Post by Torin on Feb 11, 2015 14:00:28 GMT
The trees outside were nothing more than a green and brown blur as Haikal drove slowly on the little winding road. It had probably been a good half hour since he’d seen any other cars, but that was how he liked it. Driving in the city was stressful.
Haikal let out a sigh and removed his left hand from the steering wheel. He propped his elbow on the edge of the door and rested his head in his palm. The young man was tired and wanted this trip home to be over already. This weekend was a bad time to go home—there were a number of tests and projects to finish for next week—but his mother had called saying that she and his father wanted him there to celebrate his birthday that had passed a few days ago. He didn’t want to go home, but his mother had pleaded with him and he hadn’t seen her in over a month. So here he was, two hours in of his three hour drive from the city and his college to the remote house he called home.
Haikal let out another sigh and switched hands on the steering wheel so he could turn up the music droning away. He had one of his favorite CDs in the player but wasn’t really paying attention to it. It was nothing more than background noise as he thought of other things, like life after college.
A shadow overtook the old truck and passed it, causing Haikal to straighten in his seat. It wasn’t a small shadow, rather something big, bigger than his truck. It could be a plane. It definitely had the shape of one. Leaning forward, Haikal craned his neck up to scan the sky. The roof of the truck blocked most of the sky and what little he could see was empty. Huh.
The young man looked back to the road only to swerve, wheels squealing over the pavement, and go off the road a moment later. His truck bounced over the rough and uneven earth for several seconds before the frontend of the truck rammed into a tree. The seatbelt went tight across his body as Haikal was thrown forward into the airbag that exploded in the way of his chest. He was jolted back into the seat as the truck came to rest.
Haikal sat there for several seconds, his chest heaving and heart pounding. He had not just seen what he’d just seen. It wasn’t possible. He’d not just seen what he’d just seen.
The young man brought his arms up and squelched the air from the air bag before he unbuckled himself, groaning with the motion. He’d be sore tomorrow. Opening the door, Haikal exited the damaged vehicle. His parents would kill him. He hissed as he put pressure on his left leg before he shifted his weight to his right foot. His heart still beat a rapid tattoo as he stood there, trying not to panic.
He’d not just seen that. He had not gone off the road to avoid hitting it. No, nononononono. He’d not. He had not. With every fiber of his being he was denying it.
Haikal turned toward the road and felt the blood drain from his face.
He really had just seen what he’d seen.
A dragon. There was a dragon, a grey feathery dragon, standing in the middle of the road.
That wasn’t possible.
~~~
"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly."