An untitled short story about an 8-track player

A friend gave me a list of words that I had to use in a short story. Bonus points if I could use "8-track player". This story is an example of the horrors one suffers when a song is stuck in their head.

On a dark desert highway...

Sally was beginning to feel like she was going insane. She'd had the song "Hotel California" stuck in her head for days. She couldn't remember why it popped into her head, or if there was a reason, but unfortunately it was one of those songs where she knew all the lyrics, so there was no way to get it out. She wondered if she actually PLAYED the song, if that would help. She had just found her 8-track player the other day, and she knew she had a few Eagles 8-tracks. Perhaps that'll help.

Cool wind in my hair....

The situation had become dire at this point. She could think of nothing but that damn song. She was humming it. She was singing it. Hell, she even danced around to it a few times. She got out the 8-track player. However, she was going to have to rewire a few things before she could activate it.

Warm smell of colitas...

Thirty minutes later, (this whole time she had the ending guitar solo going through her head over and over and over), she got the 8-track plugged in, hooked up and ready to go. She switched it on. The light indicating the program number about lit up the room. Which was promising. If that thing still glows, then the 8-track will probably still play.

Rising up through the air...

So, the 8-track player was up and running. Now, the only challenge was to find the 8-track tape itself. She knew she had it. It must be somewhere with her other antique media....records, beta tapes, laserdiscs.

Up ahead in the distance...

And in the back of the closet, farther than she thought was possible without violating the very laws of physics....she found it. The 8-track tape box.

I saw a shimmering light...

She made it out of the closet alive. The closet was full. It was like a jungle in there. She thought for a moment she saw a man shoot an arrow at her. But it just turned out to be the home version of Jumanji in the other corner.

My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim...
 

So 8-track tape in hand, and a narrow escape from the closet later. She started up the 8-track player....and played the 1976 recording of “Hotel California.”

I had to stop for the night...

She listened to it forever...well, that’s a bit misleading. But to be fair to her, it did SEEM like forever. But it did work. The song was out of her head. She had beaten it. She had indeed checked out of the Hotel California. She celebrated with a glass of wine, and changed out the tape. She sang along with Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walking” instead and was happy.

What Sally forgot was that in the Hotel California, you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

Reviews

[Michael X]

Tina, really nice, i enjoyed where you took the reader
with this, seems poised with clarity, the creative,
dramatical aspect is scripted with subtle precision,
the entire image cuts straight to the heart with a
theatrical vision in design asd well as word placement,
the overall concept is capturing, a pleasure to read, thanks, mike

[Kincaid Kjeedo]

Very clever. I love the story for it's original idea that a song getting stuck in your head could take longer to ger rid of. I love music, (Who doesn't?), and have been listening to Rod Stewart's version of "Fooled around and fell in Love", anmd unfortunately, it's still stuck in my head. I love this story. It's not the best, but it's just right.

[V]

that was a cool idea...nice...


sudden urges to jam out with some Petty

[Louise Freya Melling]

I liked the idea of this story, we have all had songs stuck in our head and not known how to get ride of them but I was confussed a little but the plot. At the begining the main character seemed to be driving along the road, the next moment she had fixed the 8-track, then it jumped to her in the closet looking for the 8-track. This method of story telling can be good but it needs to be a little clearer when decribing the time frame.