On The Road

Stranger-encounters while sitting in traffic when driving back and forth from work.

Eyes - May 23, 2007

Evil eyes. Stone grey and hard. Ruthless, cruel and unkind, reflected on the side view mirror of the vehicle in front of mine. I felt fear for a moment when our eyes met and was somehow relieved when we parted ways in the opposite direction.

What happened to him? my thoughts continued to wander. Did he have a bad childhood? Did he mix with the wrong crowd in his teens? Did he commit the unforgivable? What makes him look so angry at the world?

Could eyes be a mirror into the heart of a person? Could eyes lie?

Road Rage - August 2, 2007

Nothing enrages me more so than tailgating vehicles. Esp. on a single lane road. I was stuck with one last evening on the way home from work. I felt like saying “What’s the hurry, buddy? You are stuck behind me whether you like it or not and that’s where you will stay till I get off this road”

It wasn’t like I was creeping or crawling. I was going at fifty mph on a forty-five mph road, above the speed limit as some would say. There was no traffic jam, so there was plenty of room for both of us, but why was he stuck to my vehicle’s bumper? “My car needs space” he paid no heed. He just didn’t get the hint and forced me to sit on my breaks. Yes, literally sit on them. I won’t be intimidated. Not on the road, not anywhere else. Big truckers and four-wheel owners have a tendency to intimidate from their high and mighty positions. That gets my back up like no other.

Yesterday it was the Chevy Blazer guy who was taking aggressive driving to its limits. But hey, I was in front and I called the shots whether he liked it or not. All the way home…Now I can understand the cause for road rage.

You know, I was constantly reminded of the Spielberg movie Duel, that turns in to a life and death game between the hero and this trucker who decides to tailgate him. Scary!

Little Stranger - October 19, 2007

When things go wrong, they go awfully wrong. Often they turn ugly. I guess that's life. I was rushing to work this morning, and the weather didn’t help. It was dark and foggy. I could hardly see the vehicle in front of me. It can be depressing when the mornings are as dull and cloudy as it was today. The back roads were cluttered. There are three schools between home and work. Three! Traffic stopper. Fifteen mile speed limits and school buses everywhere. And cops playing hide and seek. Whatever for? The month has hardly begun. Plenty of time to collect their fines. Once I get past them, there’s the road construction and accidents. With single lane roads and no way of turning back, I am stuck and I am late. And not even close to work. Or I could’ve abandoned my car and taken a walk.I never expected something like this to happen on a Friday morning of all days. Finally, when I think I am past the crisis, the squirrel decides to take a stroll across the road!

“Hello stranger! As much as I adore you, could you get your little butt moving a little faster? I am already running late, you see”

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For the prompt from Writer's Island

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