Eventide Drive
An Average Night For The Sterling Household...
GREETINGS! Welcome back to the flash fiction side of RED LIGHT BYTES. Forgot to mention this for the newcomers, but every week, we release a short story on Friday. Tales that, much like the main magazine, run the gamut of genres and scenarios. From slice-of-life tales like today’s to white-hot shots of action. First of the month is always FREE, while the rest are for our paying subscribers. More on that in the Monday newsletter. For now, please enjoy the first of our many offseason escapades!
No sooner had Junior learned the value of catching all forty winks did a two-month-old Laci take up the mantle of a midnight fire alarm. The ever-popular ritual of tending to the screaming tot was shared between Buck and Jane.
Or rather it would, had the gray-furred father not found the lifehack of a lifetime for rocking their speckled-brown babe to sleep.
Every night for a solid month, the couple’s ears would flick in the nursery’s direction, and like clockwork, they turned to each other in bed, only for Buck to nuzzle his woman’s nose. “My turn.”
“You always say that,” she sleepily giggled. “Ever think she might be hungry?”
“Not the way you make supper for her.” he teased in kind.
“Alright,” Jane sighed. “She’s all yours.”
She spun round to the nightstand and plopped the keys in his hand. Buck parted her long messy locks and kissed her again. “We won’t be long.”
He threw on his khaki shorts, buckled up his thin-strapped sandals, and strolled off to the nursery. He snatched up the wailing onesie and held her close with both arms.
“You know what’s coming next,” Buck chuckled. “I bet you do this now because you know what’s coming.”
He was saying it more to himself than to Laci, but sure enough, the pup already began to pipe down, safe in her papa’s big arms.
“Well of all the cheek!” he scoffed with feigned indignity. “We ain’t even to the garage yet.” He thought about turning back around and plopping her back in the crib, but one look into the pup’s eyes was all it took. “Nah, we’re still going. I ain’t letting you down.”
They made their way to the garage, and B-lined right for Jane’s Super Beetle. The short convertible already had the backwards car seat riding shotgun, and Buck got Laci all buckled up. He shot the driver’s seat back and turned the key, the engine jolting to life.
“All set?” he quizzed, peering into the infant’s seat. Laci giggled, speckle-furred face peering out from a soft blanket. He thumbed her tiny cheek, put the car in gear, and pulled out into the night.
He drove gently at first, partly his protectiveness, and partly the grog. To him, a midnight ride was something to be enjoyed and relished in. All the little sensations, from the engine’s rumble, the crisp night air, the light touch of the worn-in leather beneath his paws. When his hand wasn’t on the gearshift, it was thumbing Laci’s cheek, the onesie graduating from wailing to giggling.
It was only when the giggling stopped, and a shaft of light shot from behind that Buck began to worry.
“Guess Pop’s gonna have to run our little critter out flat.” he said calmly. “Hang tight, darling.”
He slammed the pedal down and the Bug rumbled forward. His daughter fired up that squealing laughter which took some of the edge off Buck’s nerves. All the same, the lights drew nearer, and even as he whipped through the gears, he couldn’t shake the ride coming up the rear. He was about ready to brake check the Bug, bracing the car seat with his broad palm, before the lights leapt past him and saddled alongside.
It was Jane, behind the wheel of Buck’s boxy yellow Jeep Cherokee, with one-year old Junior sitting shotgun in his own backwards car seat. Buck began howling with mad laughter. “Good grief babe, you had me shaking like a leaf!”
“Well, someone felt left out, and Mama don’t mind driving an automatic.” She scritched beneath her eldest’s chin.
“Alrighty, race you to the lights then.”
Jane cocked an eyebrow. “What lights?”
“When theirs’ go out.” he grinned, leaning down to nuzzle Laci.
Jane shook her head, and rammed the throttle down. The couple carried on for a solid hour before both tikes drifted away into their high-octane dreamland. Once they did, the parents relieved, they got home, tucked them away, and flopped into bed. It was another long night in the bag.
Just in time for their 5 AM alarm.