AWWD (The NIght Sarah Came Home)
Chapter 3 excerpt
by William Joseph


3

December 26, 2032: Sunday
9:30 PM
1Feb1989sm


As Kid braced against the back door inside the vehicle, he knew they were doomed.
      Salt water shed off of the tires in high arcing sheets as Brian turned the front of the truck into the cold Atlantic Ocean.
      “Brian, what are you doing?” Heidi said loudly from the passenger seat, her bright blue eyes piercing, not probing.
      “Four-wheeling!” Brian exclaimed with an ear-to-ear smile, “I’ve been dying to do this since we fixed the front drive-shaft.” The water splashed high in the air as he drove in the shallow surf. He then turned the vehicle back towards the desolate beach.
      “Just be careful,” Heidi warned. “You’re getting carried away,” his girlfriend said with both hands braced against the dashboard.
      Once more he turned the nose of the truck into the surf, and a tall wave splashed over the top of the hood. He quickly turned back towards the relative safety of the sand.
      “Whew! Go Brian!” Maria yelled as she slid across the floor of the truck, which had no seats in the back. Her straight dark hair whipped back and forth across her face.
      Trying to turn around while bouncing up and down in her front seat, Heidi said, “Stop encouraging him.”
      Turning the truck further into the sea, Brian stopped short and put the truck in reverse. The tires spun, but the vehicle wouldn’t move. He lowered his window, popped his head out into the bitterly cold air and looked at his back tires. They were completely submerged. Turning his head forward and seeing the encroaching storm front over the ocean, Brian yelled, “Come on! Not now!” Gunning the engine, the vehicle didn’t lurch a single millimeter.
      “Four low!” Jess yelled out from the back.
      “No good.”
      “What?”
      “I’m already in four low.”
      Looking out the window, Jess barked, “This is not happening!”
      Heidi looked at Brian, and her expression and posture clearly said, I told you so. Brian just mumbled, “I know, I know.”
      Kid decided to climb out of the truck and survey the situation from outside. “Lean forward,” he said to Sarah as he pushed open the back door.
      “Hope you brought your waders,” Jess warned.

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