Illustration

“What are you doing?”

“Just flashing my brake lights.” The car on my ass eases off, its headlights retreating in the darkness, but flashes me a warning. No one likes having to abide another’s will.

“Why?”

“To let them know to back off.” I’m keeping an eye on them in the rearview. I wonder if it occurs to them that the discussion I’d been having with my friend has stopped; that now our focus is exclusively on them, like a compass needle planted on North.

“Oh,” says my friend. “Well it’s probably safer to just pull over.”

I shrug in the darkness. “They backed off.”

“Because you never know. It can be dangerous.”

“It’s dangerous for me if I have to stop. Anyway, I didn’t apply my brakes, I just tapped the light.” The car behind us isn’t as close as it was, but it’s creeping up again. Maybe they think fire doesn’t burn twice. Or perhaps they slowed down for a moment so they could get their gun, and now they’re closing to finish the deal.

“Okay,” she says, not liking my tactic. “I just usually pull over.” She’s not wrong, but… I have to admit to getting some satisfaction in not being as passive. Maybe it’s not always good enough to forgive someone for failing to meet my high standards. Maybe a demonstration is worth some risk.

I rationalize. “I mean, for example, if an animal were to run into the road and I had to stop, and then they came along and hit me from behind….”

“Well yeah.”

Two green pinpricks bob out from the high grass on the shoulder, and as we approach, a meaty possum waddles into the road in front of us.

“Oh, whoa!” she exclaims.

I have to mash the brakes and swerve to avoid the animal, and the car behind us comes to within a few feet of my bumper. The possum looks up at us with lethargic eyes, then thoughtfully turns about and retreats.

“Told you,” I say under my breath, less to her than to the driver behind us.

“That was weird,” she says as I straighten us back out and continue down the windy road. “I’ve never seen an animal on this road before.” She’s checking her mirror. “Did they hit it?”

“No,” I say.

After a moment I add, “You know… I can make things happen just by thinking about them.”

“I know,” she says.

Related Tales

» “Super” (11 of Oct, 2004)
» “"Best of Me Symphony"” (13 of Aug, 2004)
» “Story Time” (03 of Jul, 2004)