Thursday, 8:34am

Written by Jaime Campbell
Friday, 20 April 2007
Accident here – Can you help? This tender sign that waits patiently by the side of the road. You’ll often see it, it seems to follow us around. Flowers laid side-by-side, vibrant colours now frozen in grief, hearts drawn to pen in words of warmth, words of comfort. A number to call with any information, any information at all. But the flowers soon die without root, choking without water in the knife blue cold of night. Words dampening in the rain, ink bleeding over the page. New flowers becoming less frequent as the memory fades until one morning as we pass by, flicking channels on the radio or rushing to get out of the rain, we don’t notice that the sign has moved on, another date on this long, long tour. Some guy at the wheel. Fucked up at the site of his girl in the arms of another, drank like a dying plant. Spent the whole night by himself working things out in his whirlwind head. That he’d catch her as she woke, as she made eggs for somebody else. As she went to the bathroom in another man’s house. Wrapped up in his shirt. That he’d catch her, confront her, throw down the stand-off, “Him or me”. But the corner was a little sharper than he remembered, the steering wheel a little stiffer, and he really should’ve had those brakes checked out. Sweating whiskey at 8:34 in the morning. Accident here – Can you help? Did you enjoy this article? Please share it! Storyclash tags: Short stories new fiction new writing storyclash literature literary fiction short story writing publish your stories