The Mystery Starts Here

When I first started writing, I was reading a lot of horror – Stephen King was all the rage, so of course I wanted to emulate him – especially the part about earning millions of dollars from writing! Well, I tried. I wrote several horror stories and finally got one published – my first published piece of fiction! I earned…a dollar. So, here for your reading pleasure is….

BAD DRIVER

Lenny ran the red light, shivered and shot a quick glance into the rear view mirror. He’d narrowly missed rear-ending a minibus full of children and nuns. The Chevy was still there, still bird-dogging him, gliding along like a large malevolent black swan. All afternoon it had been following him, never more than a car length or two back. Sunlight bounced off its opaque windows, revealing nothing.

Enough. Now Lenny was pissed.

He rolled to a stop at the side of the road, went to pull himself from the car and felt the grasp of huge hands lift him off the ground. His teeth rattled; his hair hurt, his Raggedy

Andy body whipped and churned. Dropped limp and spineless to the dirt, Lenny shook his head and peered one-eyed at his tormentor. 

The man was a giant, standing more than seven feet tall, reflecting the shade of a moonless night. Coal black eyes, raven hair, clothed in a colorless shirt and pants. Even the rotting stumps of his teeth were shadowed.

“I been watching you,” the man said, slobbering spit. “You drive bad, real bad.”

Dry-throated and petrified, Lenny nodded yes. A mammoth foot planted in the middle of his chest held him fast.

“No more,” the behemoth said. With one enormous hand clamped to his neck, Lenny felt himself rise into the air. The giant smiled and drooled and smiled again as he pressed fingers and thumbs to each side of the spongy throat.

A spatter of black dots tainted Lenny’s vision.

The monster placed his helpless prey gently in the middle of the road. “Hate bad drivers,” he said as he put his car in gear. Then, with a satisfying pop, he ran over Lenny’s head.

The End

So, what do you think? Was I overpaid?