Lucas and The Time-Traveling Fog

I looked at my watch, and it was 7:30. That meant I only had one hour before I had to meet Henry and race him, but that doesn’t give me enough time to drop Cathy off for her curfew.

So when Henry finally left us alone, I said with a sigh of defeat, “So much for our date now, huh. I guess I have to drop you off at home now.”

Cathy replied, “What...no! Gary, you’re not dropping me off. I want to stay and see you race.”

“But I don’t know if I have enough time to drop you off home before we both get in trouble with your dad.”

“Don’t worry about my dad. I’ll handle him. You just get ready for the race. I want to see you win.”

When we arrived at the Highway, Henry said, “Glad you made it...now the race can start.”

I replied, “Cathy, it’s safer to watch the race from outside.” She nodded, but before she got out of the car, she gave a kiss on the cheek and said, “Let Henry eat your dust.”

I asked Henry, “So how are we starting the race?”

Henry said, “I’m feeling generous tonight, so why don’t your girl line us up and drop the scarf?”

Cathy said, “Let’s do this, boys.”

Well, this is getting interesting. My car is a 1959 chevy impala with a small block v-8, and Henry has a 1957 Plymouth fury with a 350 v-8 with dual four-barrel carburetors. He has more horsepower than me, but my car has better transmission. Overall, our cars are pretty evenly matched, so it’s going to be a matter of driver skill to win this race. Cathy stood at the starting line as we were revving our engines and pulling up. Henry said, “Alright, Gary...last chance to chicken out.”

I shouted back, “Not a chance. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. By the way, did anyone tell you that you drive a grandpa’s car?”

“I’m going to make you eat those words, Gary,” Henry said.

We each revved our engines and inched up closer to the starting line. Cathy held her arms out as we lined up our cars. Cath said, “Are you ready, boys? When I drop my scarf, you go.”

My heart was racing, and I couldn’t believe what was happening. I’m about to race my grandpa. If I screw up now, I’ll never live it down. Cathy then took off her scarf and raised her hand, then I thought to myself, This is it.

Next thing I knew, Cathy dropped her scarf, and I slammed my accelerator to the floor. Tires are screeching, the engines are roaring, and off we go into the distance with our tires smoking. Henry got the jump on me, but I was right beside him.

I shifted into second gear and started to pull away. I thought to myself, Yes...this is it. I’m going to win. I shifted into third gear, and I started to see Henry’s headlights in my rearview mirror. I was so busy looking at my mirrors that I almost forgot where I was going. I looked over the hood and started to see smoke. Did I just blow my engine? Gary’s dad will kill me. But as I looked closer, I saw that it wasn’t engine smoke. This smoke had a greenish glow to it.

Wait, does this mean….no it can’t be. What about Cathy? I still had to drive her home. What about Henry? Does this mean I won? What the heck is going on? All of a sudden, I realized that I wasn’t even on the road anymore. There was no road, not even a finish line, and nobody anywhere. Why is this happening to me? Why now? I guess the fog still has plans for me. But where am I going next? I’ll find out soon enough.