Falling Down, Standing Up

"If you fell down yesterday, stand up today."
-- H.G. Wells

Falling Down, Standing Up

A Short Story

Written By

PureSciFiPlus aka
[e-mail]

     The rain came pouring down in sheets of pure water. It came down everywhere. Luckily, only a few cars braved that occasionally cracking thunderstorm. Bradley sat behind the wheel of one of them. His hands were gripping that wheel so hard they started turning pale white.

     Bradley leaned forward. His upper body almost touched the wheel. He squinted his eyes to look out his windshield that was pure water too. The windshield wipers swept back and forth constantly. Those wipers opened several small holes Bradley could look through. It was then he saw the red light of an intersection coming up fast in front of him.

     Putting only a little bit of pressure on the brakes, then pumping them slightly, did Bradley stop his car. The car skidded momentary to the left, then the right, before Bradley regained control and stopped it. His right hand automatically went toward the passenger seat as a tied-up plastic bag, and a cooler started falling forward. Also in that seat sat Bradley’s cell phone. He snatched it up just before it slid off.

     The phone plugged into the battery charger got tangled in the shift handle. Bradley untangled then activated it. Then Bradley hit the phone icon. When that app came up, Bradley tapped the phone symbol next to ‘Stephanie’s Phone.’ “Hi, stupid. I’m on my way home.”

     “You’re the one who is stupid if you are out in this weather.” Bradley could barely hear Stephanie with all the rain hitting his car.

     Bradley glanced over and pushed the ‘speaker’ button on his phone. “You’re the stupid one. You wanted me to call you when I was on my way home.”

     “I didn’t think you were crazy enough to drive in this weather. You’re not driving while you are talking to me, are you?”

     “Of course, not. I’m not that crazy. I just play one in real life.”

     “This is no time for you to try to be funny. Where are you, exactly?”

     “I’m at the intersection of Ridgewood and Main.” Bradley squinted his eyes and saw through the holes the light had turned to a green arrow. He slowly started his turn when he heard a thud. His car skidded slightly.

     “What was that?” Stephanie asked. “I thought I heard something.”

     “It’s nothing. The rain is real heavy right now. That’s all.” That was what he told Stephanie. But what he thought was, the one time that I get hit, and I don’t know who did it. How am I supposed to sue if I don’t know who hit me? Hopefully, the street cameras can tell me that.

     “I don’t buy trash.” Stephanie starts squeaking every other word. “What’s going on?”

     Bradley didn’t say anything for about a minute. He just continued squinting out the holes as he gripped the steering wheel and leaned forward. “Okay, you got me. But it’s still nothing. I just skidded a little when I turned the corner.”

     “Are you sure that’s all it was?” Stephanie had already started calming down. Her speech was almost back to normal. “I’m sure I heard something.”

     “You’re hearing things again.” Bradley continued to drive without really seeing the road in front of him. He was only going between five and ten miles-per-hour. Every few seconds he glanced down at his speed. “Nothing happened to me or the car.”

     “Why did you mention the car? Did something happen to it?” Stephanie had obviously started panicking.

     “You worry too much.” Bradley started tapping on his brakes. The car skidded slightly. “I’m fine and so is the car.”

     “I’m not worried about you. I know you are a good driver and know how to drive in this kind of weather.” Stephanie spoke normally. “It’s all the other crazy drivers out there that I’m worried about.”

     Bradley started skidding off the road. His tired sounded with the grade of the soft spiked shoulder. He thought to himself as he slowly got back onto it. Normally, I hate this part of the road. But today I love it.

     No one spoke for several minutes. Bradley concentrated on his driving. Every few seconds he would glance over at the phone. “Are you still there? I can’t see if you are from this angle.”

     “I’m still here.” Stephanie only hesitated a few seconds before she continued. “I just didn’t want to interrupt you’re driving.”

     “I hate it when you do that.” Bradley didn’t sound mad or angry, just concerned.

     Bradley could hear Stephanie sigh. He glanced over at the phone. “I’m sorry.” Stephanie quickly changed the subject. “Do you have your phone plugged into the charger?”

     “Of course, I do. I always charge my phone up on my way home from work. Why do you ask a question that you already know the answer to?”

     “Because with all the confusion about the weather I was afraid you might have forgotten.” Stephanie’s voice started squeaking. “You may need it in weather like this. Besides, I want to keep you company until you get home.”

     “I want you to do that too. That’s one of the reasons I called you.” Bradley only glanced over at his phone for only a few seconds. “I don’t think I’m going to have any trouble getting home. But just in case I do I want you there if I need help.”

     Suddenly a flashing red tail light appeared in the holes in front of Bradley when he turned back toward the windshield. Bradley quickly hit his brakes and swerved his car to the left. The car bounced off the rear of the semi in front of him. It skidded off the road and into a guardrail. Bradley gripped the wheel tightly. His hands were going pale white.

     Stephanie started shouting and rambling. “What happened? I know I heard something this time. Talk to me big brother. Why aren’t you talking back.”

     When the car hit the guardrail, it flipped over it and started somersaulting down a small incline. It landed after several flips onto its roof. The airbag never opened. Bradley grabbed his cooler, phone, and the tied-up plastic bag. A few seconds later he threw through the front windshield. Boy, do I have a lawsuit against the airbag company if I survived all this.

     The phone got pulled out of the charger as Bradley put it in his pocket before he grabbed the cooler he used to smash through the windshield. Bradley bounced in the mud once before he flipped onto his back and started sliding down a muddy hill. All that happened just before the car landed on its roof and started sliding down right behind him.

     Bradley stopped in a small hole about the size of a partially dug grave. He glanced up a few seconds later to see his car headed right for him. After laying the cooler and the tied-up plastic bag down Bradley tried to get up. But he slipped in the mud and fell back down. His car slid over him a few seconds later. “I’ve fallen. And I can’t get up.”

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     The car stopped its movement, so the edge of the roof barely covered the hole Bradley laid in. Bradley opened his eyes and saw the front end of the roof only a few inches from his head. Looking over him, Bradley also saw the hood a few inches above him. The rain continued coming down. But it came down from the direction of his truck. So, the rain wasn’t hitting him directly. Boy, am I lucky. I’m trapped. But I’m not going to suffocate. And I’m not going to drown.

     Stephanie continued shouting questions and comments. But she could barely be heard by Bradley. Bradley looked down toward his pants. He could move his hands slightly. After flexing his finger, Bradley reached for his phone. Bradley pulled it out of his pocket. He looked at the battery icon. It registered fifty-seven percent. Bradley tapped the small phone icon, and it popped up on full screen. “Stop shouting little sister. I need your help. You must call 911 for me because I can’t. Don’t know if my GPS is working or not. But I doubt it. I’m about halfway between Piperton and Goodwin City.”

     Bradley waited for about a minute for a reply. He couldn’t even hear her breathing now. “Stephanie, did you hear me?”

     A few seconds later the phone shut itself off. “I hope Stephanie heard me. If not, I could be in real trouble. This rain isn’t supposed to end until about noon tomorrow.”

     “I don’t know if I can hold out that long,” Bradley said after a few minutes of scanning himself. “It’s just my legs that are trapped. And I don’t think they are broken or even sprained. I can’t see my toes move. But I can feel them.”

     Bradley glanced at his cooler next to his head a few minutes later. “At least I’m not going to starve to death. I have plenty to eat.” Bradley wrapped his arm around the cooler and brought it closer to him. Then with his other hand, he reached over to unzip it. He moaned as he stretched his hand over.

     Tipping the cooler slightly, Bradley looked inside it. Bradley groaned as he lifted his head and upper body. “It’s hard to do. But I can move the top half of me.”

     Reaching into the cooler, Bradley moved a zipper bag with four partially eaten ripped up chicken pieces aside to reveal another bag with cut up pieces of steak within it. “I did bring a lot to eat today, didn’t I? It’s almost as though I knew I would be working four hours of overtime today.”

     Bradley started eating the torn-up bite-sized chicken pieces. “This is very dry without anything to drink. I wonder if the rain is safe enough to drink. Some say it’s great for the hair, but not for drinking. Others say it’s safe both ways.”

     After eating a few more bites, Bradley shrugged and reached a cupped hand out into the rain. When he brought his drenched hand back a few seconds later, he drank it. “It tastes okay to me.”

     “Maybe Stephanie was right,” Bradley said after eating almost the whole bag of chicken. “I should have stayed at work. But I couldn’t do that. If I did, they would have put me back to work. I know we need the money. But that would have meant sixteen hours today. And since this rain is keeping the other security guards at home I would have stayed for the graveyard shift too, which leads to my shift at eight a.m. That would be a total of thirty-two hours in two days.”

     Bradley sighed a few minutes later. “I guess I could listen to my audio books and watch my DVDs for a little bit. But the batteries aren’t going to last but for a few hours each. Besides, I am getting a little sleepy. I know I shouldn’t, but I think I am just going to get some sleep.”

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     The sun shined through the cracks between the mud and Bradley’s car. Bradley could see it start to rise above him. He covered his just opened eyes from the sun with his arm. Then moved his arm slightly up to see a female leaning over him.

     “James, he’s starting to wake up.” Wanda and James appeared to be construction workers. “I don’t see anything wrong with him.”

     “I can see that, Wanda.” James stood on the other side of Bradley. “Are you okay? Can you stand up on your own or do you need help.”

     Bradley didn’t say anything. He just started getting up. “I think that I can.” A few seconds later Bradley stood up in his hole. His legs were wobbly. But he was standing.

Word Count = 1,966