April 2000

I was sliding down the freeway on my stomach. I was sitting on the inside lane among arbitrary clusters of other people. I was the only one not in a group. The air was silent, as no one took the opportunity to converse. In fact, no one was moving. It was then that I decided to get onto my stomach and just... slide. And so I did. And it was effortless. There was very little friction, though I could feel the bumps of the lane line turtles as I maneuvered around stationary groups. The bumps weren't painful in the least though. I was able to steer by subtly altering my position in intuitive ways. I looked back over my shoulder at one point and saw that a couple of others had followed suit, sliding along on their stomachs. Together we went zipping along, faster and faster. Soon we were going quite fast actually, and it was exhilerating. I was hanging tight to the inside lane, and had no difficulty avoiding people as necessary. Looking behind me again I saw the other two people close behind me, and it was then that I realized that I was in my underwear. I became a little self-conscious and felt a little vulnerable amd thought it might be a good idea to lose my followers. So I streamlined myself and tried to reduce my contact with the road as possible, knowing instinctively how to maintain balance and stability. Now, as I was sliding along still faster, I noticed that there were some cars - just a few - moving slowly in the opposite direction, toward me. Since they were few they were easy enough to anticipate and maneuver around... But then they became denser, and I got nervous again. It was time to end my ride. As I drifted to a stop I found myself again surrounded by anonymous street-sitters. Taking a moment to catch my bearings, I noticed that the concrete road dividers on the inside lane were lined with gray, solarized panes of glass. The strip stretched along the bottom, where the divider met the road, as far as the eye could see. Through the windows I could make out the passing heads of people walking along the corridor within. Some of these people were still, their faces just over street level, staring out toward the road. And at me, I imagined.