It was a dark cold evening in south dakota, I was heading to my nieces house for a new years party that we had planned two weeks ago. I stopped at the grocery to grab snacks and drinks, then prepared for the 400 mile road-trip ahead.
I found they added a new Y fork in the road ahead, instead of going left around the mountain turned right directly through the pass supposedly cutting off an hour from the overall trip. Until I saw it was an unmaintained gravel road that bounced my Jeep multiple times before we were able to hit asphalt, it didn’t appear to cuase damge to the undercarriage thankfully but I’ll take the long route next time. I began the climb up windy gorge pass at a steady clip, giving my jeep the middle whenever possible tucking into my lane around corners. Then while going around the crown bend the driver front tire blew without anywhere to pull off I had to drive 10 miles to the nearest gas station, upon my arriaval the pump technician who heard the incoming racket raced over to offer me a hand fixing my flat. I accepted thankfully and I was back on the road quickly with only 50 miles to go it is pitch dark across these flat plains, I saw a lady standing in the road in an old maid uniform as if she wanted to commit suicide via motor vehicle. When I came to a stop and got out not a soul but me was around, I continued on the maid still lingering in my head as I drove with the right-of-way completly unaware of the vehicle not slowing down for the stop sign down the cross street of the T intercetion I was sideswipped by the pickup clipping 45 over flailing my Jeep into a ditch on the other side of the two lane road. When I came to the Jeep was lodged nose first into the dirt ditch slowly filling the interior with water — at my knees when I woke — my seatbelt kept me from drownding but it had locked due to my bodyweight resting on it I could feel the welt the crash cuased whenever I moved it sent stabbing pains through my whole body. I passed out again I woke to being winched out of the ditch, then firemen using jaws of life so the paramedics could assess my condition, again it faded. Finnaly I was able to come fully coherent finnally I thought I was done for, my niece was beside me holding my hand. She realized I was awake then began crying with joy thanking god I made it after her ex T-boned me as a last resort drunken rage, moments later the cops knocked then entered qurying my condition and if I could answer a few questions. I finished my report of what I could recolect, they left then I was informed by the doctor that I’ll never walk again due to my lower spine being severed by the collison. She offered to let me stay with her while I recovered I glady took her up on the extra time with her it has been three years afterall, she had a unique farm consisting of her iconic pink barn and stable adjacent to that was her newly built mid-centry 3 story farmhouse. Inside she prepared the downstairs bedroom for me to stay in shooting the breeze along the way helping where I could. After we had a bit of a cleaning part we sat at the table to some waffles and bacon with a glass of orange juice, BANG BANG BANG came across the door statling my niece on her feet right to her 12-guage before she broached the eye hole to see who was at the door.. it was her ex holding his favorite machette with a drunken look all over. I opened the door just as he charged like baseball I readied the shotgun butt first like a bat, one solid blow straight to his jaw sending a couple teeth flying as he dropped bleeding and moaning then fetched the land-line phone from the wall in the kitchen one room over, and quick dialed the sherrifs office to let them know about the drunken broken jawed fella on my porch. Calmy returned to dinner with a smile and cheesecake for dessert, I cheered with exitment when my niece brought me a slice of cheesecake we nibbled on our dessert while we shot the breeze around 40 minutes passed we saw light heading up the 2 mile long driveway. The sherrif arrived only to find the man not on the porch or anywhere in sight, he headed into the dark barn with a flashlight alongside his police issue side arm he scanned every nook and cranny of the barn to find nothing as he was heading back out the man dropped from above taking the sherrif out with his machette arming himself with the hand gun he snuck through the passanger door of the cruiser to fetch the shotgun. Against the back half of the crusier he opened fire on the farmhouse peppering the walls and windows with buck-shot, by the time he ran out of ammunition with the shotgun he had already began entering the debris cloud with the sidearm in hand. My niece was cuaght in the initial spray through the kitchen window while coversing with the police station — she was only able to convey her address and that the sherrif was killed — I am still in shock breathing heavily I crawled over to her lifeless bleeding corpse to fetch the 12-guage leaning on the wall, I cocked it and laid down in front of the door watching the small holes for movment in the debris cloud that the wind was lacking to blow away. From behind the drunk yanked my pony tail sending sharp pains through my previous injuries, he held his switchblade firmly to my neck he was yelling but I was in another realm the shouts came acrossed muffled as my life flashed before me once again knocking on deaths door, I came out of it when an officer breached the front door ready to fire just as the drunk went to pull he dropped lifeless. I just stood there until paramedics rushed in with a blanket, it was finnaly over my sister is in the ICU but looking at a swift recovery what a nightmare new years indeed.
Twister Fiction 