A Sunday Drive/A Relaxing Evening. Short Stories, Double Post!

Today you get two short stories, that’s right, two! Why do you get two? Because they are both shorter than usual and I’m feeling generous (read: lazy)

These are the final of my buffer, that’s right, for the moment, I have no backup stories. What does this mean for you? Well, nothing really, I’ll still have a new story up for Friday, you only have to hope I don’t die/get maimed/hospitalised in the meanwhile. After all, there is no buffer. I had hoped that, should something happen, i.e. sick/holiday I have something to keep posting without having to write something new or if I got the dreaded writers block, something I have yet to really experience, you wouldn’t really be impacted by it.

Either way, I thought it might be good to let you guys know about it. Just so you can stress and worry over whether something will happen or not. The universe won’t turn its back on this nervous energy that will keep me safe. Well, that or it will make me a target. Let’s hope it’s the first one.

Anyway, enough of my strange ramblings, on with the show!

—————————————————————–

A Sunday Drive

The car wound through the twisting road, having traversed these streets a thousand times there was no fear. No worry. It was rare other cars plumbed their depths, instead motorists preferring to stay to the newer, smoother roads. The car bounced and jolted as the speed increased. She was not thinking of anything in particular as she gazed at the scenery rushing past, trees, bushes, hedges, oh look a gap-I-can-see-a-cow. All of it seen hundreds of times before. The radio was off and she preferred it that way, at least, when she wasn’t driving herself. When she sat in a car she liked the silence that was provided, she liked that you could just sit and think, the only noise that of the wind rushing past. When she drove however, music was soothing, it relaxed her. as he rounded the corner she saw the flash of sun against metal, the steering wheel spun wildly in his hands as he braked, trying to avoid a collision, the sound of air rushing past, stopped as the car began to flip. Time seemed to slow to an almost imperceptible crawl. She saw everything; the startled face of the other driver, the objects that had cluttered the car hung in the air, as if suspended. As she watched, she was tempted to look for guy wire. Obviously it was a trick. The second, almost unregistered thought was “I should clean the car.” The car slammed onto the tarmac, rolled twice more, then skidded to a heady stop. They were upside down, held in by their seatbelts. There was pressure somewhere below, around her kneecaps, deliriously she thought “It’s pressure above.” Silence descended, and for a brief second, she wondered if she was deaf. Her hair, hanging below her head, swayed back and forth, she thought she could feel something warm running down her body. A steady drip…Drip…Drip, beat itself on the ceiling. She tried to turn her head to look at him, to see he was okay, her mouth had stopped working. There was blood on the windshield, who’s she did not know. The sound returned all at once, as if that agonising scream cut through the daze. Her vision became cloudy, grey. Black and red stars shot across her eyes leaving tiny trails of light that disappeared almost as soon as they had come. The scream continued, high and piercing. Slowly, groggily, the realisation came. The banshee shriek issued from her own lips, as her vision grew darker, she wondered if it really was her or was it simply some trick, some joke that was being played on them both. With incomprehension still swirling through her mind she finally fell into that merciful, delicious oblivion.

—————————————————-

A Relaxing Evening.

“Man, the burnings today were intense, weren‘t they?” “I missed them” “What? Again?” “Well, it’s not my fault. I was excused, I was stuck in the damn office. What happened anyway?” “Mostly the usual for the first two, crying, screaming, blah blah. The third one however, said nothing. At all. Not even towards the end. She made no noise.” “I didn’t think that would be possible” “Neither did I, I don’t think its ever been done before. She just stood there, staring at the cameras until she was gone. Normally they break towards the end and try to beg or bargain their way out. It was creepy.” “What happened?” “Well, the usual, they took them away, and brought out the next three. There were nine today, I think they’re gonna start being burned in unison soon. The holding cells are getting pretty full. I don’t get how those people can think they will get away with it.” “It’s a worrying trend alright that its continued this long.” “Has it?” “What do you mean?” “Has it continued this long? Are we right.” “Qhat are you saying? Do you sympathise with them?” “No, god no, not at all, they deserve it. I just mean, it doesn’t make sense, that people would still do it. They know what will happen to them and they still choose to do it. Its inconceivable really.” “You want to be careful you know. I mean, I know you and I know that you would never dream of doing that, but others might accuse you. And if anything at all was found in your house. Well. You know.” “I would never turn my back on god like that. It’s my eternal soul. Why would I give up salvation?” “I know, I know, I’m just saying, be careful.” “It is strange though, that they risk it, even knowing what will happen to them. What do they have you working on now?” “I can’t really say, you know what they are like. You’ve been there.” “Ugh. I hate those projects. It’s depressing knowing you can’t tell anyone, I like bouncing ideas off Julianne, she has some surprisingly good ideas sometimes. I’m working on a project now, to find faster ways of making them burn. So far, 15 minutes is the best. They want them to still suffer, but they want it to go faster, something about productivity. Remember that time when they went on for about five hours, people have to work, so they’re trying to find faster ways to do it, but keep suffering to a maximum.” “I think I heard something about that. They’re making pills that will keep them hyper alert, so they don’t pass out, and their skin becomes super sensitive, I think it’s some plant poison. They were also working on a burning poison, so it feels like your one fire, but I don’t think they’re getting very far with it, one of the problems is that people like the spectacle of the fire, it’s more interesting than just seeing someone writhing on the ground or just collapsing.” “Yeah. I think it’s more of a deterrent as well. Like when there were protesters a couple of years ago. That stopped quickly enough once they were burned.” “I don’t know why they even protested to begin with. Those people deserve what they get. They chose to worship the devil and his black arts. They could infect the rest of us with their evil and should be eradicated as quickly as possible to avoid contamination.”