Haunted Bicycle By The Roadside - Part 1/2

“Shit shit SHIT! Not here!” But the motorcycle seemed indifferent to its owner’s wishes as it puttered on, gasping and choking out a thick black smoke until it finally came to a stop.

Samuel let out a long string of expletives. There was no one to scold him for it as he was the only one on the road. It was going to be that way for the next 40 miles back to town.

“Guess I made the right choice to leave early,” he said glancing at the sky. His watch told him it was 45 minutes past 9. The sun had finished warming up and it was only going to get hotter from then on. He frowned at it, let out another curse and got off his motorcycle, rolling it as he walked down the road.

It was summer and hoping to make some extra money for the next college semester, he had taken on a delivery job. He hired himself and his motorcycle out, delivering things for the various people who actually bothered to call. His latest job had him going to the next town over delivering a package that smelled remarkably bad. He had been glad to be rid of the thing after spending half a day riding with it across the 50 mile stretch between the two towns.

It had been evening when he finally made the delivery and figuring he couldn’t make the drive back that night and that he also deserved a reward for the day’s work, he had splurged and stayed at a motel the previous night, rather than sleeping outside like he originally planned.

He left the next morning, hoping he could get back before afternoon but his motorcycle had other plans. He supposed he shouldn’t be too surprised considering just how hard he had pushed it the day before. Now not only did he have to walk all the way back to town, but it seemed the money he had saved would end up going to fixing the damn thing.

All in all, it was a bad day.

By noon, it was even worse.

The sun was in full force now, glaring down on him as he trekked on, his defective ride by his side. There were pit stains in places he was pretty sure he didn’t even have pits and he was pretty sure he was starting to see things.

The road seemed to have turned into a cool, blue ocean just a few feet away from where he was standing. It was rolling and swaying, as if laughing and telling him to jump in and have a quick swim.

The only problem was he never could seem to quite reach it. Every time he got closer, the ocean giggled and drifted further away.

“You damn tease, I’ll show you.” With that delirious mutter, Samuel ran and took a dive into the ocean.

He met only dust and hard, hot tar.

“Ow.”

“Haha, you okay over there?”

The road was stupidly hot but Samuel was stupidly tired, so he didn’t even bother rising up. He just turned his head in the direction of the voice.

By the side of the road, there was a lone tree and a young woman sitting underneath it. She had a pink bicycle next to her and more importantly to Samuel, what looked like a water bottle. Yes a water bottle, with water inside. Cold, crisp, delicious water that-

“Um, are you really alright? You look kinda weird.” The woman’s voice brought him back to reality.

He got up and dusted himself off.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just crazy hot.”

The woman snorted. “Hardly.”

His cheeks flushed and it wasn’t from the heat this time. “No, not like that. I meant-“

The woman laughed. “I know. Just teasing. You need some water?” She held out the bottle and suddenly she wasn’t just a random stranger but a goddess.

“Yes.” Samuel left his stupid motorcycle on the road and walked into the field where the woman was. He took the bottle and before he even knew what he was doing had poured it all over himself.

“Ah…”

“…You were supposed to drink it.”

“Sorry.”

She shrugged. “It’s whatever.”

“I don’t suppose you’d have another one?”

She shook her head and suddenly Samuel found he was really tired. He collapsed under the shade beside her.

“Your bike broke down?”

He nodded. “Yeah, like 15 miles back.”

Her mouth dropped. “You’ve been walking for 15 miles?!”

He nodded, feeling a bit proud for some reason.

“You’re crazy.”

“I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Why didn’t you just go back into town? Would’ve been less of a walk and you could’ve gotten your bike fixed.”

“Uh…” He didn’t feel proud anymore.

She looked at him before laughing again.

“You laugh a lot, you know that?” he said sourly.

“Haha, sorry, your face just- Hahaha.”

He scowled but that only made her laugh even more, and for some reason, he found himself smiling too.

“Well, what about you? Why are you sitting over here?”

“It’s cooler than sitting out in the sun.”

“No, I didn’t mean under the tree.”

“Oh. Well you see-“ Then she showed him her arm.

He sucked in a breath at the sight. It looked, plainly put, horrible. She had wrapped it in a makeshift sling but he could see her bone where the skin had been scraped off.

“I was riding back to town, where you’re coming from, when I took a nasty spill and broke this guy here. I’ve been waiting for help since.”

He winced as she waved the hand slightly. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Oh, very much so.”

“…Yeah, I figured. You took a spill? Someone try to run you over or something?”

“Nah. As you can see, hardly anyone passes by here.”

It was true. Yesterday he had only encountered about five cars during the day’s drive and he hadn’t met any today.

“So, how do you have an accident on a road without any cars?” He raised an eyebrow and now it was her turn to blush.

“I was…distracted.”

Samuel just grunted. There was a moment’s silence.

“Oh, I’m Samantha, by the way.” She extended her good hand and he shook it. Her hands felt a little cold.

“Samuel.” He said.

She giggled. “Samantha and Samuel. Sam and Sam, hehe.”

Samuel smiled a little. And there she goes again. Guess it takes her mind off the pain.

“Well Sam, what do you suppose we do? I don’t think waiting around for a car is the best idea.”

“You’re a restless guy, aren’t you? Why not take a moment to sit and enjoy –“ she looked around at the empty field “-all this?”

Samuel raised an eyebrow. “Sure, why not? I’m not the one with a broken arm.”

Samantha paled. “W-well, I could lend you my bike and you could ride us both back into town.”

“Sounds like a plan. Only one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know how to ride one of those.”