She has yet to fully realize her situation. Written for Daily Flash Fiction. |
She looked at her phone again and the screen displayed the same information that it did five minutes before. No service, she thought, as if repetition made it seem less real. Beside her stood her once-trusted SUV, smoke billowing from its exposed engine. Above, the sun beat down with a fury only a mid-July afternoon readily offered. On the horizon, the Sierra Nevadas taunted with civilization just a little out of reach. A distant rumbling made her turn in the direction she was headed, and she squinted from the heat at the sight of what looked like an oncoming truck. At that, she hurried to the passenger seat to grab the compact from her handbag. She hoped to use the mirror to signal her distress to the driver from afar. The rumbling stopped abruptly as soon as she returned to the front of her vehicle. She stared ahead gapemouthed—the truck was gone. Tires screeched behind her and she spun around. To her dismay and utter disbelief, she saw the back of the truck in the distance, pulling away from her after it had inexplicably driven by. What the hell? She walked to the passenger side of her car and leaned against it, taking in the landscape and wondering what had just happened and, more importantly, what she was going to do. A rumbling to her right started up again and she turned to see what appeared to be the same the truck heading her way. She quickly rounded the corner and, as she fiddled with her compact, the sound suddenly ceased. The truck had disappeared once again. Then, as if on cue, it reappeared behind her as she turned around. On the fifth identical time this scene played out, she slumped onto the searing asphalt and began to weep. Written for 2018-12-28 prompt of "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" by Arakun the twisted raccoon Prompt: Write a story that includes someone whose car breaks down in an isolated place. Word Count: 300 |