by Alice Bello
~*~
Gram drives like a snail, Lucy thought. It was the second time she’d driven with her grandmother, but she had been in a crying mini-coma the last time, covered in special sauce, and teetering on the edge of disaster. She didn’t remember her grandmother driving so slowly, and the way she kept looking over to the side of the road… Lucy wondered if her grandmother could see any more. Was she looking for an exit?
If Lucy had known her grandmother drove like this on the interstate, she would’ve insisted she had driven—maybe she would’ve surprised her grandmother with the red convertible?
Suddenly Gram swerved over to the shoulder of the road and stopped. She’d kicked up a cloud of dust and made the brakes squeal as she brought the huge old car to a lurching halt.
“We’re here,” she chimed and fixed her sunglasses in the rearview mirror.
Lucy looked around her, peering through the windshield and the windows with confusion. “This is the side of a highway.”
“Indeed,” Gram said, “the perfect place for a little experiment.”
Lucy didn’t like the way her grandmother said “experiment.” “Do I have to pick up litter or something… some kind of punishment for keeping things from you?”
“No, dear, this isn’t your punishment.”
Okay, that didn’t sound good.
“I just want to see what happens.” She turned and smiled encouragingly at Lucy. “Just get out and stand there for a minute.”
Lucy could feel a grimace slide over her face. “You’re totally going ditch me, aren’t you?”
Gram frowned. “Ditch you?”
“You know,” Lucy sighed. “Leave me out here to walk home.”
Gram raised an eyebrow and smiled wickedly. “That isn’t your punishment either. So stop worrying about it. Right now I just need you to stand over there.” She pointed to the guardrail.
“Okay,” Lucy said. If she leaves me out here I’m so going to put Nair in her shampoo!
Lucy opened the car door and got out, shutting it behind her. She looked around and didn’t see anything, except a small blond pile of road-kill. She looked back to her grandmother. “Now what?”
“Just wait there. I’m going to drive up about fifty feet. Just don’t move, alright?”
Lucy shrugged as her grandmother moved the car away. This has to be the lamest practical joke I’ve ever seen. She hoped her grandmother hadn’t just snapped. The stress from having Lucy and her family living with her hadn’t seemed to take a toll, but then adding vampires and werewolves to the mix had to have its own impact.
Gram got out of the car and gave Lucy a little wave.
After a moment or two of the only sounds were the passing cars and the wind they caused. Lucy rubbed at her eyes. The dry air was starting to irritate them. “What are we looking for?” Lucy yelled to her grandmother.
“We’re waiting.” Gram hollered back.
“Waiting for what?” Lucy called, but then she saw her grandmother was holding her hand up over her eyes like a visor. She was looking at something, and it had to be behind Lucy. Lucy gulped and turned to look.
Nothing.
Just open road, sand, and oncoming traffic. Then Lucy heard panting. She looked down, and peering up at her was a golden retriever, just a puppy, and he was wagging his little puppy tail and panting with his little puppy tongue out. His eyes were full of excitement.
Well, one of his eyes was, the other drooped out of its socket, and there was dried blood smeared from its neck down its chest.
Lucy screamed and took off running toward Gram and the car. Gram had her hands clasped over her chest, a crazy look of pride on her face.
“Drive!” Lucy screamed. Gram just stood there, smiling like a lunatic, watching Lucy scramble over to the car, yank the door open and throw herself into the passenger seat. “Get in here and drive!”
Lucy’s grandmother started laughing, looking happier and happier.
Lucy looked back and could see the little bundle of dead dog dragging itself after her. She could hear it whimpering and yapping for her to come back.
“Now old woman… or I’m going to drive off without you!”
Gram cackled and held up her hand. The car keys were dangling from her index finger.
“Please…” Lucy whimpered, feeling like she was on the verge of tears and a nervous breakdown.
Gram rolled her eyes and said, “Alright.” She slid into the driver’s seat and started the car. A moment later they were speeding out into traffic, making motorists swerve to miss them.
“Don’t kill us!” Lucy said. But she felt better as they shot down the highway. She looked out the back window again and saw the puppy fall over. Somehow she just knew the poor little guy was dead again. “What the hell did you do to that thing?”
Gram scoffed. “You mean, what did you do to that unfortunate canine? That’s what you want to know.”
Lucy felt a nauseating chill well up inside her. “I did that?”
Gram looked over at Lucy, and abruptly her expression changed to worry. “You look so pale.”
Lucy ran her hands down over either the side of her face. “Oh, I wonder why?”
“Just breathe…,” her grandmother said, turning off the interstate and then pulling onto the ramp leading back the way they’d came. “I’ll explain everything when we get back home.”
Lucy was okay with that. She didn’t think she could stomach an explanation right then, not with the car moving and the image of that poor little dead dog still so fresh in her mind.