So, as part of my attempts to get myself writing more, I've decided to get a blog, and to type up some uber short stories straight out, rather than anguish over each word for six months on everything. Leave the anguish for the big things And, as a stopgap measure, I've decided to use this devart journal as a blog until I actually get a wordpress or livejournal or whatever. So, in the spirit of doing things as part of other things, I bring you: The Accident.



He'd only had it a year before the accident.

Terry had been filling his Barina's tank up when he noticed an advert sitting on the bowser. "Buy a 1.25 litre coke and you can win one of six Ford Utes!" it promised. He went inside to pay for the petrol, and, on a whim, grabbed a bottle out of the fridge. The ute was delivered a month later; two photographers watched as a PR rep handed over the keys.

It was a sleek black ute, with speakers the size of his old car's tyres and enough room in the tray for four people to lie down. He put a blanket and pillow next to his tools, and, at a party a few weeks later, talked a girl into sneaking off with him to christen his prize. He hauled beer and surfboards around, and the engine purred and thrummed without strain. It took his mates two months to talk him into letting one of them drive; by then he had washed it a dozen times. In the depths of summer, the cool water felt good on his broad shoulders. He drove it to the beach, to the gym, to work, to the movies; alone and with company. The girls never seemed to last for more than a few weeks, but he never minded. The ute was his companion.

When the accident happened, he had two cases of beer in the tray; they smashed through the rear windscreen, and one flying bottle tore open his arm from shoulder to wrist. The scar would never go away. He ran into the side of a turning car; he'd gunned the engine and closed the gap before the other driver could do anything. He'd been on his way to a party, in a good mood, and loving his life. The police report said that speed was probably a factor in the cause of the accident, and charged him with dangerous driving occasioning death.