“Drive safe,” the salesman said as I grabbed the keys from his outstretched hand and turned to open the driver’s side door of the white sedan. The warm breeze wafted out of the vehicle as I slid onto the gray leather while gliding the key into the ignition. The car’s motor purred like a kitten while the air conditioning unit forced cool air into the blustering vehicle. Shifting the gear into reverse, I backed the car out of its parking spot and drove off the rental lot unto a busy street.
My thoughts trailed to my own vehicle sitting in a dumpy old mechanic’s garage as I maneuvered the sedan through traffic. That morning my red sports car stalled in the middle of the highway. Things worsened for me when the only mechanic in town stated that he had to place an order for a part to fix my car that wouldn’t arrive until a week later. My heart jumped as I thought of the surmounting costs that would put a strain on this meager secretary’s salary.
I turned onto the highway hoping to recoup some of my lost time at work. The speedometer increased to 70 miles per hour as I placed more pressure on the accelerator. The vehicle cruised along when I began to hear a rhythmic noise at the rear of the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Oh, no! I thought, I can’t possibly have a flat tire.
I veered the sedan to the side of the highway and clicked on the emergency flashers. The noise settled down as I put more pressure on the brake and swerved to the side of the road. The engine quieted when I turned the ignition, and a bell chimed as I opened the door to glance at the rear tire. I expected to see the flat black rubber melding to the pavement, but to my astonishment the tire was intact.
Grabbing the keys out of the ignition and exiting the vehicle, I checked the remaining tires. As I walked to the passenger rear tire and knelt down, my eyes narrowed for closer scrutiny. Maybe there was a pebble or something caught in one of the treads that caused the thumping noise, I thought as I leaned in for a closer view.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
Startled, I fell backwards onto the hard concrete. My hands scraped against the rough surface as I braced to prevent my body from tumbling completely to the ground. I stared at the rear of the vehicle. Was that noise coming from the trunk?
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
I scrambled off of the pavement as quickly as I could and wiped my grimy blood-soaked hands together; inflicting pain as I attempted to remove the small stones that were embedded in the skin. My hands shook as I grabbed the keys from my pocket and crept back toward the car. I stood in the red glow of the blinking rear lights, and thoughts of what could be in the trunk of this rental car ran through my head. Fear grew as my mind flashed with bloody, gruesome images of dead bodies. Or, worse yet, a live one!
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
Startled, I jumped, again and suddenly realized that this may be a person who needed my help. Fumbling with the keys, I hastily shoved it into the lock of the trunk and released the lid. I took a step back as I watched the lid slowly rise up. As the light of day began to flood the inside of the trunk, what seemed like a pair of red eyes appeared out of the darkness. My heart quickened as I leaned in to take a closer look. The eyes moved upwards, and a mouth opened wide to bare its white sharp teeth as it jumped up at me.
I screamed and fell back to the ground. This time, scraping my elbow as shock waves reverberated against my spine. I began to whimper as I anticipated sharp pain ripping through my flesh from those terrifying teeth, but nothing came. Just the roar of passing cars as I lay on the scorching pavement in one of few business suites that I own.
I lowered my arm and nothing more than an open trunk with flashing red lights greeted me. Gathering my senses, I realized that I must look pretty foolish laying sprawled on the side of a busy highway. Climbing to my feet, I peered into the trunk and saw the clean gray interior. In the middle, on the floor of the trunk, was a small robot. It all became clear to me that the source of all of that thumping was nothing more that a child’s toy.
The robot’s red eyes flashed as it blinked and bared sharp teeth when it opened its mouth wide. Then, it jumped into a back flip and landed on its feet. When the robot jumped, it caused the thumping noise inside the trunk. It was an odd thing to see a child’s toy with razor sharp teeth. However, many toys these days didn’t make much sense to me anymore.
Angry at my own humiliation, I grabbed the toy, removed the batteries and threw it and the batteries back inside the trunk. The toy landed on its side, and the batteries rolled next to it as I slammed the lid shut. I glanced down at my bloody hands, scraped elbows, and torn skirt, and I resolved that I could no longer rescue my work day. I decided to head home and climbed back into the vehicle. Veering back into traffic with my mind set on heading home, I turned onto the exit ramp and crawled to a stop at the light. Then I froze.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump!
Stacy N. Elliott 
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