Something competely different part 1, 2009

I posted last year's part of the story on December 14th. Let's see where it goes . ..

"Great," thought Michael, as the first huge drops of rain suddenly splattered against the windshield. He reached to turn the wipers on, but the turning indicator came on instead, a mistake he had made a hundred times before, a mistake which always brought laughter from Kristen and Joey. Jan would smile and look down at her lap. Is it his fault his wife drives a car with all of the instruments in the wrong place?

The windshield was a crystal blur as Michael fumbled for the real wiper switch. With one swish the rain was cleared away and he could see clearly. There was a road to the west up ahead. His indicator already being on, Michael decided to turn. This would drive Jan crazy. The road had no number, no name. But it was paved and it headed generally west. They didn't call him the human GPS for nothing. Actually no one called him that, except for Michael while everyone else rolled their eyes. But his naysayers were nowhere around, so, "turn left in fifteen feet," Michael laughed at his own joke, which was also something he had to take care of himself while others rolled their eyes.

Maybe it was loose gravel, or maybe the road had begun to ice over, or maybe Michael was just driving a little too fast to make the turn, but he almost missed the road as the rear end of the car fish-tailed. He felt the rush of adrenaline shoot from his toes to his head as he strained to remember whether he was supposed to turn into the direction of the slide or against it.

The cedar trees along the roadside whizzed by like evergreen Rockettes in the stage lights of Michael's high-beams. Finally the headlights were aimed down the road, and Michael slowed to a stop to gather himself. He looked over into the seat next to him where he had put Jan's gift. The bag had fallen over. The gift was still inside. No harm done. But a slight glimmer of light caught his eye. He reached into the dark floorboard to see what had fallen. His hand touched something cold and hard. He picked it up and looked at it in the soft glow of the dashboard light. Apparently the saleslady had given him a gift.

"You must turn it upside down and shake it up to see what it is really supposed to look like."

Michael laughed thinking that this was probably not the way the kind lady would have suggested to shake the snow globe. But in the glow of the soft light the snow was swirling around the carollers, and the warm yellows of the interior of the house seemed even brighter than in the store.

"I guess it doesn't matter so much how you shake it up . . ." Michael took his foot off the brake and started down the road as he was finishing his thought, his eyes still partially on the snowglobe.

"THUD"

Michael had run over something. And apparently what he had run over was still under his car as a horrible scraping sound vibrated through Jan's car. Once again he stopped the car and began to open his door, and even though it was Christmas Eve, he was cursing under his breath, though no one was close enough to hear even if he had screamed obscenities.

Except for the guy standing outside his window who did not seem to care who heard him curse. He was letting it fly. In the direction of Michael.

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