Tuesday Tales 2024-1-2 Lights

Happy New Year! Good health and prosperity to you and yours. Let’s cherish all moments with family and friends. Welcome to Tuesday Tales, powered by a small group of authors, where word prompts inspire passages in the books we’re writing. Today’s prompt is lights. My snippet is from a cozy mystery set in fictional Glisten, Georgia. When you finish reading, make sure to visit all the talented authors of Tuesday Tales.

The first hour on the road went smoothly. Then something unexpected happened to put a hex on my plans. A massive, dark blue SUV got right on my tail and hovered there. I hadn’t cut him off, switched lanes without signaling, or performed any other careless maneuver to make a touchy person aggressive. Perhaps it was a tentative driver who liked to follow, but that wasn’t the vibe I was getting. It might be some nut case. “Stay away from my rear end,” I muttered, gritting my teeth. The light covers had recently been replaced out of pocket.

I slowed to let the obnoxious driver pass. He slowed as well. After a while I put on my blinker and shifted to the left lane. When the other vehicle assumed a momentary parallel position, I glanced over for a peek at the driver. He appeared strangely bundled up, his face obscured, with a chauffeur’s cap pulled low and a winter scarf wound thick around his neck and chin.

He didn’t glance my way but slowed and shot into the left lane behind me. Cars soon stacked behind us in a long line, anxious to fly on down the road. I rolled into the right lane. The slowing, speeding, and lane changing continued. I couldn’t shake this idiot. Heat prickled my skin. Fighting an aggressive impulse of my own, I gritted my teeth, double checked the door locks, flicked on my blinker, slowed, and eased off onto the apron and then the shoulder.

I kept the car running and peered in the rear-view mirror. Sure enough, there he sat behind me, two car lengths away. Visions of an old tv movie featuring a duel with an eighteen-wheeler played in my head. Should I call the police? I grabbed my phone, shooting a glance in the rearview mirror. Startled, I dropped the phone. It landed on the passenger’s side floor. The ominous vehicle loomed right behind me. While I was thinking what to do, the loon had crept up on my bumper. His driver’s door swung open.

My heart thudding in my chest, I shifted into drive and pushed the pedal, driving parallel to traffic but staying on the apron to allow the line of cars to get by. One car whizzing past blew the horn at me. “Sorry,” I muttered, wanting to wake up from the encroaching nightmare.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the piece inspired by the word lights. If you haven’t done so already, check out the other excerpts at Tuesday Tales.

Cheers & Happy Reading!

Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Spirited Stories

All rights reserved, copyright @ 2024 Flossie Benton Rogers