The Vampire

Your car breaks down a mile back and instead of leading to a town the road in front of you is getting narrower. The sun sets and the forest alongside the road is growing dark. A swerving reckless heap comes up behind and you freeze like a deer in the headlights. It’s your husband and you wonder what has happened to his car. You climb inside and are relieved but only for a second. His eyes are glowing red. You want him to tell you that everything is alright but instead he leans over with blood-stained teeth and gives you a kiss. His breath is a rotting corpse. You pull away from him as the car starts to roll forward and you reach for the door handle and jump out. You watch his car go down the hill and flip over into a pond. It’s dark now and you don’t think he made it out. You say out loud, he must be dying somewhere in the water, but you don’t run toward him. You weigh your options as you had been thinking earlier about a divorce because you suspect he’s having an affair. You wonder now if he’s a vampire. You don’t like blood. You prefer the affair - when all at once you stop and think that maybe you’re wrong - you have doubts about the red glow in his eyes and bloody teeth. You think about how much you have in common even though he is a little bookwormish. You know for sure that you both want a kid, a dog, and a house in the country. You start to think that maybe if you give this marriage thing a little more time you could grow closer after all you might still love him. And now in the distance you hear screaming coming from the pond. You think you better run and help him when under the bright white stars an enormous pickup truck comes up behind you and a particularly good-looking cowboy rolls down his window and asks if you need a lift and you say, yes.

(c) Jan Darrow / photo pixabay