Pete's New Car

Pete Anderson had just bought himself a new car, not brand new, but it was new to him. It was a little red four door toyotota. With only 56,000 miles on it and not a spot of rust, it was a steal at three and at three grand. Pete could have been any happier, in fact he called his wife after he bought it and told her that he would be a while coming home. He was going to take the long way home. Pete decided to take old mill road that went down through the hollow and up into the hills, that way he could see what the car could do. He was going to put the car through some rounds as he had told his wife. And that's just what he did. Flying down the long and straight highways that went downhill and then snaked their way back up the next hill, Pete was having the time of his life in that little car. Each corner, Pete pushed down on the gas and zipped around the curve, a few times the tires squealed as the started to lose their traction, this made Pete laugh a little and slow down. Pete was nether safe nor reckless, he was just a grown boy having fun with his new toy, and fun is what he was having, with each corner. Pete's feel for the car got a little stronger and his courage got a little bolder, until he was taking the curves at breakneck speeds and plunging down into the hollows and laying on the gas as he roared up the other side. He was about half way home on his joy ride when the raid started to fall. Pete turned on the wiper blades and then turned on his head lights, Pete after all was a conscious driver. He took in consideration that the asphalt was getting slicker with each passing moment so he moderated his speed accordingly. As he drove on he was happy at how well the wiper blades worked, they didn't leave the line like most of them do, nor did they make that awful noise. Just for kicks as Pete was on a straight part of highway with no one coming, he slammed on the brakes at the speed of 50 m.p.h. To his satisfaction there was not skidding, the antilock brakes worked excellently. Hell can't bet that for three thousand, Pete thought to himself as he got back up to speed. He turned on the radio and as soon as he did he heard, " This is a weather alert for the following counties: Taney, Stone, Aster, Webster, and Umber, these counties are in a severe flood warning until 8 p.m." It isn't raining that hard, I hope that low water bridge by the mill isn't under water, Pete thought as he gave the car a little more gas and speed down the highway. His joyride was now turned to a slight worry that he wouldn't be able to cross the bridge, if he couldn't he would have to turn around and drive the way he had came. But Pete was smart enough to know that if that bridge had any water over it then it was a good idea not to cross, even if that meant driving another hour to get back home. He continued down the road with the worry that the bridge wouldn't be passable chewing at his mind. This worry made Pete push down on the accelerator a little harder and to take curves a little faster, all in the hopes of making to the bridge before the water had over taken it. There where a few times that the car skidded a little when it hit a patch of road that had standing water on it, these moments made Pete slow down momentarily. He was about a mile from the old mill and the low water bridge. He gave a look around at the river that ran through the bottom, it didn't seem to be up, nothing out of the ordinary that is. But as he came to the bridge his fear was met with a bridge that was under water. Pete cursed as he drive up to it, just to see how much water was over the bridge. Sure enough, there was more then enough to sweep his car of the road, but just barley. Pete looked at the bridge. Shoot, that bridge isn't very long, I could probably make that, no problem. It would save me from going all the way back. I'd be on the bridge, maybe for five seconds. That's all it would take to get across--five seconds. These thoughts where racing through Pete's mind and finally he eased the car forward and just as he was nearing the water he started thinking about his wife who was at home taking care of their baby boy. No, he thought, its just not worth the risk, and besides it would be a damn waste to go and kill myself and total this car, we got this car so it would be easier to get that little tike in and out. I'll just turn around, need to give her a call, tell her I'll be a little late. Pete pulled a U-turn and drove back the way he came. He pulled off the side of the road and picked up his phone to call his wife. She answered on the second ring. " Where are you at, babe? Are you ok?" Pete's wife said before he had time to say one word. He told her that he had came to the bridge but it was under water and that he would have to go back the way that he had come. She under stood and was relived that he didn't try anything stupid. " Well thanks dear, Pete said, " Ill be home in about an hour, give that little boy of ours a kiss for me. Ill see you in a bit. I love you Susie." Pete smiled a little as he pulled back onto the road. He took his time now. No need to race for any bridge that was going under water. He tuned the radio to some oldies and turned the volume up. He started to thumb drum the stirring wheel as he made his way back home to his wife and kid. The rain started coming down in sheets and Pete had to turn the wipers on to max and slow down to forty. He kept this speed a while but soon the rain died down a bit. He turned his wiper blades down a notch but only topped out at 45. He wasn't going to risk anything, there wasn't no rush, just take it nice and easy and he would be home before he knew it. Old mill road is a beautiful highway during the fall. It runs through some of the hilliest land in Taney county, giving the driver scenic views of the hills and the river bottoms. Of course Pete wasn't concerned about scenic views, he couldn't have cared less at that moment. He was focused on getting home. Pete was so focused on getting back home that is thumbs had stopped drumming on the stirring wheel, they had become gripped on the wheel, ten and two. In Pete's eye the road had become a slickened snake that twisted its self up the hills and then back down. Six miles from the old mill there is a curve that the locals call ' Devils Left Turn' its so named because of the trickiness of the corner, it turns left when it looks like it should turn right. It had claimed more then a few lives since the road had been laid. Pete was making his way towards Devil's Left Turn, he knew about the trickiness of the corner and how many lives it had taken, so he slowed down and took the corner with ease. Just as he was rounding the corner his eyes meet something gut plunging. Half the road was gone, it had slid off down the hill. Pete didn't have time to do anything but try and stop. It was no good he was going to fast to slow down in time. His car went right into the hole in the road and started down the side of the hill. Pete stiffed up as the car went down the hill, it rolled all right until it struck a large rock sticking out of the ground, is it did the car turned sideways and started to slide. the car hit another rock but this time it didn't turn, it started to tip. And over it went, rolling down the hill. Pete hung on as the car gained momentum down the hill. Pete was like a dummy, bouncing around in the steel cage. His head hit the window and he blacked out.

When Pete came to he didn't know exactly where he was. He did know that he was upside down and that his head hurt like nothing else he had felt. The car was wedged in between a rock edge and a sycamore tree. The roof was being licked by the coursing waters that had swelled from the rain fall. Suddenly it all came back to him, the curve, the hole in the road, the descent. Pete was at the bottom of Devil's Left Turn. He struggled to get out of the car but the seat beat was jammed, he beat it with his fist but it still would release. He had nothing on him to cut the strap that bound him. He screamed out and cursed and pounded his fist in panic. He was going to drowned if he didn't get out soon. The waters would continue to rise and soon the car would be under water, and Pete would be trapped inside. The panic took over and he thrashed around, trying to twist and swarm out of the seat, but the belt was just to tight. The more he struggled the more blood coursed to his head, making him light headed. Pete was on the verge of passing out again. His fit continued, beating on the stirring wheel and blaring the horn. Maybe, he thought, if I lay on the horn someone will hear it and come down to save me. After a blaring the horn for what felt like hours he realized that no one would be coming. He either had to get himself out or die down here in the car he had just bought. The rain continued to fall and the river continued to rise, by this time it was getting to the head rests of the seats. Pete started to panic worse then before, crying out loud, blaring the horn and trying to pull the seatbelt off. Nothing worked. Finally Pete calmed down enough to realize the radio was still on. He had to laugh to himself, everything on the car seemed to work to damn well. The d j came over the radio and in a froggy voice said, " Well, it looks like that rain wont be stopping any time soon. If you're doing any traveling make sure to give yourself a little extra time. And remember turn around, don't drown. Those bridges out there are flooded over folks, find a safer way home or find a place to wait it out, let that water go down before you try and get over them. Now back to the music, we have a six pack of The Eagles coming up next, followed by another six pack of The Doors. Your listening to KPKT, The Rooster." Then the music started back up again with The Eagle's Desperado.

" Just fucking great." Pete said to himself, " I have to die listening to this shit, I hate the fucking Eagles." This was more then enough reason for Pete to start trying to get his way out of the car again. But before he did anything he reached over and turned the radio off. If he did die, he didn't want to die with the Eagles being played.

The rain was coming down harder then ever, it wasn't going to give up. Pete tried to regain his thoughts but the only thing that came into his mind was that he was going to die and leave his wife and boy behind. This thought frightened Pete the most, it wasn't him dying that scared him the most, it was leaving behind Susie and their little boy, Allen.

He set there and cried cursing out load at the fortune that come onto him. He was trapped in a car he had just bought, for the wife and kid that he had just married and had. Damn his luck. But he still didn't give up hope, even as the waters where licking the top of his head. He took a few breaths and tried to calm himself. " Now think goddamn it, think.", he told himself. Nothing came to mind so he cursed his luck again. He turned his head to look at the river that he would drowned in, and that's when he saw it. He had been such a damn fool not to have taken notice of it before. The window had been broken out, probably from his head as the car over turned of perhaps from the roll itself. Either way the window was broken out and there around the bottom where slivers of glass handing from the seal. Pete started to laugh, but it soon turned into a cry as the realization of his survival flashed before him. All he had to do was cut the seatbelt and get out of the car without the water pulling him under. He reached for a sliver of glass and as he did he cut himself, he gave little notice to the cut, he was focused on his survival now. He began to cut the belt which the glass did easily. Within a few slices the belt was severed. Pete was free. He fell gown to the top of the roof. He crawled around inside and made his way to the other side window, it too was broken. He kicked the remaining glass that stuck up so he would cut himself as he got out. He crawled out the window and in a rush the waters took him. He paddled like mad and by chance got hold of a limb that was on the edge of the water. He used the limb to pull himself to bank as the waters pushed past him. Pete made it to the safety of dryer land and lay there for a bit, shaking his arms to get the blood back in them. Now he had the task of climbing the steep hill, up to the road above. The rain had made the side of the hill mud. Pete's going was laborious, he used the rocks in the hill as stepping stones, and the trees as something to grab on to, as he worked his way to the highway above. His head bounded and his breathing became heavy, the rain pelted him but he continued on with the thought of his wife and son focused in his mind. At last he slowly made it out to the highway, he came out a hundred yards from the giant hole. He walked around the hole staring down at it in disbelief, there down below was his car, now almost half submerged in the coursing river. He walked down the highway for a mile when he finally saw highlights in the distance. Joy leaped in him and he stepped over to the side of the road and waited for the vehicle to get closer. When it did Pete started waving his hands and yelling and the vehicle slowed down and made its way over to the side of the road. He recognized the truck as it slowed down and neared him, it was his neighbor Frank Nelson, an old farmer that lived just down the road from him and his wife. As the truck stopped someone came jumping out of the passenger side. It was Susie, she ran towards Pete, embracing him in a hug. He hugged her back as hard as his weakened arm would let him. They made their way to the pickup truck and as he got himself seated Pete put on his seat belt with some hesitation. Frank turned the truck around and started back the way they had came. The radio was playing and the words came out, riders on the storm. Pete couldn't held but turn a little smile and then he looked back at Susie as she was comforting their child and said to her, " Well babe, looks like we've got to look for a new car."