Scream
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 Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:24 pm Post subject: Dead Man's Handle |
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Breaker, breaker, This is Boy Wonder. Anyone out there? "
Glen was sitting in the driver's seat of the old black car parked in the steeply sloped driveway behind his house. It was his dad's car, the one he drove when he wasn't working. . . before the accident.
Glen's dad had been a trucker. He used to drive a big rig around the country until that horrible night, months ago, when his mom had gotten the call telling her he'd been in an accident. Glen distinctly remembered the way his mom had slumped against the wall, and he had known instantly that his dad wouldn't be coming back home ever again.
He and his mom lived alone, way out in the country, far from any other house, making it hard for Glen to see his friends very often. Before the accident, that didn't matter. When Glen got lonely, he'd sit in his dad's car, and get on the CB radio, and try to contact him on the road. Now when Glen was lonely, he sat in the car looking for anyone to talk to. He used his handle, or nickname, his dad had given him years ago-- Boy Wonder.
" Breaker, breaker. Boy Wonder here, " Glen said into the mouthpiece. " Anyone out there? Over. " Suddenly a voice crackled back at him through the speaker. "I read you, Boy Wonder. Loud and Clear. Over?" The voice was familiar. " Who am I talking to? " Glen asked.
" Who are you talking to? " The astonishment in the voice was obvious. "This is Red Dog, you lunkhead. " Glen sat up straight in the seat. Red Dog? That hair rose on the back of his neck. That was his dad's handle.
" Are you there, Boy Wonder? "
" Is--is that you, Dad? "
" Sure is. I'm coming to--" The voice broke up in a crackle of static.
" But Dad, you're--" Glen couldn't bring himself to say the word.
" Late? I know son. Couldn't be helped. But I'm on my way now. I'm on Pine Ridge Road."
Pine Ridge? Glen's thought quickly. That's less than a mile away.
Glen's mom wouldn't talk to him about his dad's death, but Glen found out it had been a horrible accident when he read a letter his mom written to her sister.
Apparently his dad was so mangled that his mom could identify the body only from the shirt he was wearing.
" I'll be there soon, son. You still read me? "
Glen looked down the road and saw headlights coming. " But Dad, I--I don't--"
" No buts, boy. Sit tight and don't move. Everything's going to be okay. " The headlights were getting closer. They were definitely the headlight from a big rig. Glen watched, his heart pounding.
Suddenly the brakes of the old car gave our. In a split second, the car rolled down the steep driveway and out onto the country road, where it came to stop. Glen scrambled for the driver's side door and pushed, but it didn't budge-- no one had driven the car for so long the door was jammed.
Now the enormous headlights were almost upon Glen. But then, from the opposite direction, he heard the shrill blase of an air horn. He turned back and saw the first set of headlights closing on him! I'm about to be crushed between two trucks! Glen's mind screamed.
He turned back and saw the first set of headlight's swerve out of the way to avoid the other oncoming truck. Then the huge red big whooshed by, missing the car Glen was in by inches.
Glen spun around and saw the second set of headlights almost upon him. He raised his eyes to the cab and saw a familiar face-- it was his dad! Then, just before it reached him, the truck suddenly vanished.
" That was a close call, good buddy, " his dad's voice crackled over the CB. " Next time, you're own you're own. Don't forget to push that old car off the road. Over and out. "
" Dad! " Glen cried into the radio. " Dad! "
But the radio in his hand was dead, and Glen was overcome with grief, for he knew that his dad had come back for one last job, and now it was over.
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