Field work

Flash Fiction from the Fathom Anthology

I wrote this a few years ago after seeing a car apparently abandoned in a field on my way home from work.

Gary had almost finished for the day. Five o’clock on a washed-out Thursday in February and he was on his way to the station to drop off the squad car before making his way home. It had been a crap day. He deserved a curry and a couple of beers.

The sun was setting over the fields and as he slowed for the bend a jagged orange light blinded him. He squinted and flipped down the sun visor. ‘Bloody sun.’

He hadn’t time for sunsets, or sunrises or anything that involved wasting time admiring the view which was why, when he saw the car planted in the middle of the field, he almost didn’t stop. His shift was practically over. He could do without joyriders or old blokes who couldn’t manage the corners. He slowed down reluctantly. The car was a beat up Fiesta and he couldn’t pretend he hadn’t seen it.

He pulled onto the side of the road and radioed in. The Fiesta sat at the end of a smooth arc of skid tracks, facing into the sun. The driver had made no attempt to shift it. In fact it looked as if he was still there, sitting upright behind the wheel. He was probably hurt, which meant paramedics, maybe a fire crew, hours spent writing reports. Grudgingly, edged out of the squad car and began picking his way across the sticky field.

‘I bet it’s a bloody kid,’ he muttered. ‘Too bloody fast, too pissed, not looking where he’s going.’ Mud clogged the bottom of his shoes. He tried to kick it off. He swore again.

As he drew close to the driver’s side he could see the trademark baseball cap, the gold hoop earring. Definitely a kid, no more than 19, just sitting in the middle of a muddy field, staring into space. He hated these kids – car-jacking wisecracking smartarses who really thought they were something.

Gary bent down and tapped on the window. At first there was no response then the driver started as if from a trance and wound down the window. Gary leaned in, ‘What the hell are you doing, sitting there like an idiot?’

The lad smiled. ‘Just watching the sunset, mate. Isn’t it beautiful?’