"Cars of Darkness" excerpt

"I'm Billy, and I bet you're looking for one of those hybrid cars."

"That's right. My name is Art. How could you tell."

"You have the look of someone who walks a lot. And your shoes are well worn at the soles, so I guess you walk a lot. You probably wouldn't be buying a car at all if it didn't get 50 to the gallon. What kind of car you think I'm looking for?"

"I'd say a bigger car than they sell here." Billy liked that, laughed loud enough to get one of the busy sales clerks to notice him. But really, I'd bet you are looking for something for your business fleet."

January 22, 2005

"Fleet? Yeah, I guess fleet is the right word for it. Like Columbus going to Portugal to buy ships. Did Columbus buy ships in Portugal?" The sales clerk also seemed to notice the word "fleet".

"That could be right. I don't really know. I know the Portuguese had something to do with it. He himself was Italian, wasn't he?"

"He totally had it wrong, where he was going, you know? I mean Columbus." Billy seemed to want to distract himself from the task of buying a car. "I'm thinking of the hybrids, too, if you want to know the truth. The problem is my height. I have a really long torso, so I have to lean over when I sit in a small car." Looking at him, I wasn't so sure he had to worry about his height at all. The model sold here had a dome-style roof, so it probably accommodated his height and mine just fine. It was Billy's width that made him seem too big for the car. His biceps were as wide as my upper leg, his chest was half again as wide as mine. And I'm not a slight person. Because of the mention of Columbus I found myself imagining Billy pulling out a watch cap, slapping it on his head, and shouting orders to some unseen deck hand high above our heads on a rope ladder. What life's labors had made him into such a mountain? And why did he strut around like he owned the place?

"Well, that's why I said you should try the bigger ones. There are some trucks that'd be--"

"Listen, I know trucks. They seem like they'd be safe, I mean isn't that why people buy 'em?'

"Or they have lots of cargo, but, yeah."

"But that's the fucked up thing. Pardon my language. They aren't even as safe as the little cars. They had that whole thing a few years ago with the roll-overs." Now a couple other waiting customers were looking in Billy's direction. They watched his face like people watch television: not shy about staring at him, nodding with agreement or shaking their heads in dismay, as if they were listening to Howard Stern or President Bush. "You can't get around that high center of gravity, no matter how good your seat belts are. Plus your visibility really sucks. But you'll be amazed, most of all, because of how cramped it feels when you sit inside it. Big cars are small and small cars are big. That's all there is to it." When he took a breath, turned to the side and looked at me out of the corner of his eye, I thought he'd get a round of applause.

"Sound" excerpt

Tom remembered he had been looking for a cave, armed with a strong lamp, climbing gear, and a supply of food ample for two or three days, when the fall happened. It was his week off from work at the Universal Transport Agro division; his first week off in over two years. Being an amateur naturalist on account of his rural background, Tom was more comfortable among the winds, the woods and the screeching night noises than most of his fellow factory-workers. A little cave-climbing would be good for his mental health.

There was a blind hole near the entrance to the cave. Tom had found himself falling ten meters or more, fearing for his life. It was his luck to land in water, deep, cold, and dark as death. By the time he reached hard ground, mainly uninjured, he found most of the supplies were gone, except for a tiny head-lamp he kept in his breast pocket, along with maps, pencil and paper, and various tools. After a few dives into the pitch-black water had proved useless in recovering his supplies, Tom sought to locate the way out. He had been lost in caves before, so his level of panic was still low. Only when Tom stumbled onto the passage by the tiny waterfall did he find himself losing his mental bearings.

First there had been the sound of falling water, which was a likely indicator of a way out of the cave; then the surprising discovery of what seemed like a large room behind the waterfall, then the shafts of what looked like daylight. Excited, Tom stumbled toward the light, and all at once found himself in the forest, with the sound of the music (or the frog) in his ears.

As he followed the girl along the trail, Tom fought the impulse to ask her all the questions in his mind. She appeared to know already how lost he was, and it would not do to reinforce the impression of his helplessness. The trail left the forest at once, and opened up upon a small farmhouse where an athletic figure split wood next to a great pile of firewood that indicated the morning's work was nearly done. The sight of smoke coming from the chimney made Tom realize how hungry and tired he was.