The Horn

Short Story Day 130 of 365

Since they were in middle school together, Joseph and Ty were inseparable, spending their summers hanging around doing nothing or going fishing. Mainly they talked and dreamed about what life would be like as adults.

Now, as grownups they were finishing each other’s sentences and journaling their thoughts and ideas. When they compared journal notes, the entries were remarkably similar.

“Ty,” Joseph said. “I’ve got this idea I’d love to pull off some time. The other day I saw a car I thought was yours, and it turns out it was. I was so tempted to pull in behind you at a light, get out and confront you, knock on your window and just ham up a scenario, you know, just for all the other drivers.”

“I think you’ve been watching too many Road Rage videos, Joey my boy. If you do it, though, you know I’ll play the game. Yeah, could be fun.”

A couple years had passed since that conversation, but Joseph was still looking for the right opportunity when a Camry just like Ty’s cut off Joseph in rush hour traffic.

“Ahh, I see. You wanna play the game now, Ty? Oh good. This is gonna be fun. Finally. I’ve waited a loooong time for this,” Joseph said out loud.

Joseph laid on the horn for what seemed like a minute. Nobody in traffic could move. It had come to a dead standstill. A few dozen drivers had stopped and were waiting for traffic to start rolling again.

He jammed his gear into Park and got out. Joseph had no idea what would happen from this point on but he was ready to put on his best acting skills.

As Joseph passed by the rear passenger window, he noticed a small Green Peace sticker on the window – something Ty never would have put on his windows – which is about the same time he realized Ty wasn’t in the car at all, so he began to slowly retrace his steps backward.

Joseph heard a distant horn. Two lanes over and three cars back, Ty actually had gotten out of his vehicle – the same make model and color as the one in front of him – and was waving at Joseph and yelling, “Get back in your car, ya Bonehead!”

Kinder words have never been spoken under such dire circumstances.