On a small blue marble, somewhere in the Midwest united states there sits a truck stop. An ordinary truck stop with a few extras, a home away from home for those who travel. A place to get a bite, a place to shower, a simple place to refuel in more ways than one. Just like every other day, a truck pulls into the stop.

“Are we at an actual truck stop?” A woman asked in disbelief.

“Of course, I'm a trucker, this is a place to stop, and I'm hungry.” The driver turned towards the woman, giving her a look saying this was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Wait, you eat?”

“Of course, and I'm gonna take a shower while I'm here. Want me to get you a time?” The man began to lock up his rig.

The woman was getting ready to hop out when she processed what the man said, “A bath here? What?”

“It's what these places are for. A small home away from home, or as much as they can be anymore.” The man said wistfully.

The woman looked the man over not sure if he was serious, “I...I think I will take a shower. It's been a while.”

The man looked away commenting, “I wasn't going to say anything.”

The woman, in a very unladylike like fashion, smelled herself and winced. Saying nothing.

The two left the rig entering the stop.

——

In a small town, in the middle of nowhere, there is an apartment, with a girl who is getting up for a normal day. A day that is neither good nor bad, just a simple normal day. The girl was getting up early in the morning to get ready for her job at a truck stop.

It was a lot like the jobs she used to work, when she was a waitress in a bar, except the truckers weren’t as rowdy. Sure all the customers, in the little diner attached to the truck stop weren’t truckers, but enough that it might as well be just them. The normal people would just come in for a gas or a bite, but those people would just breeze through. The truckers, on the other hand, would stop and chat for a bit. They would talk and flirt and just enjoy their break, but that was the good ones.

The others…the girl thought they were kinda assholes. ‘You'd think with a transient job like that, they'd leave and I'd never see them again, but no. A truck stop is for truckers, and sometimes it's like seeing an old friend, others like seeing an old enemy.’

Today was just normal for the girl making her way to work, clocking in, and serving guests. Sometimes the girl lamented like this all the time, she thought it was fun to think she worked in some magical place. It helped her days go by faster, but today was just a normal day for her.

Ding, the sound of a person coming in made the waitress look up to see a man and woman walk into the restaurant side. She smiled putting on her customer service smile, and said, "Sit wherever you want, I'll be right with you."

The man smiled said, “Thank you.” and sat in an empty booth.

The girl did her job talking to some of the other customers letting the two look at the menu, before going up to them.

“What can I get you today?” She asked the two with a smile.

The man looked over the menu, before saying, “Water”

“Same.”

“Do you guys need a few minutes?” The waitress asked.

“Any specials?” The man asked.

“Not today.”

The man looked sad, “To bad. I'll just get the cheeseburger with some fries.”

“And you?”

The girl smiled looking at the menu as she spoke surprising the man, “The chicken fried steak.”

The waitress finished writing their order on a ticket, “Alright I'll get that for you.”

The girl walked away hearing a small part of their conversation.

“Surprised you got that.” The man said.

“I wanted to know what it is.” The woman admitted

The man looked wistful as he said, “It's delicious artery-clogging chicken.”

“That doesn't sound pleasant.”The girl was starting to regret her choice.

“You'll understand soon.” The man said cryptically.

The conversation brought a smile to the waitress's lips. “Cute.”

The waitress went about the rest of her day serving, talking, refilling drinks, and delivering food until her feet hurt, and her shift was ending.

The waitress was walking through the parking lot over to the car when she heard a woman's voice not too far off.

“That was actually kind of nice.” The woman saw the woman from earlier drying her hair, walking towards a big star-like rig. Next to the rig stood the man from the table earlier.

“Told you it's a little slice of home.” The man said.

The waitress smiled, surprised to learn that they were truckers and not just regular people. ‘Even normal days have surprises.’ The girl thought. The waitress made it to her car and drove to her apartment saying hi to her little cat. And made some dinner, and scrolled through a dating site. Sending messages back and forth.

She had been going back and forth with someone for a while now and was almost ready to meet for a real date. The girl thought imagines a nice date, walking around town getting to know each other, ‘That would be nice.’ The girl cleaned up and went about the rest of her day until spending a few hours just scrolling through her phone, then going to bed.

All and all a normal day.

——

Back at the stop, two people were in the back of a truck cab, reading themselves for bed when the girl asked, “So who was she?”

“Who?” The man asked confused.

The girl stopped looking at the man, “The girl.”

The man stopped trying to figure out who she meant, “Oh!” The man remembered. “Just a normal girl. Probably.”

“She wasn't a hero or anything?” The woman asked probing

The man shrugged continuing to change, “Maybe.”

“What do you mean maybe?”

“I don't know. I mean heroes are usually just people are just people.” The man explained, then added, “I mean hell heroes are just people shoved into extraordinary circumstances.”

The woman looked thoughtful, “Weird. I thought there was something you saw in them?”

“Sometimes, but you never know what someone would do when they are put into an extraordinary situation.” The man said as he climbed into his bunk.

“Extraordinary situation’s huh?”