The atmosphere inside the car was warm and pleasant due to the car’s heating, but on the outside a bitterly cold frost covered the dead, still picture of leaves lying on an autumn floor. Trees and shrubs lined the long curling road and only the sound to be heard was the purring car engine running down the country road.
As the road straightened up, the car gained speed but hitting a small patch of ice in the road caused the tyres of the car to lose their grip. The now panicking driver was frantically trying to regain control of the vehicle, which was now sliding across the icy road. In an attempt to stop, the driver span the wheel hard to the left forcing the car into a barrel roll onto its roof and over again, throwing the broken man inside around as if he were a walnut in its shell being shaken furiously. The driver opened his eyes only to see the dashboard of his car coming toward him at an incredible rate.
Just then he closed his eyes, accepting his own death… he sat upright, awake in a cold sweat. He looked around him before sighing a sigh of utter relief for he was unharmed in his dark, safe room once more. He checked his clock “5:40am” the clock flashed. He lay back and rested his head upon his pillow, closed his eyes and began to see pictures of his own broken, twisted, corpse staring back at him. Unable to go back to sleep with visions of his own death tormenting him he rose up and stretched with a loud long yawn, shuddered and felt completely invigorated.
He walked quickly into the bathroom, taking a long look into the mirror staring deep into his eyes and moaning to him self. He turned the shower on before climbing in. He stood there in the shower, the steaming water making him jump back occasionally until he got used to it and began to wash his hair and body, his only thought revolving around his dream. He asked himself over and over “But what if…?” and “What about if…”. But before he could complete a sentence he told himself that it was just a dream and meant nothing and by doing so regain concentration and carried on scrubbing.
He jumped out of the shower cubicle and wrapped a towel around him, following a well-known routine of drying up, getting dressed and doing his hair. He dipped a few fingers into the thick hair putty and rubbed it over his palm and running his fingers through his hair, he finished the style with the front of his hair sticking up slightly. Checking in the mirror that it was just right he grinned at his neatly finished hairstyle and washed his hands clean of any remaining gel and dried them on a towel hanging off a bar across the small radiator in the corner of the room. As per usual after this he went downstairs and began to prepare breakfast. He placed two pieces of bread inside the large shiny toaster and quickly snapped down the black handle before he span around and clicked on the kettle and prepared tea.
Once his breakfast has been eaten he got up from the table and opened a high cupboard above his head. As he did so he was distracted by a loud sound of screeching tyres from outside his home, losing concentration the cupboard door swung round and smashed him in the face, stunning his for a few seconds before he managed to shrug it off, blinking a few times. Suddenly he began to see flashes of his nightmare, the car rolling down the cold dark country road before he quickly awoke from the daydream and looked up at the clock “6:55am”.
The sun was still was still not up for it was just the beginning of autumn and the clouds blocked and consumed any ray of light trying to pierce their surface. He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his keys and wallet from the kitchen counter. Opening the front door and walked out. The bitter cold air hit him hard and he lost his breath for a second before swallowing a large breath of air and adjusting to the temperature of the still night air and climbing into his car, slamming the door fiercely.
He pulled out of his driveway before feeling a chill shoot up his spine. Almost instantly he reached across and clicked on the cars heating system. After driving for a while he became very paranoid, and cautiously slowed down dramatically as he turned a corner and began to drive down a long and winding country road. The feeling inside the car was warm and pleasant, while on the outside a blanket of frost covered the dead leaves and the autumn floor. The man in the driver seat slumped back into his seat checking the several gauges across his dashboard. He noticed he was only doing 15mph on a 40mph road. A frown crept across his forehead, and he told himself “I am just being foolish, a dream is a dream, and I will not allow it to rule my life, anyway I will be late for work at this rate”. As the road straightened up the man in the seat made a point of pressing his foot down. The cars’ engine which was once purring like a cats on its owner’s knee was now roaring through the country passage, sweeping leaves up in the air on its way.
He sat back and smiled to himself, knowing he had overcome a deep and meaningful thought that had tormenting him. He had beaten it, defeated the demons that had been distracting him since the early hours of that morning. As he came to a small corner in the road he turned the steering wheel slowly, just noticing a bit of slippery black ice on the road, he quickly turned the wheel to the left sending the car flying, the axels underneath shattering from under it, the car rolled off the road into a barrel roll, the man inside was yelling and screaming. He looked up, his jaw hanging wide open only to see the dashboard of his car coming toward him at an amazing rate. He closed his eyes accepting his own death. His skull smashed into the metal frame, shattering the bone and tearing through layers of flesh. The car stopped rolling, landing on its roof. The broken twisted body lay inside the wreck.
The unforgiving rain pummeled a group of mourners as they surrounded a tombstone that read “Sleep Well, Rest in Peace”.
The End
