Circumstances

For Duard, his dog Rocky was his life’s purpose. Two-hour walks in the park were as common as sharing corn flakes at breakfast. When an inattentive woman and her Cadillac hit the big dog and the old man, all four of them – both people, the dog and the car – were badly damaged.

Duard recovered first but sorely missed his comfortable and companionable walks with Rocky. After 12 days without any progress, Duard put Rocky down. He never forgave himself even though none of it was his fault. As for the causative woman and her Cadillac, the story isn’t about them.From Guest Contributor Gip Plaster

Gip is a Texas web content writer who experiments with microfiction. He is the creator of 17WordStories.com.

What Happened To Richard

Selena had little choice but to go back with Stan. She would just tell Richard that she'd gotten scared and didn't want to get caught in the middle of a war. Her leaving had nothing to do with her having betrayed the both of them to a competing crime boss. Why would he ever think that?

Selena slid into the Cadillac and told Stan to drive. "Don't try anything, or Richard will be even angrier than he already is."

"Richard's dead. I shot him myself."

Selena knew that if she didn't get away quickly, she'd be next.

Part Six

Mistakes

Selena leaned against her wounded soldier of a car as Stan Brandanowitz stepped from his Cadillac and walked over to her. He was the reason she'd left and the last person on Earth she wanted to see.

"Need a ride?"

"No. I've got Triple A on the way. Thanks."

Stan smirked and offered her a cigarette. "You remember when we used to be friends, Selena?"

"We were never friends. You were just using me like you use everyone. Like you used Richard."

Stan stopped just as he was about to light his cigarette. Mentioning Richard had probably been a mistake.

Part Two

Just A Pinch

Her car broke down on the longest stretch of highway in the middle of nowhere. Selena popped the hood and even her rudimentary knowledge was enough to diagnose an overheated engine. It had been hours since she'd seen another vehicle.

Nowhere happened to be exactly between where she was headed and where she was running from. Selena had enough water to survive a couple days and enough cash to buy a plane ticket to paradise.

As the black Cadillac pulled up beside her, she wondered if she could trade the water and money for just a pinch of good fortune.

Part One

Grand Theft

The Cadillac hurtled through traffic like the driver was at the controls of a video game. He sideswiped several sedans and ran one SUV off the road entirely as he jumped the median and exited the highway from the on-ramp. When he crashed into the guard rail, he brandished a semi-automatic weapon, shot several innocent bystanders, and carjacked a new vehicle. The carnage continued for several hours.

News blogs later reported that seventeen motorists died, including four prostitutes. Journalists speculated on the driver's motive. No one guessed that he was actually a video game developer who had forgotten his medication.