This week’s writing prompt is: You’re traveling in a rental car when you hear the thumping of a flat tire. You pull over and discover the thumping is not coming from a flat, after all, but from the trunk. What or who is making the noise?
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I Hear You Knocking…
Leave it to me to be late again. Why can’t I ever get to where I’m supposed to be on time. This time, it was not my fault. My car died. I was ready in plenty of time to drive to school to pick up my son, and the darn car wouldn’t’ start. I tried jumping it, pushing it, even kicked it a couple of times, but it wouldn’t start. But I didn’t panic. I still had time. I quickly got on the phone called Enterprise car rental, they came and picked me up, drove me back to Enterprise, I filled out a few forms and I was on my way to pick Charlie up in a less than stellar car.
Just as I was about to reach school, where Charlie was waiting, I heard a ‘Thump’, then another one, and then another one. Great! I made it to school but now I’ll have to deal with a flat tire. Just my luck.
I pulled up to the curb where Charlie was impatiently waiting. By the scowl on his face, I assumed that he was not only upset that I was late but also mad about me showing up in a junk car that had a flat tire, meaning that there would be more delay.
As I got out of the car, I noticed something very strange. All of the tires were intact and fully inflated.
I grabbed Charlie’s backpack and went to put it in the trunk, when I heard that Thump, Thump, Thump, again.
Charlie sarcastically said, “Nice dump truck you got here. What’s the matter? Mom wouldn’t give you the keys to the car again?” He added, “What’s in the trunk?”
Not wanting to find out, I decided to put Charlie’s backpack in the back seat and said, “Oh nothing of importance, let’s go.”
We hadn’t driven very far when all of sudden I began to hear what appeared to be crying and it wasn’t Charlie. It definitely was coming from the inside of the car, more specifically, the trunk. And then it stopped.
“Dad,” Charlie said, “There is definitely someone or something in the trunk that is alive. Care to explain?”
I decided that honesty was the best policy, “I just picked up the car and I have no clue what’s in there.”
“Then hadn’t we take a look?” was Charlie’s reply.
I hate it when he’s right all the time. I pulled over to the curb, we both got out and went to the back of the car, pretty much expecting the worst. My head was filled with pictures of tortured, kidnapped victims, mob hits, abandoned babies and dead or mortally wounded animals.
I unlocked the lid and slowly pulled it up. What greeted my eyes was not what I expected. It was a child, a boy, probably about 6 years old and he was fast asleep.
Both Charlie and I looked at each other and said simultaneously, “What the…” As we spoke the boy woke up, rubbed his eyes and said, “Can you take me back to my daddy’s work now?”
We drove back to Enterprise, to see police cars in the front questioning one of the employees. In fact, it was the guy who had picked me up to bring me the car. It turned out that he had brought his son to work today and through the hustle and bustle of work, didn’t notice his son climb into the trunk of the car he was inspecting before driving to pick me up. He certainly wasn’t paying attention when he shut the trunk lid. When I had left to pick up Charlie, he noticed his son was missing. After a furtive search with no luck, he called the police.
His son, after climbing into to trunk to play hide and seek from his father, saw his father close the lid and assumed he was being taken for a special ride. It wasn’t until some time later that the boy realized he couldn’t get out of the car and started banging around. Having no luck, he cried for a while until he fell asleep. And that was when we found him.
All this was explained to the police when we arrived with his son. I got warned to check a rental car better before I take possession of it. The father was also told that he’d needed to watch his son better when he is at work, or else he would be reported to Child Protective Services. And that was the end of it.
Charlie and I finally made it home. It ended up costing me a fortune to get our car repaired. And Charlie, well, he has decided to take the school bus home from now on, it’s more efficient, with no crazy side trips.
