Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Doctrine’s contribution to the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Hosted by Denise, constrained by a sentence limit (high and low) of six, there are worse ways to spend the remaining time you have on earth.
Prompt word:
STAKE
Sometimes, when I’m driving somewhere half-familiar, I do a trick in my head with the passing scenery.
It starts with watching the road ahead entirely by it’s reflection on the hood of my car, which given the quality of an Audi’s paint job, amounts to a monochromatic mirror, details good, depth and distance, not so much. Then I shift my peripheral vision so I focus on the glass of the car’s windows rather than beyond, which results in the passing scenery appearing like an old show on a black & white TV.
I tried once to share the fun with my admin, Hazel, one afternoon when I gave her a ride to the garage where her car was being worked on, but she looked at me with a smile and said, “Stop talking, look at the actual road and save the weird-ass perception crap for your girlfriend up in Cambridge.”
Given how I currently had her on the phone as I drove to my meeting with Lou, I knew better than to mention my altered perception to Leanne, as she has a mind like a Decepticon on a voltage-high; at the moment she was explaining how most people get confused and upset when she opens a lecture with, “Let’s talk about Adam’s First Wife.”
I was about to retort when two things impinged on my current reality: 1) the car’s collision alert bell rang simultaneously with the brakes engaging and b) the fun-house-mirror-elongated-image of a street-arbitrager, six inches in front of my car waving sign:
‘Repent Now Lilith is Coming with a Stake for the Heart of the Patriarchy!!!’
About clarkscottroger
I like how Hazel handles her boss.
Nice phrase: “she has a mind like a Decepticon on a voltage-high”
So, Lilith is coming back?
yeah, I think we need to get some action and/or suspense in our story… but not Anya Claireaux no way!
“but not Anya Claireaux no way!”
What? afraid of a little mayhem and dead bodies, lol
The perception stuff can get you in a lot of trouble.
this is true (but sometimes it’s helpful to remind ourselfs that the world is not simple what we can account for, ya know*
*redundant question, lol
Some strange things are happening, I am thinking… Nice car, by the way.
yes… thanks for the scene from the booth in your Six… love the colab fiction
Drivers Ed 102- all the things they DON’T teach you in driving school… Oh, and Go Lilith!
I agree, look at the road! You had me reaching for a seat belt!
Okay, I am NOT getting in a car with you, haha!
safe as houses, really
;p
I’m guessing PPF (Paint protection film) on the bonnet — maybe on the windscreen, too, and if you look at a just-right angle, you’ll think that you’re driving through clouds.
Perfect Six.
thanks
yeah, actually have tried that… serially, next time you find yourself on an empty road, give it a try!
granted the thrill is not the off-the-scale adrenaline rush of driving down a country road (where there are no streetlights) and turning off the car’s headlights
Full Disclosure: haven’t tried that one since high school
Ian is lucky to have Hazel. Who else to tell him straight out how “weird” he can be.
Fun (and disturbing) end to the scene, one in which our MC is unquestionably prepared to handle given his propensity to “enjoy” altered perception(s).