DeletedUser8396
Guest
Hey everybody!
With this modest return of the oh so beloved Creative Writing Competition, we had three splendid works to choose from. But there must always be a winner, and, in this case, it was by Hassan-al-Sabbah with his piece Not Without a Fight. He will be receiving the prized Muse title along with 200 gold to an account of his choice!
______________________________
In second place was Varun with his piece Summer Sings. He will be receiving the Scholar title!
______________________________
I would like to thank the remaining entrant as well, and you may now reveal your identity!
Thank you and, again, congratulations!
-Apebble
With this modest return of the oh so beloved Creative Writing Competition, we had three splendid works to choose from. But there must always be a winner, and, in this case, it was by Hassan-al-Sabbah with his piece Not Without a Fight. He will be receiving the prized Muse title along with 200 gold to an account of his choice!
It was hot, brutally hot, and the steam emanating from the broken radiator made it even worse. The car thermometer showed 104, and it was just past one on the afternoon. Plenty of time for temperature to reach the predicted 109. He was out in the middle of nowhere, miles from the nearest town of any size, and cell reception was hit and miss at best.
There had been had a signal less than 30 minutes earlier. He knew, because the attack alarm on his Grepo app had gone off. He'd pulled over to the side of the road and glanced at his phone. Two attacks, and one support so far, and judging from the time, a potential CS. He wasn't worried. The attack was still over 8 hours away, and he'd be home in plenty of time to get on his computer and take care of things. They hadn't taken a city from him yet, and they wouldn't get this one either. Not this time. Not without a fight. He used the mobile app to post a quick support request in his alliance forum with as much detail as he could. He thought about sending a mass mail, but decided against it. He wanted to get moving again, because the sooner he got home the sooner he could deal with it.
It must have been when he took off again that his tires kicked up something that punctured the radiator. He never noticed the gauge as it rose into the red, but he did notice the steam coming from under the hood. He spotted two trees side by side next to the road a couple hundred yards ahead and eased the car over to the shoulder. They wouldn’t offer much shade yet, the sun was still way too high, but it was better than nothing. He grabbed his phone to call the auto club … no signal. He uttered an expletive and got out. He wasn't too concerned... he had some sodas and Gatorade in the cooler, and had eaten around 11:30. With any luck another motorist would come by and lend a hand. This was west Texas after all, and folks were all too happy to help a fella out.
45 minutes went by, and not a single other car in sight. There was nothing stirring, no breeze, not even a buzzard circling overhead. The car had cooled down a bit, and he used an empty plastic Gatorade bottle to poor some of the melted ice water from the cooler into the radiator. It wouldn't get him far, but maybe if he could make it to the top of that slight rise in the distance he could get a cell signal. He left the slight shade of his two trees and babied the car slowly as far as he dared. He made the top of the hill before the temperature gauge jumped back into the red, and killed the ignition. He was totally exposed here, no shade at all, but he got what he had hoped for. The signal indicator on his phone alternated between 1 and 2 bars.
The call to the auto club went fairly well. Luckily his GPS had a better signal than his phone, so he was able to pinpoint his location pretty accurately, and they relayed it to the nearest available service truck. Unfortunately that was still nearly 2 hours away. He tried to connect to the mobile app, but had no luck. Uttering another expletive, he turned the car around and headed back to the hospitality of the twin trees. While he waited two of those friendly west Texas motorist stopped to check on him. His faith in humanity was restored.
He finally caught a break. The tow truck showed up a bit earlier than predicted, and soon they had his car loaded up and were on their way. The nearest town with a dealership that could work on his car was nearly 70 miles away, and they had enough time to get there before they closed. Once they had been on the road for about 15 minutes he was able to get a good signal on his phone and call them. No, they didn't have a loaner they could let him use, but they did have a small rental agency next door they could put him in touch with. Minutes later he had a car reserved. Then he tried the mobile app again, and this time it worked. He posted a quick update, then downed a Diet Coke and some beef jerky while talking about how god-awful hot it was with the tow truck driver.
They pulled into the dealership just about an hour later, and he thanked the driver and went to talk to the service manager. It didn’t take long to write things up, and soon he was at the rental agency next door. A few minutes to check his ID and run his credit card, and he was on his way. The town had a Dairy Queen, so he stopped there and grabbed a double meat combo meal, then hit the road again. He was still 90 miles from home, but there was plenty of time to get there and log on to his computer. No, they weren't going to take his city. Not this time. Not without a fight.
There had been had a signal less than 30 minutes earlier. He knew, because the attack alarm on his Grepo app had gone off. He'd pulled over to the side of the road and glanced at his phone. Two attacks, and one support so far, and judging from the time, a potential CS. He wasn't worried. The attack was still over 8 hours away, and he'd be home in plenty of time to get on his computer and take care of things. They hadn't taken a city from him yet, and they wouldn't get this one either. Not this time. Not without a fight. He used the mobile app to post a quick support request in his alliance forum with as much detail as he could. He thought about sending a mass mail, but decided against it. He wanted to get moving again, because the sooner he got home the sooner he could deal with it.
It must have been when he took off again that his tires kicked up something that punctured the radiator. He never noticed the gauge as it rose into the red, but he did notice the steam coming from under the hood. He spotted two trees side by side next to the road a couple hundred yards ahead and eased the car over to the shoulder. They wouldn’t offer much shade yet, the sun was still way too high, but it was better than nothing. He grabbed his phone to call the auto club … no signal. He uttered an expletive and got out. He wasn't too concerned... he had some sodas and Gatorade in the cooler, and had eaten around 11:30. With any luck another motorist would come by and lend a hand. This was west Texas after all, and folks were all too happy to help a fella out.
45 minutes went by, and not a single other car in sight. There was nothing stirring, no breeze, not even a buzzard circling overhead. The car had cooled down a bit, and he used an empty plastic Gatorade bottle to poor some of the melted ice water from the cooler into the radiator. It wouldn't get him far, but maybe if he could make it to the top of that slight rise in the distance he could get a cell signal. He left the slight shade of his two trees and babied the car slowly as far as he dared. He made the top of the hill before the temperature gauge jumped back into the red, and killed the ignition. He was totally exposed here, no shade at all, but he got what he had hoped for. The signal indicator on his phone alternated between 1 and 2 bars.
The call to the auto club went fairly well. Luckily his GPS had a better signal than his phone, so he was able to pinpoint his location pretty accurately, and they relayed it to the nearest available service truck. Unfortunately that was still nearly 2 hours away. He tried to connect to the mobile app, but had no luck. Uttering another expletive, he turned the car around and headed back to the hospitality of the twin trees. While he waited two of those friendly west Texas motorist stopped to check on him. His faith in humanity was restored.
He finally caught a break. The tow truck showed up a bit earlier than predicted, and soon they had his car loaded up and were on their way. The nearest town with a dealership that could work on his car was nearly 70 miles away, and they had enough time to get there before they closed. Once they had been on the road for about 15 minutes he was able to get a good signal on his phone and call them. No, they didn't have a loaner they could let him use, but they did have a small rental agency next door they could put him in touch with. Minutes later he had a car reserved. Then he tried the mobile app again, and this time it worked. He posted a quick update, then downed a Diet Coke and some beef jerky while talking about how god-awful hot it was with the tow truck driver.
They pulled into the dealership just about an hour later, and he thanked the driver and went to talk to the service manager. It didn’t take long to write things up, and soon he was at the rental agency next door. A few minutes to check his ID and run his credit card, and he was on his way. The town had a Dairy Queen, so he stopped there and grabbed a double meat combo meal, then hit the road again. He was still 90 miles from home, but there was plenty of time to get there and log on to his computer. No, they weren't going to take his city. Not this time. Not without a fight.
______________________________
In second place was Varun with his piece Summer Sings. He will be receiving the Scholar title!
______________________________
I would like to thank the remaining entrant as well, and you may now reveal your identity!
Thank you and, again, congratulations!
-Apebble