Slick
Image Source: Larry Clark
I don’t remember anything whatever from leaving the house until it happened. That is all gone. I remember a squeal, and spinning. I was smoking a cigarette, and I remember it flying off into the back seat. I remember fearing that something would catch fire. This thought occurred while I was staring at the dome light and feeling the car hurtling into a violent spin.
And then…nothing.
Silence. An odd, peaceful silence, as though a pillow was wrapped around my head. Then sounds, muted and gauzy, started to come into focus. Gravel. A tire spinning. The sound of water running.
I opened my eyes, and the brightness of the sky made me sick to my stomach. I saw James, fuzzy and dark, standing outside the car. Then I noticed light dancing across a hole and a thousand cracks in the windshield.
The light was beautiful, shimmering like a diamond. I smelled beer and cigarettes, and saw it was coming from James outside the car. I smelled gasoline and tasted something metallic, like a penny.
I noticed the blood on my dress, and I wondered where it came from. Then I saw blood on the cracks in the glass, and saw that some of my hair was stuck in a crack. I suppose you could say that this snapped me out of my spell.
I put a hand to my forehead, and it was covered in blood. Why, I never screamed louder in my life when I realized that I was bleeding so! I saw myself in the rear view mirror, and all the blood terrified me. But it also partly fascinated me. I kept staring at my own reflection, screaming. This must have gone on for several moments, but it seemed forever. Then the sound of a siren way off in the distance started getting louder and louder…
They say the road was slick, and James was driving too fast. Funny how fast it all occurs. In a matter of seconds, your life changes forever with one slight miscalculation.
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Thanks to everyone who stopped by to check my guest-post yesterday. And thanks to the Bluebird for hosting me!
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Good story.
Thanks as always!
You really know how to place yourself into a situation. Had the injured not been a woman, I might have thought it was you.
Not a sitch I would want to be in, but one I’m sure all-too-many of us have been in. Thanks. *grin*
Nothing like a good car accident to start the day! Excellent work here. Very real, sickeningly so, I might add.
KaBOOM!
You really recreated the scene in this story. Darn, you’re very good!
Thanks! As soon as I saw the picture, this one wrote itself.
Great!
Aww, thanks!
I like the action sequence here.
Out of the entire sequence, I love these sentences the best, though. They feel really new and unexpected—
Then sounds, muted and gauzy, started to come into focus. Gravel. A tire spinning. The sound of water running.
Thanks for guest posting yesterday, Brian! That was a lot of fun!
Thanks and Thanks!
It only takes a few moments… nice post
Life can change on a dime, right?
Nice tight narrative.
Thank you, Sir!
Westbye! You’ve done it again. My heart is beating fast. I want to know how it ends! Does he survive?!
The ending was very Hemingway-esque
Like Hemingway. But not racist.
But boozy and mental unstable?
Always!
Wow, fantastic piece! You’ve really managed to capture the moment
Good times. *wink*