A Country Serial

Johnny leaned back a little and smiled.  Nothing could top cruising the countryside with the top down, and this was his favorite part.  He tilted his foot forward and felt the engine’s rumble thicken in his chest, as the black Chevy convertible gained speed.

His eyes narrowed as the flicker of the late afternoon sun quickened through the fleeting roadside trees.  The car didn’t have a bull-bar, so he needed to be careful, needed to be more artful in the approach.  He let the Chevy drift gently, so the left hand tyres mounted the soft on the side of the road.  

The hitchhiker took a step back and his outstretched thumb fell back to his side.  Johnny saw this gesture of uncertainty and his smile broadened.  He let the car’s leftward drift carry for another half second then flicked the steering wheel right.  The Chevy’s rear whipped out in a vicious arc, and time seemed to slow.

Johnny time.

He closed his eyes for a lingering moment and the drifting motion made him feel like he was floating.  The song of rubber on bitumen and the whoosh of the gravel added to the feeling.  He listened, waited, and his anticipation was rewarded with a grunt and the familiar thud of flesh and metal.  He opened his eyes and saw the hitchhiker sailing over the car.  Bare feet with blackened soles swiveled loosely on broken legs.  Arms clutched a shallow spot on the ribcage, and blood trickled up a sunburned cheek as their eyes met for the briefest instant.  In that instant, Johnny saw a spark of revelation in the hitchhiker’s expression.  That’s right, Johnny thought, this is real and you are never going to know why.

The hitchhiker sailed from view and the world rushed out of Johnny time, and with practiced precision the Chevy was righted and eased to a stop. 

Johnny allowed the warm spring air to fill his lungs, and then exhaled.

In the rear-vision mirror, he could see a body slumped at the end of the long gashes his wheels had carved in the gravel.  The hitchhiker groaned, and Johnny smiled.

As the car accelerated backwards, Johnny began to whistle a tune. 

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