[This thing is dribbling out of my brain so, lucky everyone, you get to see it raw and unedited and un-rewritten, and barely written in the first place. But at least it's out!]

Joe knew it was going to be a bad night when he saw the flashing lights in his rear-view mirror. Besides going way too fast, it was raining and he was driving a sporty little silver coupe, either of which was guaranteed to piss off any cop that pulled him over. The big rainbow squiggle decal on the bumper probably wasn't going to help.

He pulled over as soon as he could, the car vibrating as he drove over the rumble strip. It was a grassy turn in the highway and the breakdown lane was wide so he pulled over as far as he could. He might be in trouble, but having the cop on edge because cars were buzzing by six inches past his ass couldn't do anything but make it worse.

Joe turned off the car, flipped on his flashers, and opened his window, then leaned over to rummage for his registration and insurance cards. The rain pattered lightly on the windshield and the open window seemed to suck all the sound out of the car, leaving it oddly silent. Nervous and embarrassed at being caught doing something wrong, he managed to dump the contents of the glove box all over the floor.

He hadn't heard the quiet sounds of gravel crunching under boots.

"Sir, please put your hands where I can see them," came a deep voice from the other side of the window. Joe jumped hard enough to bruise his legs on the seatbelt. He looked around wildly, breathing heavily at the shock.

"Oh, god, sorry officer, I was just looking for