Soapbox Racing on a Dare

After their car suffers a demolishion of huge perportions, Alex and I get help fixing it.

"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes," Alex quoted as he looked over at the disaster that lay before our feet.

"Damn experience," I muttered through teeth tightly clamped. This was followed by a sigh that sounded more like a grunt.

"Yeah, well.... we did learn something in all this." Alex added still sounding cavalier.

I wanted to hit him. My hands had already balled into fists. I blew out another windy breath in the hopes of breaking the tension that had settled in my shoulders and neck.

"There is no way we are doing to get this put back together before race time tomorrow."

"I don't know. We pull an all-nighter, I believe we might be able to squeeze by."

"Yeah, and then try to function on an empty tank. You're not the one hurling themselves down Radley's Hill on a hope and a prayer."

Alex had the gall to chuckle at that.

I shook my head and moved away from him. The temptation to belt his ass into next week swirled in my gut. I knew that was not the answer, but I needed the physical release.

"What if we ask Annie to help. She could bring a fresh perspective and maybe even figure a way to make this bucket of bolts and twigs work like it should. Last thing we need is a flying leap into the lake."

I bit the inside of my lip, then began to nod. Annie was smart as a whip. Knew it too. I wasn't so sure I wanted to deal with her 'I told ya so's', but I also didn't want to pull out of this dare.... or wind up swimming back to the edge of the lake with no roadster to show for my trouble.

"Call her," I muttered staring down at the rubble of pieces barely hanging off the boxcar we hoped would be the fastest roadster this town had ever seen.



When Annie arrived she fell silent after giving us a cheery hello. She surveyed the scene as she walked around the wreckage.

"Well, can you help?" I asked trying to keep the edge out of my voice.

"I think," she began reaching out to touch the mechanism for the brakes. "We can salvage some of these parts and I may just have some other bits that can help. I'll be right back."

She left, leaving Alex and I staring at the splintered mass on the garage floor.

"What could help?" I muttered.

"Annie likes to tinker. Lord knows what she's got, but I'd put money on it being something that will make this work."

"She can conjure miracles now, can she?"

"There abouts."



When Annie returned we got to work. First we separated all the parts that could still be used or at least made to work. Annie's tinkering had provided us with another set of brakes, if fact a better set than the one we had devised. The fact that it fit into the boxcar was a miracle of sorts. We made it work. And by the time the sun was cresting the horizon we had a fully, yet untested, boxcar roadster ready to take on the hill and stay out of the water.

Annie had been a miracle worker. Not once had she uttered an 'I told ya so'. In fact, she had worked as hard as we had fixing up the little car.

"We still got time if you want to grab a few hours sleep, Taylor, my man," Alex crowed giving me a wink as we stood admiring the fully functioning car before us.

"Shouldn't we test it out first?" I asked - always the skeptic.

"Leave that to Annie and I, we'll take her out and tweak her. You grab some shuteye."

"We'll wake you if we need to do anything else, but I think we managed to put her back together just fine," Annie added.



"D'ya think it will make it down the hill," Alex asked Annie as they pushed the wee car out of the garage.

"I think it has a better chance than some," she said patting the front hood.

"Too bad we didn't have more time to spruce it up some."

"I kinda like it. A mishmash. It's unique."



At race time, Alex and I maneuvered the car into its starting gate, I climbed in and tried to get as comfortable as I could.

"Well, this is it." I said as I ran my hands over the tiny steering wheel. "I sure hope Annie's miracle rubbed off on it. We could use this win."

Alex nodded as he scanned the course before us. Radley's hill was a monstrosity. A graveled road that tilted the world. At the bottom was the highway and beyond that, the lake. It glistened in the sun.

"I hope the train tracks don't take out the wheels. I'd hate to be riding my ass down the final part of the course."

"It'll hold," Annie said coming up beside us. "I think you have a good chance of winning. I've seen Roger's car." She made a face like she'd smelled month old dirty socks.

"You got this," Alex said.

I nodded. There were no words. The nerves had reved up and were choking me. When I began to cough, Annie handed me a bottle of water and I chugged most of it before handing it back.

"Kill it," she said as she and Alex got into position to give me a starting push.



The car felt every bump and gash in the graveled surface. With my hands tight on the wheel I took off almost flying over the first hump in the road. The landing nearly knocked out my teeth, but I landed solidly and sprinted onward. The car held and rumbled over the rest of the dips and dives in the road. At the tracks I held my breath as I hit the edge then soared over the tracks landing with a wobble I was able to recover from. At the base of the hill I slammed on the brakes praying I would stop before tasting pavement and skittering across the highway. The car slid digging into the movable surface, but just as I reached the edge it stopped. I let out the breath I had been holding.

When the dust cleared, I was upright and the car had held together. I looked over at Roger in his own car. He was wedged in the ditch, his car in shambles. His fingers still holding the steering wheel in white knuckles.

He let out a loud whoop. Adrenaline surged through me and I joined him. Our voices could be heard all the way to the top of the hill where Alex and Annie stood - specks in the distance. I could see them wave and I waved back triumphant. We had done it.





Word count = 1149 words.
Notes ▶︎

Written for "Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest"  April 2026 entry
Written and posted April 29, 2026
 

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