The Suburban pulled up to the hitchhiker, and he groaned inwardly as he saw the luggage on the roof, and the family filled vehicle.
"It's too hot to be hitchhiking," said the driver as he opened the passenger door. The wife was nursing her baby in the backseat, and there were two other kids back there too, so the passenger seat was available.
"Thanks, where you headed," the hitchhiker asked praying for Texas.
"Dad," whined the 10 year old brat in the cowboy hat in the backseat wearing a Pokemon t-shirt, "You're never supposed to pick up hitchhikers!"
The mother nudged the boy, "Grow up, Matthew!"
"We're just heading home from the Grand Canyon," the driver said ignoring brat boy, "Des Moines. How about you?"
"Did you visit ASU?" the hitchhiker asked, "Picking a college is important for your child's success. You should check out UT at Austin too."
There was a grunt from the backseat as Matthew grew from 10 to 17 in the blink of an eye. He desperately adjusted his seat belt and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, Austin rocks, they have a great music scene," Matt blurted out in a deep baritone voice.
"You sing, Matt?" the hitchhiker asked.
The father cleared his throat. He seemed confused. Matt was only 10, no he was 17. Time sure flies, it seems like only yesterday you took the boy to the Grand Canyon for the first time when he was 10 with his 8 year old sister Cassidy. Oh, wait, Cassidy is 8 now? Colleges in Texas?
"I prefer Texas A&M for football," the driver said trying to figure out how his mind got so far off track. College was expensive, where was he going to find the money? He should have contributed to his kid's college fund 10 years ago. "But it's so expensive, I think Iowa State would be just as good and a lot cheaper."
"Oh, but doesn't Matt have a music scholarship to UT?"
"Scholarship?" Well, that would make it more affordable.
"My band would love to play at Southwest in Austin," Matt said. Oh, oh, the hitchhiker had started more than one branching reality. He felt the Suburban trying to shift into a minibus for Matt's band. He looked at Cassie in the middle seat shift from being 8 to being a hairy guy with tattoos and ear ring. The mother and baby were more disturbing as they fluctuated with the image of a teenage girl and her Chihuahua.