Matt Shaw - A Sting in the Tale - A Collection of Short Stories

As Tina approached the bend, she eased off the gas and gently touched upon the brake. She knew these roads like the back of her hand and this was the last turning before the estate turned to hedges and bushes; city of Nottingham slowly turning to country. She also happened to know that it was a bitch of a turning and that — over the years — many a boy racer had come a cropper there, putting themselves into one of the trees and either killing themselves or the friends they carried in the passenger seats.

#theyneverlearn

Tina navigated the bend and drove on passing a car, parked up on the side. She noticed it was the idiot who had earlier overtaken her. She didn’t understand his hurry to overtake her if he was only going to pull up around the corner and yet she couldn’t resist… She thumped her hand down on the car’s horn with a satisfied giggle and a hope that she’d scared the shit out of the driver just as he had scared the shit out of her when he did it. Mission accomplished — she pressed her foot down on the accelerator and — once again — started to gather speed.

#winning

I I

On a quiet day Tina loved this road. The majority of the corners were gentle with great visibility meaning you had plenty of time to respond if you suddenly needed to slow for anything; such as other traffic or even animals in the road as had been known to happen. Along with the gentle curves, there were also plenty of long, uninterrupted straight parts too. Parts where you could really put your foot down — so long as you were vigilant about keeping an eye out for the speed-traps that had occasionally been put in place as a deterrent. Still, with the rain beating down heavily (still) — the chance of the police being out with their little speed cameras was slim to none. Most would be too busy dealing with whatever traffic accident had taken place — as was always the case when it rained. The rain comes, the drivers slow down and yet — somewhere — someone still manages to have a collision.

This road wasn’t perfect though. It was still longer than the other route home so you were doing unnecessary miles and there was always a danger of getting stuck behind a learner driver or — worse still — a tractor. Both were annoying in their own way and — if you found them — the journey would become that much longer and certainly more frustrating as you’d look for spots to overtake them.

A loud thumping noise from somewhere under the front of the car suddenly pulled Tina from her thoughts with a sudden jump and the steering wheel tried to snatch itself from her hands. Immediately she took her foot from the accelerator and let the car slow down at its own pace — too scared to press the brake pedal. The way the steering wheel was shaking in her hand, and the fact the car was trying to pull to the side, she knew straight away she had a flat. It hadn’t been her first. She also knew that — since last having a flat and having the tyres changed — she hadn’t replaced the spare.

“Shit,” she muttered as the car eventually stopped. “Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!”

She sat there a moment. She didn’t want to get out and look at the damage. Not least because it was raining but she knew there was nothing she could do about it — other than call for help and hope they wouldn’t take the whole night to get to her. The perfect end to what had already been a stressful day — not helped by the fact that it was getting darker outside, something which — in itself — was not helped by the big black clouds still hiding the heavens above.

Tina screamed out loud again. Another burst of frustration spilling out from within. She stopped and sat there a moment. A heavy sigh and she reached for the mobile phone. The good news was that the battery had 23 % remaining — more than enough to get someone out to come and rescue her. The bad news was that there was absolutely no signal. Of course not. She was in the middle of country roads. Why would there be signal. She tossed the phone back onto the passenger seat and sighed again. So much for that bath.

Looking around outside, she saw she was in a section surrounded by trees. A few hundred yards, further down the road, and she could see the trees just stopped. All she could think was that — maybe — the signal might be better down there. A second, sneaky thought that she didn’t have a coat with her. The morning had been overcast but it had still been warmish. She hadn’t expected the downpour and so hadn’t dressed appropriately. She looked up to the black clouds above. Unlike the trees, there was seemingly no end to them. They just stretched on and on, right into the distance. She screamed again.

“It’s fine. Just give it five minutes,” she said to herself. “Five minutes and hopefully it will ease off a little. Just a little. Please. I don’t expect it to stop. I just don’t want to get as drenched.” The thought of the warm bath waiting for her continued to tease her. She wanted a warm bath. She was getting a freezing cold shower.

#notthesamething

She put her hazard lights on and patiently sat there, looking up through the car’s sun-roof. The rain not getting any lighter, despite her wishes. If anything, it seemed a little heavier. Car lights distracted her via the rear-view mirror. A car approaching. Maybe they would stop and help her out? She opened the car door and clambered out into the pissing rain — the heavy droplets immediately soaking her blouse.

“Gah! For Fuck sake!” she screamed as she jerked her body at the sudden coldness of the water. She quickly stood up straight and turned her attention to the car coming towards her. She raised her hands up in the air — signalling for them to stop. It drove past at speed, splashing the road’s collected rainwater over Tina. She screamed again. Same bastard car that had sped past her earlier. “Fuck you!” she screamed.

#karmaisabitch

The car slammed on its brakes and screeched to a halt. Tina just stood there, watching it for a moment. Maybe the driver hadn’t noticed her in the rain? Maybe it had been an accident — splashing through the puddle like that? The car didn’t move. It just sat there where it had stopped. Maybe they were waiting for her to approach them for help? It made sense. Had it been Tina in the car, and a stranger by the side of the road, she wouldn’t have got out either. She started walking towards the car. The driver revved the engine when she was close enough and then wheel-spun away. The little prick. Tina screamed and put her finger up in the air — a gesture of ‘fuck you’ to the imbecile, asshole driver.

“I hope you fucking crash!”

#cunt

Again, further up the road, the car slammed on its brakes and skidded across the wet concrete to a halt. The engine was ticking over, occasionally being revved. Tina just stood there watching them. She knew, if she walked over, they would drive off again.

“What do you want?!” she screamed out. The engine revved and — again — the car pulled away. No wheel-spin this time though. A deliberate and slow action. Tina still didn’t move. Not until the lights disappeared from her sight. “Yeah, fuck you!” she muttered under her breath.

#freak

Cold and wet, Tina leaned back into her car and reached for her mobile phone. The way she saw it, she couldn’t get any wetter now so she might as well have walked to where the trees stopped in order to check for her network signal. Keeping the phone as close to her body as possible, to save it getting too wet, she folded her arms and made a run for it. Each drop of rain stunning her face as it lashed against her — made worse by the fact she was running into them.

As soon as she reached where there were no overhead trees, she stopped and looked down to her phone. Still no signal.