CRASH

Darkness. A loud crunch. Eyes open to somehow understand why the bumper of a truck is in front of my face. What was that last memory...

--

The Office, 7:30AM. A hunter-killer searches relentlessly, breaking into every byte to leave no bit unturned as the computer watches in horror as the corpses pile up, a worm here, a trojan there. The program has been running for hours, cleaning the cruft off of the computer, and I doze away in the plush chair. Eyes open to see twenty minutes have passed. Another thirty minutes. Another fifteen. Too long I've been here, dozing in front of an automated machine, must get active in order to cut down the size of the queue before the weekend and Saturday job requests. The program has been searching the computer for a while now - maybe it'll take ten minutes more to finish the search, I can wait that long...

There was the field work, 10:30AM. Raking up leaves and branches, cutting down Termite Swiss Cheese, unloading wheelbarrows of assorted green waste into the compost area. The sun commanded all the sky to be still, and so the clouds stood guard at the edges of the valley while the sun supervised our labor, his firey eyes keeping a careful watch on everyone...

Lunch, 12:30PM. A strawberry smoothie! Possibly the best part of the day so far, hopefully not the best part of the day to come. Random work on assignments, rushing of turning things in - too many friends around to concentrate well. Possibly need to leave to finish work, will head home early in order to sleep and finish stories. Nothing as bad as turning in things that won't make me proud, so we'll polish one of the stories up so I won't need to sit right down and shit some out. (With apologies to Ben Folds)

Road, 3:42PM. Dozed off in traffic after waiting for light to turn red. Man walked up and tapped on window, sharp raps woke me up. Waved him goodbye, drove on to catch up with traffic twenty feet ahead. Don't think it's been that long I've been dozing - to head to a friend's house to nap for the moment? A mall, a parking structure? Or can I make it home? Not sure. On route to friend's house... turned away, with a couple of places left to stop afterwards in case I feel worse. I think I can make it.

--

Oh shit. Here's that bumper again, hazard lights are going up. Car goes in parked mode, emergency brakes on. Man comes out of his pickup truck, a white Toyota. He's 200 pounds, 5'11" - tattoos hissing in the bright light. Asks a question - what where you doing? Response: I'm sorry, I must've been falling asleep. Bags under eyes, too tired. He's angry, and we manage to get onto the shoulder lane, out of the incoming traffic. "On our latest traffic report there's been a fender bender on the freeway near the cutoff at-" I walk up, he's taking out pen and paper. Calmly write down information, nothing to be gained by worrying, anger, fear. The punishment will come after the damage is estimated. His truck: minor cosmetic damage, some paint on his rear bumper. Made of stainless steel, don't see any physical dents on it. No looks underneath the body. My car: dented hood. Symmetrically dented, square impact against his truck. Possible cost estimated up to 1,000 dollars for replacing hood, minor work on front grille. Brother will be happy, car work for him to do. Police are called and on their way - estimated time with traffic is twenty to thirty minutes. "Mooshed Potatoes." The word was "mooshed", I can change it after this is said and done. A tidal wave of green ketchup on the mooshed potatoes, red ketchup for the burnt roast, purple ketchup for the soggy peas and carrots. Blue lights race forward!

Police have come and gone - no statement taken, only insurance, registration and license. Name and phone number - all information matches. GIven permission to leave, truck pulls away in front of me. Waiting for a couple of cars to pass, waiting for an open space, waiting for distance between myself and that truck. Police allow me to get on the road and follow behind me - they pull across the lanes, speeding towards the next dispatch. Looking to get into a slower lane in order to keep car in one piece, spot opens! Black Toyota truck swings in infront of me from other side. Slow down to avoid second accident in one day, much less one hour. White male, mid fifties, aloha shirt and no turn signals. He gets in, I slide behind him and we speed off on the road. The mother is tired of her life, quietly sabotaging her husband, her family with the chores at home - especially dinner. Two wrongs do not make a right, but teenagers mixing food coloring to show off a ketchup rainbow is disconcerting. Strong yellow/orange dye for yellow. Rain falls, the clouds relieving themselves on us after watching the accident. Hah hah, very funny. Next time head to the bathroom, there are whole forests to wipe yourself with.

Darkness. A loud crunch. Eyes open to somehow understand why the bumper of a truck is in front of my face. What was that last memory...

--

The Office, 7:30AM. A hunter-killer searches relentlessly, breaking into every byte to leave no bit unturned as the computer watches in horror as the corpses pile up, a worm here, a trojan there. The program has been running for hours, cleaning the cruft off of the computer, and I doze away in the plush chair. Eyes open to see twenty minutes have passed. Another thirty minutes. Another fifteen. Too long I've been here, dozing in front of an automated machine, must get active in order to cut down the size of the queue before the weekend and Saturday job requests. The program has been searching the computer for a while now - maybe it'll take ten minutes more to finish the search, I can wait that long...

There was the field work, 10:30AM. Raking up leaves and branches, cutting down Termite Swiss Cheese, unloading wheelbarrows of assorted green waste into the compost area. The sun commanded all the sky to be still, and so the clouds stood guard at the edges of the valley while the sun supervised our labor, his firey eyes keeping a careful watch on everyone...

Lunch, 12:30PM. A strawberry smoothie! Possibly the best part of the day so far, hopefully not the best part of the day to come. Random work on assignments, rushing of turning things in - too many friends around to concentrate well. Possibly need to leave to finish work, will head home early in order to sleep and finish stories. Nothing as bad as turning in things that won't make me proud, so we'll polish one of the stories up so I won't need to sit right down and shit some out. (With apologies to Ben Folds)

Road, 3:42PM. Dozed off in traffic after waiting for light to turn red. Man walked up and tapped on window, sharp raps woke me up. Waved him goodbye, drove on to catch up with traffic twenty feet ahead. Don't think it's been that long I've been dozing - to head to a friend's house to nap for the moment? A mall, a parking structure? Or can I make it home? Not sure. On route to friend's house... turned away, with a couple of places left to stop afterwards in case I feel worse. I think I can make it.

--

Oh shit. Here's that bumper again, hazard lights are going up. Car goes in parked mode, emergency brakes on. Man comes out of his pickup truck, a white Toyota. He's 200 pounds, 5'11" - tattoos hissing in the bright light. Asks a question - what where you doing? Response: I'm sorry, I must've been falling asleep. Bags under eyes, too tired. He's angry, and we manage to get onto the shoulder lane, out of the incoming traffic. "On our latest traffic report there's been a fender bender on the freeway near the cutoff at-" I walk up, he's taking out pen and paper. Calmly write down information, nothing to be gained by worrying, anger, fear. The punishment will come after the damage is estimated. His truck: minor cosmetic damage, some paint on his rear bumper. Made of stainless steel, don't see any physical dents on it. No looks underneath the body. My car: dented hood. Symmetrically dented, square impact against his truck. Possible cost estimated up to 1,000 dollars for replacing hood, minor work on front grille. Brother will be happy, car work for him to do. Police are called and on their way - estimated time with traffic is twenty to thirty minutes. "Mooshed Potatoes." The word was "mooshed", I can change it after this is said and done. A tidal wave of green ketchup on the mooshed potatoes, red ketchup for the burnt roast, purple ketchup for the soggy peas and carrots. Blue lights race forward!

Police have come and gone - no statement taken, only insurance, registration and license. Name and phone number - all information matches. GIven permission to leave, truck pulls away in front of me. Waiting for a couple of cars to pass, waiting for an open space, waiting for distance between myself and that truck. Police allow me to get on the road and follow behind me - they pull across the lanes, speeding towards the next dispatch. Looking to get into a slower lane in order to keep car in one piece, spot opens! Black Toyota truck swings in infront of me from other side. Slow down to avoid second accident in one day, much less one hour. White male, mid fifties, aloha shirt and no turn signals. He gets in, I slide behind him and we speed off on the road. The mother is tired of her life, quietly sabotaging her husband, her family with the chores at home - especially dinner. Two wrongs do not make a right, but teenagers mixing food coloring to show off a ketchup rainbow is disconcerting. Strong yellow/orange dye for yellow. Rain falls, the clouds relieving themselves on us after watching the accident. Hah hah, very funny. Next time head to the bathroom, there are whole forests to wipe yourself with.

--

Home, 6:00PM. Phone calls are made, topics discussed with others. Junkyards are looked up in the phonebook - it'll be cheaper to replace the hood than to repair. A quick dinner, some leftovers from the fridge, a review of the police report and the damage to the car. No engine problems, but the front frame might need some work. No engine problems on drive back, odd vibrations possibly due to bent frame. Stifled yawns while writing down phone numbers to call later. A shower, some writing, a post, and a soft embrace by the moon. A gentle release into that good night.