Hello readers!
I wanted to share some writing with you this week, and after realizing the piece I originally shared might be something I want to send to literary magazines, I've decided to share this flash fiction story about two guys finding an old barn find. As a little background, Civic and Koa are two characters I designed based on the two cars I've driven. My Honda Civic, and my Pontiac Vibe (rest in peace). In the most Rosetta fashion, I decided they would be boyfriends going to college together. This is a short story I wrote in 15 minutes and have edited to be of higher quality. The prompt was "You find something hidden away for a while." I decided to go with an old car, but you'll have to read to see how far I went with the concept!
The door to the storage unit creeks open, startling Civ.
“Koa… why are the headlights blinking?”
I peer into the dark unit to see what he’s looking at. Nothing looks out of place to me, there’s some tools and my dad’s old Plymouth Fury. The headlights aren’t on.
“You’ve been reading too much Steven King,” I laugh, patting my boyfriend on the back.
“I don’t have a choice, it’s for class.” He pouts.
I step inside and turn on the lights, whipping the dusty cover off the blue car. We both cough. Civ whines when the chain on the light smacks him in the face.
“You gonna keep it?” he asks.
“Don’t plan on it. Not really a Chrysler guy.” I get down on my knees to inspect a rusty spot on the driver’s side door.
All is quiet for a moment, until Civ yelps.
“Did you turn the headlights on?” he asks apprehensively.
“No…” I look to see the high beams blasting in his face.
“I hope you know how to exorcize demons,” he mutters, walking to the other side of the car, “and rust.”
I laugh, starting to stand up. I stumble forward as the back door opens and sends me flying into the suddenly open driver’s door.
“What’d I tell you?” My boyfriend points at the doors, “It’s possessed!”
I raise a brow, still skeptical. I step away from the open doors, switch off the headlights, then shut the doors.
“Maybe it’s sad that I’m getting rid of it.”
Civ gives me a blank stare.
“I mean, if I was stuck in this unit for fifteen years, I’d be sad too.”
“Have you ever ridden in this car?” he asks.
“When I was like, six.”
“Maybe it misses you?”
We stare at the car, waiting for it to respond.
“Blink your lights if you missed me.” I ask.
The headlights blink twice.
“Holy-” Civ stares with wide eyes.
“Would you be mad if I sold you off?” I ask again.
The front door opens, barely missing me by an inch.
“You’re seeing it too?”
“I am.”
We stare dumbfounded at the car.
“I guess we’ve got a new car to take care of,” I say.
“Oh lovely, another rust bucket like the Trans Am.” Civ mutters.
The car opens the front passenger door and smacks his legs.
“I’m sorry, it’s a compliment!”
“You’re not that rusty,” I pat the hood of the Fury, “Better off than the screaming chicken.”
The car shuts its door again, seemingly pleased with my answer.
“If we’re keeping it, let’s call it Christy,” Civ suggests.
“You can’t just name it after the one in the book because—”
The car blinks its headlights in a seemingly joyful way.
“Yes we can.” My boyfriend crosses his arms and smiles proudly.
“Alright Christy. As long as you don’t go killing people, we’ll keep you around,” I say.
Christy blinks its headlights again. Civ glances at the car.
“Other cars count as ‘people,’ you hear? I don’t want to see even a scratch from you on anything else that parks at the dorms,” he says.
Christy almost opens its door to hit him again, but blinks its lights instead.
“Let’s get the dust off and see if it runs,” I say with a smile, interested to see what other surprises my dad has left for me.
I hope you enjoyed this silly story with some characters I made up just for fun. Have a wonderful week!
-Rosetta 💖
Image by Clem Onojeghuo.