Out of Gas - A Micro Fiction

The pot is boiling on the stove. The foam comes near the edge and I blow on it to tame it. I was in my late 40s before I learned that trick. How do we miss the little things like that?

The pot contained everything and the kitchen sink. What had started as a busy day had become life soup. There is no known recipe for Life Soup. You just start putting things in the pot, whatever is available to you. And then you turn the heat up to high, give it a good stir and let her boil. Oh, and you’ll need some nice seasonings too, a little spice is nice.

I turned the burner down to a simmer, put the lid on it and set a timer for 20 minutes. I picked up the phone and opened it with a square-dance of the thumb. A heal and a toe and a heal and a toe and a slide slide slide. So, what’s new in the world…?

The road scrolled by at a steady pace. The curiosities displayed outside my window were many and varied. A man demonstrating carpentry tricks, a woman in flesh colored yoga pants with giant tits, some clips of old TV shows, adorable dogs, deplorable cats, some nature documentary bits and pieces. I found this surreal stream of humanity fascinating and uncanny, at times mildly interesting, boring or just plain terrifying. In many cases I could not tell what was real and what was fake. I closed my eyes and opened them again and I noticed that I was almost out of gas.

I pulled into a gas station and got out of the car and stretched. My mind was unfocused and confused. What a trip this was turning out to be. An hour of driving feels like a decade. I unscrewed the gas cap and turned to see that the pump was not your typical gas pump. It looked like a natural formation you would see at Yellowstone; multicolored and glistening with oil which ever so slowly oozed down its surface. I reached for the pump handle cautiously. That’s when the pump spoke to me.

“Arn’t you gunna to pay first, buddy? You gotta pay me if you want to get gas!”

Needless to say, I was shocked. I looked around and didn’t see a card reader. I wasn’t entirely comfortable talking to a gas pump and it must have sensed my confusion because it said “I don’t take cards”. I reached my hand into my jeans to see if I had cash. “Or cash” the pump added.
“So..” I started to say.
“I want your DNA” the pump said to me in a matter-of-fact way. “Maybe you could feed me a few hairs, or some skin flakes?”

I was feeling pretty nervous about this transaction to say the least. Maybe there is another gas station close by, I wondered. One that takes regular money and not DNA. I got in the car and closed the door and just sat there for a moment, trying to decide what to do. I considered Googling my situation to see if this kind of gas pump could be trusted, because I wasn’t going to give my DNA away to just anything, especially not a freaky, talking gas pump. Outside I heard the pump say “What are you doing in there, man? I’m hungry, you need gas, just get it over with already.”

I couldn’t bring myself to Google the situation. I nervously looked over at the pump and I’m pretty sure it winked at me. Fuck. I turned the car on and looked at the gas indicator. I probably had another 15 miles worth, maybe less.

“Where do you think you’re going buddy?” the pump yelled at me thru the glass. The surface of the pump was starting to ripple and move. It looked like it was breathing!

“I want your DNA, fucker!” The pump screamed angrily. That’s when it grew legs and stood up, taking on the form of a grotesque creature with hoses for arms and turning numbers in its eyes.

OH SHIT! I slammed the stick into first and hit the gas, laying two heavy black lines of rubber all the way from the pump to the road. I flew over the curb and bounced onto the highway without checking for traffic and narrowly missed a large truck that passed just in front of me with its horn blaring.

I looked in the rear view mirror and my blood ran cold. The creature was perusing me, running down the middle of the highway, waving it’s hose arms at me angrilyI drove faster and on the next straightaway I passed the truck with the pedal all the way to the floor. He laid on his horn for a solid minute as I passed and sped away.

I looked in the mirror again and could not see the creature anymore. I looked at the gas gauge and it didn’t look good. I was way in the red. There was nothing out here. It was a barren landscape with scattered trees and sagebrush. I felt the car lurch a little and knew I was going to run out of gas. The car was gasping for fuel and there were only fumes now. I saw a large tree a little ways off the road and turned off the highway. I was able to make it there and pulled around behind it where I might be a little hidden from the highway. The car sputtered and died and I turned the ignition off.

What a freaky experience! I was shaken and needed to get out and shake it off. I sat under the tree and smoked my pipe, replaying the situation over and over in my mind. What the hell was that thing!? I hope it gave up and turned back.

It was getting late now and the sun would set soon. I looked in the trunk and found a picnic blanket. I decided I would sleep in the car and try to find another station tomorrow. A normal one.

I curled up in the back seat and must have fallen asleep fairly quickly. It was dark outside when I heard the thump thump thump on the window. My eyes flew open! Three oily marks ran down the glass. Someone, or something was fiddling with the door handle, trying to get in!

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A short story by Moksha Marquardt

Thanks for reading. Leave a comment below if you have any thoughts on this bit of micro fiction. Also take a look at some of my art if you’re feeling inclined.