This excerpt is from my ghost story novel BY THE LIGHT OF THE CARNIVAL
Driving down the road over a culvert, passing their farm’s last field and fence, the air smelled like ripe dirt. When he fussed with the rear view mirror again Joe’s ice cube dream came back in vivid detail. He was in an ice cube which made complete sense to him at the time. It melted and he went away with it.
“Dreams are stupid! I’m a spaz. I just know it.” The smell of dirt in the breeze became strong and savory. There was kettledrum thunder and it started to rain. Joe flicked on the squeaky windshield wipers and then the radio.
The DJ said, “And this one’s for you out there in the rain that’s moving through the area as I speak, especially for you out in your car right now. The brand new song called Car Wash by Rose Royce, and it’s gonna make a splash. A big splash. Aaaah ha ha, a big splash.”
The song played and Joe was amused since he was in a big natural car wash. When that song was over, one came on that he knew. “Baby baby baby, ooooh, baby, I want you, oooh oooh oooh.” Joe sang along with it in a husky monotone, singing as if it was profound and he was a good singer. The trees and bushes flanking the road began to shake wildly from crazy bursts of wind. He hoped nothing would blow onto the truck and scratch the paint.
Then it started to rain so hard it became difficult to see, even with the wipers switched to high. He slowed so he wouldn't drive himself into a ditch. The radio became static. Irritated with it, he turned it off and sang anyway, “Baby baby baby, oooh oooh oooh.”
It
got so dark he turned on his lights. Out of the blur of the thundering
waterfall, a large brown owl flew directly into the windshield, cracking
it, splattering it with blood. Joe slammed on the brakes, horrified.
When he stepped out, the force of the rain nearly knocked him down. He
saw that the blood was all gone, and to his surprise, so were the cracks
in the glass. He looked around on each side of the truck and couldn't
find any big dead bird, either. Then on the hood he saw a cheap
necklace, like you’d get at a carnival.
The pendant was of a cartoon owl. He went to grab it but then it was gone.
He grabbed his heart. In his head he could still hear the awful sound of the bird’s impact. He quickly hopped back inside the cab as it began to hail. It pounded the metal of the truck so loudly he began to holler at the top of his lungs to try to drown it out.
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