Spirits’ Fallow: A Personal Statement About Drunk Driving
This story is being resubmitted to Shadows In Motion due to a strange error that occurs when attempting to access the original post or when attempting to edit the original post. This horror short was originally written on July 28th of 2003.
This is a horror short story that was written in response to a drunk driving accident that occurred in the yard of someone I know. No one was injured in the accident but his yard and fence were tore up. I have a very negative view of drunk driving, as I’m sure this story will express.
I have also retitled this story as Spirits’ Fallow in order to play on its theme.
I may some day re-write this so that it is in actual story form rather than the original intended script form.
Anyway, everything below this line is the story in its original, mostly unedited form. One sentence had to be edited because - for some unknown reason - the text in the paragraph was causing Wordpress to produce the error (there was no code of any sort within that paragraph).
I just thought of an excellent anti drunk driving campaign, shown in the form of a commercial.
The setting is a bar out on a rural road, with a gravel parking lot. The bar is large, but made of wood. It obviously has a huge dance floor.
Three guys in their 20’s come out, hooting, laughing, generally being loud. One tosses the other the keys to a truck, while the other is laughing. The one with the keys leans against the truck door for a moment before managing to open it.
They all laugh as they pile into the truck — the truck, by the way, is an old thing. It needs a paint job but I wouldn’t say that it’s rusted bad.
They go tearing out of the parking lot, hooting & laughing all the while, and floor it out onto the empty road.
Cut scene to a family in a semi-decent car. Daughter’s in the back seat, mother and father are up front. Daughter’s young, 12 at the most. She’s playing with a rubik’s cube, or some other small toy. Mother & father are laughing casually, father is driving conservatively. Their speach is kind of low as they drive along.
Cut scene back to truck, hurdling down the dark old road. Trees whipping by to your left and right. Signs designating a turn - reflective stickers shine back at the truck in silent warning.
Scene spans out as camera pans out to a small distance, creating an isotropic view of the road and the truck whipping around the corner, as the drunken fools hollar and laugh. The truck’s tires peel out as they go around.
Family car is shown coming around the corner.
Truck’s moving too fast and its momentum carries it into the other lane while it dashes around the corner.
Camera cuts into family car. Wife’s eyes go wide, she gets out an “Oh my god!”. Father’s eyes go wide as he gets an “No!” out, and jerks the wheel to the side.
Daughter looks up, a slightly worried look on her face. She sees the bright blinding lights of the truck in the windshield. It’s all she sees. It’s so bright.
Cut scene; inside of truck. Shows drunken fools’ eyes going wide, a brief moment of panick.
The truck slams into the front of the car. The front of the car folds like a soda can as the back of the truck lifts up into the air.
Scene cut into family car. Wife screams, and she instantly slams into the windshield - you get a brief glimps of the seat belt catching, but the car smashes inwards. She can’t be stopped. It’s over in an eye blink as she bounces, bloody, off of the glass.
The father slams forward, seat belt tries to catch him and air bag explodes. Face slams into the air bag, eye glasses shatter on his face, seat belt snatches him violently back. Again, over in a blink.
Daughter didn’t have her seat belt on. The force of the blow sends her flying forward, her little voice gets to scream “Mommy!” as she flies forward and smashes into the windshield. Her head and shoulders hit first, blood covers the back of her head as well as the additional cracked area of glass. She bounces off of the glass like a rag doll, bouncing onto her mother then into the floor of the car.
All takes no more than two or three seconds.
Scene cuts to truck. Drunk drivers are flung similarly as the family members. One bounces back behind the seats, the other two are killed instantly in like manner.
Scene cut, outside of the two vehicles. Rest of the vehicle crash is displayed. Mother is shown from the outside slamming against the glass, and the windshield turns red. Air bag is inflated, movement is seen, then smash, a tiny body slams against the glass and red plumbs across the rest of the windshield.
All of this, as the force of the blow and angle of the vehicles force the tail of the truck further up and over the top of the car. The truck flies forward a few feet, then smashes down on top of the car.
Quick, very difficult to visually catch scene cuts back into the car. The hood of the car smashes down, and crushes / stabs into the father. Father, who would have survived (albeit with little to no purpose) dies almost instantly.
Scene cut back outside. Truck slides off of the car, hits the pavement, tumbles a distance, then comes to a rest as the car tumbles.
Fade to black.
Fade back to scene.
In the far distance sirens can be heard as a fog rolls over the pavement. A figure dressed in black robes stands amidst the reckage, holding his staff loosely out to the side. Regal white hair blows in the soft wind which had seemingly moved in with the fog.
Character sighs and slightly shakes his head at the wreckage.
A voice from the truck catches the character’s attention.
Gurgly, in pain, “help!… Help me…” grunts, moans, pain.
Mysterious character looks at the truck, curls his lips and narrows his eyes ever so slightly. He then turns partially towad the car and lifts his staff as it gleams with its “black light” effect.
Cut scene to below the truck, almost seeing inside. Scrapping and dragging is heard. Camera moves into truck. Sole surviving drunk breaths faster, glancing at the window in the direction of the sounds.
“Help! Help me!” He calls with a renewed vigor.
“I’ll help you” - The sweet, soft voice of a young girl comes to him. The voice is slightly.. distant, some how unnatural. The survivor can see her shoes. At the strange sound of the child’s voice he breaths a little faster, scared.
Little girl leans down. Face comes into camera. Blood is matting the little girl’s hair, a gash is in the side of her face.. She opens her jaw. It’s broke. The jaw hangs limply.
The drunk screams, panicks, tries to get out.
Scene cut, little girl has dragged sole surviving drunk driver over to Character (Mysk). The surviving is presented to him. Mysk looks down at the human with cold, emotionless eyes. Zero expression covers his face.
“You stupid fool. All you had to do was not get into the vehicle.” Voice is accusing, anger laced.
Human: “I.. I’m sorry! Please don….”
Mysk’s face sneers, “You’re sorry?” Character turns and looks at the totaled car. “Tell that to them.”
Human stammers, not quite getting out “no” as he shakes his head and gives a struggle.
“Mommy?”, The chillingly strange sweet voice of the youg girl speaks as she begins to drag the survivor toward the car, “I have the bad man, mommy…”
Camera pans out, the human is dragged half way to the car, screaming. Camera reaches a high distance. Emergency vehicle lights are seen closing the distance. Far down below, the human’s feet are dragged under the car.
Panicked screaming is heard, then silence, as the lights close in on the scene.. fog is blowing off of the road. Character is mysteriously gone.
Topics: Fiction |
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