Free Short Story: Road Trip (Part 1)

Road Trip (Part 1)

Within you will find the beginnings of an exclusive short story for all my subscribers. This is part 1! As a reminder, this is a work of fiction and any resemblance to actual people and/or events is completely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher (me), except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

The atmosphere in the car was palpable as Emily and Mark sat in an uncomfortable silence. The view outside the windows was no less bleak as a light rain fell from the leaden sky. The headlights did little to cut through the darkness and Mark kept his speed low. Though he had driven the country road often in his youth, he was more concerned about hitting a deer or other animal that decided to cross the road in the night.

He looked across the seat briefly at Emily. She sat sullen with her head resting against the window as she watched the trees at the side of the road. He wasn’t certain how everything had fallen apart. With Emily lately, it could have been just about anything to set her off.

He sighed and returned his gaze out the windshield. He would have preferred to listen to music, but Emily had already nixed that idea thirty minutes ago when she had chastised him about his taste in music.

He had endured the quips and kept silent as he opted to merely turn the radio off. For a time, she had isolated herself by burying her nose in her cell phone. When her battery died and she realized she had left her charger at home, the sullen stare had begun.

He had debated offering her the use of his phone. But he doubted her time was spent playing games and instead consisted of social media sites. She was obsessed. And convinced that if she spent enough time crafting her sites, she would gain enough sponsors for her to quit her day job.

He knew she was miserable at her job. After the buyout her hours increased, and her pay remained the same. It was one reason why he had planned a romantic getaway. He wanted to offer her something special. That, and—

Subconsciously he dropped his hand to his pants pocket. He could feel the outline of the ring through the denim fabric and breathed a sigh of relief. He felt Emily stir beside him and he looked over to see her staring at him. He smiled, placing both hands on the steering wheel.

“How much longer do we have?” Her voice was subdued and lacked the previous edge.

“We’re about halfway now,” he replied.

“Look,” she said softly. “About earlier…”

He glanced over at her and saw she was staring at her hands in her lap. He reached over to grab her hands, squeezing gently.

“It’s ok, Em,” he said.

“No, it’s not ok!” she exclaimed. She twisted in her seat and looked at him. “You had this wonderful day planned and I ruined it!”

Mark squeezed her hand tighter and turned to look at her. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see a pair of eyes shining at him from the road.

Pulling his hand back to the steering wheel he slammed on the brake while swerving to avoid the opossum. The car came to a shuddering halt on the berm. His hands were clenched tightly on the steering wheel while his heart hammered in his chest. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw the critter had gone on its merry way to the other side of the road.

Emily was shaking as she twisted in her seat to look behind them.

“I don’t think you hit it,” she exclaimed.

“We’d have felt it.”

She blanched at the thought, and he smiled briefly.

Mark looked at the dashboard and saw it lit up like a Christmas tree. He turned the ignition off, then tried starting it again. The starter whined but the engine didn’t turn over.

“What’s the matter?” Emily asked.

“Just stalled out,” he replied. He tried turning the key in the ignition again. Nothing. “That’s odd.” He muttered. “I just had it in the shop.”

“Maybe it’s the rain?” Emily offered.

He sat back heavily in his seat and dropped his hands in his lap. “This is perfect,” he muttered.

“Maybe not,” Emily chimed in. “You still have your phone, right? Call triple A!”

“You know my service sucks. You have the better plan.”

Emily looked crestfallen. She looked out the rear window. “Maybe we can use the phone at that house back there.”

“What house?” he asked. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“I saw a driveway back there.” She pointed into the blackness.

Mark frowned. He had driven this stretch of road too many times to count when he had first gotten his license, and there were no houses. Then again, he thought, it had been a while.

And many farms were being sold to housing developers.

He stared out the windshield once more. He gave the engine one more try before giving up entirely. When it didn’t catch he removed the key from the ignition and twirled the keys around his finger.

“The lady gets what the lady wants!” He smiled and was happy to see her reciprocate the gesture. “Let’s do it then.”

Mark pulled his jacket from the back seat and opened the car door to step out into the rain. Emily had the hood of her parka pulled up and met him at the trunk of the car. He hit the lock button on his fob and slipped his keys into his pocket. Together they ran down the road to the driveway Emily had mentioned.

“I told you there was a house!” she exclaimed, pointing down the darkened drive. She didn’t wait for a reply and began jogging down the lane.

“Emily wait!” Mark called. He looked once more at his abandoned vehicle wondering if they had made a mistake. The ground shook with thunder and the rain began coming down much harder. Emily was almost out of sight. He frowned, racing down the lane to catch up with her.