so elegantly would be a lie.  The tips of her toes hung on the strap of her bag, sending Kandice to stumble towards the side of the road, somehow managing just enough to keep herself from falling altogether.  "Shit," she cursed her clumsiness as she regained her footing, pushing her long straight hair away from her face with one hand while the other shot out with her thumb in the air as she trotted into the sun and as close as she was willing to get to the road without standing in it.<br/><br/>"Please, please, please..."  Her knees bounced with hopeful eagerness as the wind fluttered the thin skirt she wore low about her hips.  She was pleadinf for no ears but her own, but a superstitious girl she felt it added to her chances.  This was the first car she'd seen in hours, and she didn't know when the next one would come.  With the peak of the day certain to be fast approaching, this was, as she saw it, her last chance to gain any kind of substantial distance with the coming heat.  They had to stop.  She found herself praying they would, and scoffed at the irony.