Thursday, July 23, 2015

Trunk, Version 1: A Six Sentence Story



It was part of his job to keep the fleet clean, washing the outside and vacuuming the inside of each vehicle before every funeral, so after washing the outside of the hearse, he opened the back door, climbed in on his hands and knees, and was picking up some dead leaves from a previous casket spray when the heavy door fell shut. 

There is no handle on the inside of the door in the cargo area of a hearse, as the usual occupants are in no condition to need one, and he was in a panic, as he was not only alone in the basement, he was also the only one in the entire funeral home; it was after normal business hours, and he was responsible for answering the phone if a death call came in.

Beads of sweat began popping out on his forehead, and he wondered how in the HELL he was going to get himself out of this predicament when he saw that the sliding window separating the front seat from the cargo area was slightly ajar. He worked the window open as far as it would go.

He was not a small man, but he was a desperate man. He worked and maneuvered and squeezed until he was finally delivered into the front seat of the hearse, dripping with sweat and panting, but free.



Linking up with Ivy at Uncharted for Six Sentence Stories with the prompt "trunk."



21 comments:

  1. Dyanne, this is an inspiration. You have come up with two responses to the prompt and both are equally strong.
    Cheers! :)

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  2. SHOWOFF! AWESOME STORIES! Did this happen to the hubs?

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    1. This coming from the woman who writes two TToT posts every weekend?
      Yes, totally happened to husband. Before cell phones were popular, so he didn't have that in his pocket to use to call for help.

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    2. maybe so but I have found my blog reduced to sss and ttot... I havent written in a while...

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  3. Are you writing more? I mean outside of blog? You're really quite good!

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    1. Nothing outside the blog, and you have no idea how you made my day by asking that!

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  4. What a predicament! You've made me feel his desperation. And as a side note, every enclosed space needs an escape handle, just in case.

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    1. It didn't help that it was a hot, summer day. DEFINITELY need escape handles inside there, and maybe they have them now. This was 18 years ago.

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  5. Somehow that first bout of panic must be turned into a rational solution. I felt both emotions as I read this as I imagined crawling through that narrow space and landing upside down on the front seat.

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    1. I wish so much that I could have seen him wiggle through that opening! He's a big man!

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  6. OK. So maybe you'll publish books called "Dyanne's Ditties" :) You have a fantastic knack for these little story-ettes! I've enjoyed every one of them. 3

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  7. Great story! The telling was definitely realistic enough to be believed, even before reading the comments to verify that it was. Claustrophobic confinement can definitely spur one to squeeze through a tight spot to freedom. Another great reminder of how much more difficult life could be at times before we had our trusty ever-present cell phones!

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    1. I have a vivid mental image of this whole scenario, but I still wish I could have seen him wiggle through that window! He probably weighed close to 300 lb!

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  8. What a story! I think it is great when true stories are documented for future generations. "Oh, is that the grandpa who got stuck in the dead people's car?"

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  9. Fear and desperation often enable us to do what seems impossible.

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