“It was a wonderful wedding,” Alice Burton said, kissing her new husband on the neck.
“It certainly wasn’t CT, your father treated me like a complete asshole. I hate him, by the way.”
“You didn’t hate the five thousand dollar check he gave us.”
“Payoff, a mere payoff. I’ve got my pride, you know.”
“Dad absolutely adores you,” Alice said, pulling his arm hairs. “That’s why he paid for our Niagara Falls honeymoon.
“Ouch! Hey, hey, don’t mess with the driver,” Gary said, playfully pushing her away. He kicked on the heater, then put both hands back on the wheel. The moonlit landscape passed by in a dream-like fashion. Upstate New York was beautiful in the fall. It wasn’t equal to Vermont or Maine, but it was still beautiful. The moon left skeleton-like shadows on the road.
“You didn’t say that last night,” she said, grabbing his balls with an impish grin.
“It was my wedding day, they got me drunk,” he said, “why else would I bed such mouthy little bitch like you?” Laughing, he ducked her right cross.
They settled into a comfortable silence. Gary placed his hand on Alice’s smooth, shapely leg and caressed it softly as he drove. He still couldn’t believe that such a wonderful leg now belonged to him, in a marital sense. Her entire body was an adult playground. He seemed to learn or find something new each time he saw her naked. The thought made his cock grow hard, but he decided to save such thoughts until they reached a hotel room. He was tired of making out in the car like two young teenagers.
“Light me a cigarette, will you CT?” CT was his pet name for his new wife. It stood for Candy Tits. The first time he saw her sweet, perky tits he swore they would taste like candy.
“Sure,” she said, digging their last package out of her purse. She lit two up and passed one to Gary. She puffed the other, then flicked the ashes into the ashtray.
Gary took a long drag from his cigarette, then turned and rolled down the window slightly. He flicked his ashes out through the crack in the window, then looked up to see a huge whitetailed buck bounding across the road in front of them. It took him a moment to realize what he was seeing, then he slammed on the brakes. The headlights, and the squeal of brakes were too much for the frightened deer. It leaped straight up into the air.
“Get down!” Gary yelled as the rear of the whitetail approached the windshield. Alice ducked. Gary started to duck down above her, but the deer and broken windshield, hit him full in the face. His neck snapped, killing him instantly.
The car careened off into the wide, gently-sloping ditch, with the deer carcass still lodged in the windshield opening. The car bounded a few times and hit an old maple tree with a horrible, sickening crash. The sound echoed through the quiet woods for a moment, then all was quiet.
The tree shook, raining down it’s last few dead leaves. The compacted remains of the car, and the dead buck, rested against the old tree. Steam poured out from under the hood. The tail lights of the car still shined into the darkness. All forward facing lights were extinguished. The deer kicked twice, then remained still.
Despite the horror and unreality, the world continued to function. The moon continued to shine down on the horrible scene, lending an absurd beauty to the abstract unspeakable horror. Far above a jet airliner gained altitude and turned east for the long flight to London. An owl flapped it’s wings nervously, looking around in fear, then it settled back into it’s nightly watchful vigil.
The hiss of steam, accompanied by the click of cooling metal, slowly subsided. Inside the car nothing moved. An uneventful hour passed with no change. The smell of burning rubber and engine coolant perfumed the air until these too passed.
A truck appeared far away on a hill. It picked up speed as it descended.