Monday, October 6, 2008

A Second Prompt

From the prompts I asked my readers to give me, is this one from Turkey Lurkey:

You are riding home from school in a school bus. You look out of the window and notice something very odd. A two headed cow. Something else appears... a tractor floating five feet in the air. What happens next?



The vinyl was sticky under my bare, sweaty legs. Oh, how I wished a cool breeze would gust through my open window, there at the back of the bus. It seemed I was stuck in a pocket of stale, humid air.

Ignoring the chattering voices around me, I placed my forehead against the cool glass of the window, hoping for a respite from the heat. My gaze fell on the passing cattle field, and I began counting the heifers in twos. Two... four... six...

Something caught my eye.

"What?" I whispered to my reflection.

I leaned as close to the window as I could, nose pressing against the glass, and squinted my near-sighted eyes.

"I don't believe it," I said to no one but myself. "That cow has two heads."

I knew it was possible; I'd seen pictures, heard stories. But never had I seen one with my own eyes. I wondered if the farmer knew. He should be calling the news station. Maybe I'd call the news station. I'd tell them--

Wait. "What the... ?"

I rubbed my eyes, sure they were playing tricks on me. But when I looked to the field once more, it was still there. An old John Deere - hovering mid-air. No driver. No explanation. But there it hung, as if suspended by unseen cables.

Maybe the heat's worse than I think, I thought, swiping at my wet brow with the back of my hand.

I craned my neck, keeping my eyes on the tractor as the bus drove on.

"Samantha?"

A deep voice interrupted my thoughts. But I couldn't make my head turn, to find the voice. Too fascinated by the things I'd just seen.

I felt the shaking of my shoulder. "Sam? Sam, wake up."

The motion gave me a jolt, and I realized the bus driver was standing over me.

"You fell asleep," Bus Driver Bob said. "You're home now."

A disbelieving look out the window proved him right; I was looking down the length of my gravel driveway, at the end of which sat my house, waiting.

"Sorry," I mumbled in a groggy voice. I gathered my things and shuffled from the bus, trying to shake remnants of the surreal dream from my mind...

9 comments:

Joanne said...

I like the visual of the floating John Deere. That's a whole latte dreaming going on there!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Surreal. Enjoying these prompt products. ;)

Joshua said...

loving these J

Melissa Amateis said...

That was great! Very vivid writing.

Janna Leadbetter said...

Aw, gawrsh. Thanks, everybody! I'm having such fun with these. :D

Anonymous said...

Great descriptions! Nicely done. :)

Janna Leadbetter said...

Thanks, Turk! It was a great prompt.

graceunderpressure said...

I was loving it until the 'wake up' part.. I was seeing the tractor!

Janna Leadbetter said...

LOL, crazynance. Sorry to disappoint. ;)