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    Wayne Gray
  • Wayne Gray
  • Author
  • 11/08/2021
  • 753 Words
  • 1,631 Views
  • 21 Comments
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Story Prompts/Ideas - 5. Loss on Asphalt

A scene ... I saw this one very clearly, and I needed to write it.

"I'm here," Brad cleared his throat, pushing the waver from his tone. "I'm here."

Andy clung to him, face buried against his neck. His friend's body heaved in wracking sobs, and he dragged in breaths in staccato gasps.

Brad held him - his oldest friend. The lights of the police cruisers strobed over the scene of the accident, and the odor of gasoline stung his nose.

"Guys, you gotta get back." A policeman with a firm, yet understanding tone extended his arms. "Come on, back up a bit."

The coroner hurried away from the scene, also escorted by the police. Brad looked over his shoulder as the cops put up yellow tape around the mangled cars.

"Wait." Andy turned. "They ... they're not going to leave him, right?"

The cop's face only flickered in the barest slip of his professional composure. "No, we just can't get him out right now. The gas tank started leaking; it's too dangerous, and we've got to wait for the hazmat team to deal with the gasoline."

Andy stared at Nathan's Kia, crumpled and on its side. "He's the only thing good about me."

The policeman swallowed, his eyes finding Brad's for a split second. In response, Brad squeezed Andy's shoulders and gave the lawman a slight nod.

I've got him.

The man nodded back. "Well, there might be folks who disagree." His radio crackled on his chest, and he turned to mumble a reply. He patted each of their shoulders. "Go on over to the ambulance, guys." He squeezed reassuringly. "I'll come check on you in a bit."

Brad did as he was told, and gently steered a shell-shocked Andy to the back of an ambulance. The EMTs had removed their stretcher and set it up on the ground. "Here, sir. Just have a seat. There you go. Can we get you a blanket? Are you cold?"

Andy shook his head, though his breath steamed in the chill.

Brad waved at the EMT. "Can we get that blanket?"

"Of course." The woman returned quickly with a battered but clean gray blanket, and Brad draped it across Andy's shoulders.

Watching the world through glassy eyes, Andy stared at the accident scene, the police, and the newly-arrived hazmat team scurrying around.

Brad pulled him close, and Andy slumped into him, almost like he had deflated.

A few minutes later, the coroner headed back in. The man verified what the paramedics had already reported, and a zippered black bag on a gurney wheeled by a pair of men disappeared into a waiting, white panel-van.

"Hey."

Brad jerked and looked up into the brown eyes of the policeman who'd sent them to the ambulance. The fellow smiled in sympathy and addressed Andy. "Sir, we just got him out, and the coroner has taken him."

"I know what that means." Andy seemed to stare through him, and his voice rang with hollowness.

The officer flinched. He focused on Brad. "Does he have someone who can stay with him?"

"Yes. I will."

"Good." He pulled an embossed card from his pocket. "Here. My contact information. We're going to call tomorrow - there are going to be some procedures we need to follow, but they'll wait until tomorrow."

Brad took the card. Officer Mark Kenson. "Oh, will it be you who calls us?"

"Uh, no." Officer Kenson cleared his throat. "It'll be the coroner's office. But if you have any questions, or need help navigating things, call me." He glanced at Andy. "I can help you guys find any resources you might need - I might not have direct access, but I can find out who to ask and where you need to go."

"Thank you." Brad put the card into his pocket. He looked up at the officer. "Can I take him home?"

"Yeah." Officer Kenson stepped back.

Brad rose and peeled off the blanket around them. He clamped an arm firmly around Andy. "Come on, Andy."

"I can't." Andy shook his head. "I can't go home, not without him."

"Okay, bud. We'll go to my place, all right?"

Andy nodded, silent tears sliding down his nose.

Brad led him to his car, and opened the door for Andy. Once he had entered, Brad looked up and locked eyes with Officer Kenson. The man had watched them, and now stood with a sorrowful, pained expression. He straightened when Brad turned to look at him, and nodded once. Then he turned and strode away toward the cluster of police cruisers still on the street.

Not exactly uplifting, eh?
Sometimes this is how stories start. I see a single scene, and it is crystal clear, but it has no context. That's what happened here. And my brain won't let them go until I write them down. The same thing happened with Broken,
Spoiler
with the scene in the abandoned restaurant, when Greg came rushing in to save Lee.
Sometimes writing the scene is all I have to do for whatever fevered mechanism in my head that caused it in the first place to let it go.
And sometimes, I have to write it all.
Copyright © 2019 Wayne Gray; All Rights Reserved.
  • Like 6
  • Love 15
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Wayne Gray
  • Popular Comment
9 hours ago, LD Stratton said:

This scene is a good one. It grabs the reader immediately and leaves him/her wanting to know the "before" and "after". No, it isn't uplifting but the tone indicates there was a pretty good "before". There are so many directions it could take. Write on!

Thanks for the nice words.

You're right - in that there are many directions to take with this little sliver of life and death. I'm building a plot in my head, using up unoccupied CPU time in the brain when I'm doing other things. So it's probably going to turn into a full story. 🙂

  • Love 5
  • Fingers Crossed 2
Wayne Gray
7 hours ago, Mawgrim said:

Whether this prompts you to write more, or if it just remains as a single scene, this is powerful writing. Very visual too. I can almost see it as the opening shot of a film or TV drama.

Thanks, Magrim.

I'm trying harder to write more in the moment, and let the reader see the scenes - not tell the reader about the scene. It's a subtle distinction, but I feel it's an important one. I'm glad it felt dramatic to you - it certainly did to me.

  • Like 1
  • Love 4
Wayne Gray
2 hours ago, drsawzall said:

Wow...simply wow...so descriptive and powerful. Wordsmithing at it's best. A vivid painting of imagery well told. Like many others, I am sure this is the middle of what is a fantastic story and looking for more!!!

Thanks, drsawzall.

I am working on description, and trying to find the balance between Tolkien and Paulsen (wrote a book targeted to teens called Hatchet, and it's one of the most succinct works I've ever read) when it comes to details. I know I need more of it in my work, and if I write this story, I'll focus on it.

  • Love 4
Wayne Gray
1 hour ago, kbois said:

Damn Wayne!

It's official.... you are now hands down the official Cliffie King. 

I really, really ,really (REALLY), hope the rest of the story speaks to you loud and clear.  And soon. I've been jonesing for some of your Wayne's world! 

What the hell are you waiting for? Go ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍!!! ❤

Well, looks to me like the cliff already hit, and we're just seeing the aftermath. But I'll still take the title. 😛

Thanks, kbois. Yeah ... I'll likely end up writing this one. It's still buzzing in my head, and that's pretty much a sure bet that it won't go away till I've put it down on "paper".

  • Love 4
Wayne Gray
20 minutes ago, spyke said:

You do this thing called writing so well, so very well.  Like @kbois said, get busy! We want the back story and the whole story. 

Thanks, spyke.

Even as I reply to these comments, more of it crystalizes in my head. And ... I just want to say ...

Not everything is as clear, simple, and straight forward as it might seem.

But it wouldn't be a story if it was!

  • Love 3
Wayne Gray
20 minutes ago, Hawgdad said:

GREAT chapter...  but just as important, how many stories fed into the chapter and how many come out of it?

Tom

Asking those good questions, I see.

Thanks, Tom. And I think I have a title for the story.

"The Hazards of Love" homage to The Decemberists album of the same name. By the way, there has never been an album with a better title!

  • Love 1
Wayne Gray
40 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

You grabbed me and held on tight throughout this scene. You’ve written it  so I can feel and see and hear everything. 

Thanks, Parker.

I really wanted that. The cold, the gasoline, the lights, Andy's desolation, Brad's struggle to protect and help him, Officer Kenson's war between professionalism and empathy. I wanted all of it there to be experienced, without my saying it needed to be. I just wanted to paint it.

It's a new way of writing for me, and the differences are subtle. The Answer started me down the "Deep Point of View" rabbit hole, and I'm seeing how far I can go with it. I like it. 🙂

  • Love 2
spyke
7 hours ago, Wayne Gray said:

Not everything is as clear, simple, and straight forward as it might seem.

But it wouldn't be a story if it was!

We have come to learn that nothing in your stories is simple or straight forward (double entendre fully intended), and we've also come to expect the unexpected. It wouldn't be a Wayne Gray effort if you delivered any less. 

Now get busy! We're waiting. LOL

Responding Jim Carrey GIF

  • Haha 4
Wayne Gray
Just now, Bft said:

I just want to know who died in the car accident, was it Andy’s son, his husband? 
what happened? There a few unanswered questions. 😕😕

This is all I was given by my "vision". Yet, I get the distinct impression that it was Andy's partner, and that's how I'm writing the rest of the story I'm building around it.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

  • Love 3
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