1
“Look,
babe, that car has been parked on the side of the road a few days. I wonder why
the police haven’t towed it yet.”
I looked over at the car she was
referring to, and indeed, I too had seen it once or twice this week already.
“It doesn’t even have a notice or
anything.” She said with innocent curiosity in her voice. “Do you think it’s a
spy?”
I thought about whether or not it
COULD be a spy for a second...
“What if it’s a GHOST?!” I asked
startling her when I raised my voice.
“WHAT IF IT’S A ZOMBIE?!” She
yelled out playfully.
She stared at the car parked on the
side of the road as we drove off. I did too… in the rearview mirror. Both of us
couldn’t help but feel something strange about that car parked there. The road
we took home wasn’t a popular one. Most of us out here neighbors know each
other very well. We find it strange when strange vehicles appear out of nowhere
and just sit there for days without explanation.
2
The next day we went about our
business the same way: we kissed on the driveway, got in our cars and went to
work. Everything seemed normal; nothing out of the ordinary.
I couldn’t help thinking about the
car from the night before while I was at work, though. My cubicle was near a
window at work and I found myself checking the window continuously. I don’t
know why I thought maybe the car would be parked outside.
I opened the bottom drawer of my
desk looking for my headphones when, as I reached in, something grabbed my hand
and pulled me in toward the drawer!
-
I want to
take a moment to talk about what grabbed my hand… I often have dreams… dreams
that haunt me throughout the day. The creatures in my dream are neither dead
nor alive. When I tell people about my dreams, they don’t know what to tell me.
Some think I’m just stressed; others think I’m infirm. Whatever the case, these
creatures are certainly the ugliest ever…
- It was nothing but another one of
my dreams. I woke up startled. My heart-rate was well above normal. I got up from my desk and went down the hall
to the water cooler. Everything seemed fine again.
3
At the
end of the day I clocked out and called Katherine as soon as I got out of the
building.
“I’m
having the dreams again.” I told her in a hurried voice. “I dozed off during
work again and woke up in the middle of one of the dreams.”
“How
long were you asleep?” She asked.
“I
don’t know,” I answered, “I was spaced out thinking about something else then
woke up suddenly.”
Katherine
was studying psychology at the university and she liked keeping a log of my
dreams.
“Who
was it this time?” She asked.
“I
don’t know, I only saw hands,” I answered.
“It was
definitively a Zombie, though, right?”
“Don’t
call them that! I don’t like the sound… and I don’t like when you make fun of
me either.”
“Ok,
ok, I’m sorry; I’ll try to be more sensitive about your fear of Zombies.”
“You’re
a wonderful therapist,” I said with loving sarcasm.
“See
you tonight; I got class in the evening so I won’t be home when you get there.”
“Love
ya, have a good time in class. Learn bunches.”
4
I was
working on a midterm paper when Katherine arrived. She walked in the door with
her usual energy and excitement… ever so eager to tell me what she learned in
class that night.
“I made
dinner,” I said pointing toward the oven.
“Wait!”
She said with excitement, “Let me tell you about today’s lecture - “
As she
began telling me her story, we heard a sound coming from the back of the house.
It sounded like someone knocked on the door, but we never got any visitors out
here.
Katherine
and I met in undergrad school and moved to El Paso together to work on our
Master’s. Our house was about twenty minutes out of town and in a big property
- I remember how happy Katherine was
when we found such a great deal on a rental. The proper was fenced in and we
had a gate. Besides, any normal
visitors would knock on the front
door… right?
“Go
check that out, babe,” Katherine’s voice trembled a bit.
I went
to check the back door when suddenly a bang on the front door made Katherine
scream. We both ran up the stairs and I headed for my gun case in the closet.
Katherine reached for her pistol in the nightstand drawer. Luckily, we both
grew up in Texas and have been handling guns since we were 12.
I
looked out the bedroom window which led to the front of the house, but nothing
seemed out of the ordinary. When I turned back from the window, Katherine was
already headed for the other bedroom which window led to the back.
She let
out a loud scream then yelled, “Babe, come quick!”
I ran
to the other bedroom and looked out the window. If I wasn’t trying to be brave
in the eyes of my girlfriend, I may have let out a scream as well – Out there in
the middle of the yard was the abandoned car we saw on the road the night
before. Neither of us knew what to think of it and we stood frozen a few
seconds.
I
loaded the gun and hurried down the stairs almost trembling fearing what I
might see when I opened the back door. I half-assed said a prayer under my
breath then walked toward the back door. I paused, took one last breath, then
turned the knob, but when I pulled the knob there was nothing on the other
side. I walked out the door and inspected the backyard, but there wasn’t a
thing to be found.
As I
headed back inside, Katherine stood in the doorway looking terrified and
puzzled at the same time.
“What
the fuck is going on?” She asked, “Didn’t we just see something back here? Are
we both going insane?”
I held
her and kissed her forehead then said, “let’s lock all the doors and keep the
pistols ready through the night, baby, I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Let’s
call the police,” she said.
“What
are we going to tell them? That we’re hearing things and seeing magical cars?”
“You’re
an asshole,” she said, “maybe we should tell them about your Zombies too.”
We
laughed then locked all the doors… we did everything we could to sleep that
night, but it wasn’t easy.
5
The
next morning I was woken up by Katherine jumping into bed with a handful of
printouts.
“Look,”
she said “I found some police reports online.”
I took the
papers and browsed through some of the reports.
“This
doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “All the reports describe the exact same
vehicle we saw at the exact location, but – “
“I
know,” she interrupted, “The dates are all whack… check out this one.” She
handed me one dated back to 1969; a couple was reported missing in that spot.
The police had found the car empty. There was no evidence of violence or a
struggle.
All the
reports were very similar: someone called in to report an abandoned vehicle on
the highway; they say they’ve seen the same car there for days, but when the
police arrive there is no such vehicle.
Suggested Titles
Ghost Car!
Deaf-car
