Read the Fine Print

Hello again readers!  Welcome back.  It's been a rough month or so, my life picking up and it just seems there isn't enough time in the day!  So in that time I've been a horrible writer and not following my normal schedule.  What writing I have been doing is on my novel, and that isn't what I was doing before.  Starting to lose that "oomph" I had built up, so I'm going to work my butt off and get it back!  Also, expect more blog posts with my usual nerdy stuff, writing exercises, and a few short stories.  Speaking of...

Here's a short story I wrote this evening, trying to get back into some semblance of a schedule.  This is purely practice and just for fun, and I'm drawing on my (and I'm sure your) experiences in buy a car and dealing with the weird salesmen.  So this is a fun short about that, and don't look too deep into it.

Jason felt sweat pooling at the small of his back. Sweat stains ringed the collar and underarms of his favorite t-shirt. The midday sun beat down on his neck, the dull pain of a sunburn creeping into his consciousness.

Jason hated car shopping. The portly fellow to his left droned on about a used convertible they stood in front of wiped his face with a yellowed handkerchief, only for beads of sweat to appear again moments later. The man’s threadbare suit fit too loose in the shoulders and too short in the pants. Jason should have seen it and run away to the nicer car lots down the street. This place was a shit hole.

But dammit, he needed a car today. Catching the bus to work was getting old. He had laid off the bar scene for months to scrounge every penny for a meager down payment.

“So what do you think, young man?” the salesman wiped his forehead and upper lip once again, his mouth hanging open in a sloppy grin.

Jason shook his head and wiped his own forehead with the back of his hand. “It’s nice. It’ll do the trick, I suppose. A/C‘s good and cold, right?” Jason began another lap around the convertible.

Once it had been a vibrant blue, but years of use and disrepair had worn the color down to a dull cobalt with flecks of rust sprinkled over the hood. The tint was peeling in several places, and the exhaust hung a little too low. With over a hundred fifty thousand miles and a new engine, however, Jason couldn’t complain. It beat sitting next to the old Chinese woman who perpetually smelled of soy sauce and too-ripe fruit, or the talkative teenager who claimed to know infinitely more than his elders.

“Yes sir, just installed last year by the previous owner. And a new CD player to boot.” The salesman puffed up, the sloppy grin never wavering.

Jason finished his circuit and stood next to the man once again, crossing his arms. “You said three thousand and its mine?”

“Yes sir.”

Jason saw the desperation in the man’s eyes. He could relate. For the last year he had spent his time between the old room at his mother’s house and his best friend’s couch. With this car he could get a second job and have his own apartment in no time at all. Jason felt freedom within arms reach.

That didn’t mean he was going to jump at the first offer. “That’s a great price, but I don’t think I can afford that much right now.” Jason walked towards the rusty chain link fence bordering the small lot. Before he had passed a dented white hatchback, the salesman called out.

“I can sell it for twenty-five thousand!”

Jason smiled. Being poor for so long had its advantages. Never accept the first offer. He turned around and joined the salesman once again. “You have a deal.”

The two shook hands, each with their own grins of victory.

“Here, hop in and cool down. I’ll get the paperwork and you’ll be driving home in a few minutes.” The salesman handed Jason a scratched and slightly bent key. Jason handed him an envelope of all his material wealth. The salesman winked and hustled to the small trailer in the center of the lot, disappearing with the sound of rusty hinges and the slamming of a screen door.

Jason got in and smiled as the car roared to life. The cloth seat, although torn and stained in places, seemed to fit perfectly. He cranked the A/C to full power. After a few minutes of musty hot air, a frigid breeze began to cool the interior. Relaxing fully into the seat, Jason basked in the feeling of freedom restored.

Jason was unsure when he had dozed off. He opened his eyes to find the sun was close to the horizon and the sky was bathed in a swirl of purples, pinks and reds. The A/C was still blowing cold, and the gas gauge read full as it had been.

Jason turned the car off and went to the trailer. The air was silent and thick with the leftover heat from the day. Beyond the chain link fence Jason could see no traffic or lights on. Everything beyond the lot seemed hazy and indistinct.

Reaching the trailer, no lights or sounds came from the small structure. The door was closed and he could see nothing through the dirty window. The creaking of the screen door broke the eerie silence. Turning the tarnished knob, the door swung open onto a dark space that smelled faintly of mold and age.

In the gloom of dusk Jason could make out a cheap metal desk with yellowed paper scattered across its surface. A large monitor sat quietly on one side, a thick layer of dust untouched on its surface. On the other side of the trailer were two filing cabinets and a folding table with a plastic coffee maker still on. Jason caught a whiff of the burning coffee, but could not find the large salesman.

As Jason turned to leave, he caught a flicker of movement near the door. Framed in shadows of the door was the salesman.

“Hello? You said I needed to sign the papers and the car is mine?” Jason’s voice felt too loud.

The man in the door didn’t move, and Jason felt something was wrong. He dared not move as the man began a shambling motion into the trailer. Jason heard an odd clacking sound.

“Yes,” the salesman finally said. He lifted a hand and pointed to the desk. “Sign those and the car is yours.”

Jason moved to the desk, passing over receipts and invoices until he could make out his name and the details of the car in the failing light. Grabbing the nearest pen, Jason exclaimed. His fingertips were bleeding, drops marring the papers below.

“That will do, sir,” the salesman said. He was on the other side of the desk, his features still in shadow.

Jason beelined for the door, but the salesman intercepted his course.

“There is one final part,” the salesman said, stepping back a step.

His body began to shudder as if in a seizure. Fabric ripped and bones cracked as his shape began to ripple and elongate. His arms became long and looked like scythes. Quills protruded from his back with scraps of fabric hanging from the ends. His head split down the middle to reveal the antennae and mandibles of some insect.

Jason froze. Rays of dying sunlight highlighted bits and pieces of the man changing. Jason couldn’t hold on turned, vomiting into a small trash bin at the foot of the desk. When he looked up again, a giant insect filled his vision.

A low buzzing suffused the air, building into a crescendo that vibrated everything. With lightning quick movement, the insect head snapped forward and decapitated Jason.

“It’s all in the fine print, sir.”

-----

As always, I love feedback and (constructive) criticism.  Let me know what you think, and I'll see you all in a few days with some links to fun things I've found on the internet during my absence.  Godspeed!