Screamer
When they took him away he was screaming. He didn't stop screaming till they sedated him in the ambulance.
It was because he had a car. The girls were always impressed by a car; or at least it was a way of getting about that didn't involve buses or a lift from a parent. It meant independence, and that's what he represented. Anyway, whatever the reason, it helped pull the girls, and that's what really mattered.
As soon as he got the car there was no shortage of girls who wanted to go out with him. He knew that it was mostly because of the car, but he didn't really care. At first it just meant that he was the most popular guy around. He liked that. It was amazing what people would do to get a lift. Except Joanna.
Joanna was the girl all the boys wanted, attractive, intelligent, popular, and classy. She never seemed to have a steady boyfriend, just accepted dates for company. The boy really wanted to go out with her. Even though he hardly knew her, he thought he was in love with her. It was probably for Joanna that he scrimped and saved for the car, but she was totally unimpressed. She was independent in the extreme. Whenever she went out with a guy she would meet him at the venue, wherever it was. Nobody knew much about her, but the boy had fervently believed that the car would win her, and that he would be her first steady boyfriend.
It was the occasion of the exam results, traditionally a time when all the kids from the class went out to a night club. The kids all turned up, with or without a partner, and just hung out together. The boy didn't have a partner that night, and nor did Joanna. Most of the "single" girls wanted to be with him for a lift home or somewhere, but the boy only wanted to be with Joanna. They got on great. For once he didn't talk about the car as that had seemed to bore her in the past. They talked about everything, and they had an awful lot in common. They danced well together, and when they kissed, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before. It was like a dream come true for the boy.
He had completely forgotten about his car all evening, and he really didn't care whether he had one or not. Indeed, he would have gladly sold it at that time if Joanna had asked him to. Instead, she asked him if he would give her a lift home.
He was stunned. At first he couldn't speak. When he found the words, they came out in a kind of stammer. Of c-c-course he would.
They left the night club together. They found his car. He opened the door for her and she sat in the passenger seat. He got into the drivers seat. He felt so big, so proud, so happy, he couldn't stop smiling. Joanna was smiling too as she told him where she lived. They kissed again and set off into the country in the direction of her home.
He hadn't wanted to impress her in the night club, but once he was behind the wheel of his car, he felt an irresistible urge to impress her with his driving skills. As he went racing through the country lanes, squealing round corners, he felt in charge and in control. Joanna was appealing to him to slow down, there was no hurry. He would not listen. He was the man. He had won Joanna. He was in love and so was she. She began to sound a bit frightened. He told her not to worry that he had excellent control of the car, and drove even faster; not recklessly he told himself, just faster.
He was going round a bend, fast but in control, when the car started to spin. He wrenched at the wheel to straighten it, but it carried on. He stamped on the brakes to stop it, but it seemed to go faster in the spin. Then, as he heard Joanna scream, the car hit the kerb and started to roll over. He was thrown out of the car, and landed in a field bruised and shaken, but miraculously unhurt. He saw the car roll over one more time and come to rest right side up in the field he had landed in. Joanna was not screaming now. He rushed over to the car to see to Joanna, but before he could get there, the car burst into flames. In the light from the fire, he could see Joanna's head forced through the windscreen facing him. Her eyes were closed and there was no expression on her face. The flames caught her clothes and flicked around her eyes, burning her eyelids away. Her sightless, lidless eyes stared out from her burning skull and a look of total hatred and accusation came on her face. She did not make a sound as the flames took her. She just kept looking at him.
That was when he started screaming.
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