(The prompt from Carrot Ranch for this prompt is red, so many possibilities! I decided to borrow from a real life incident that happened about 30 years ago when I was driving up the I-5 Grapevine in southern California in my ’84 Mazda B2000 with three passengers, one in the cab next to me and two in the bed of the truck. As my truck climbed up the hill my friends in the back of the truck started banging on the rear window, and when I I looked in the rear view mirror I saw something surprising. Link below.)
the one I used to own, including the color and
missing rear bumper. I sold mine to a wrecking
yard back in ’93 after the head cracked.
Neil drove his red pickup truck up the steep Interstate 5 Grapevine.
“There’s a semi approaching fast,” Bob warned from the passenger seat as he looked back.
“We’ll be fine,” Neil assured.
Bob looked back again. “Downshift!” he screamed.
Neil looked in the rear view mirror and saw only a red Peterbilt logo getting bigger in size. He quickly downshifted into third gear and sped up the hill.
“Damn, that was close,” Bob said with relief.
“Neat!” Neil exclaimed. “Just like in the movie Duel!”
“Didn’t that end with a horrific crash?”
“It sure did.”
“Maybe I should drive.”
©2024 Robert Kirkendall
Robert Kirkendall 
I’m sharing Bob’s emotions!
Neat story 🙂
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Thanks, Nicole! I assume that most people identify with Bob 😀
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Not quite sure why, but as I read “maybe I should drive”, the “you’re going need a bigger boat” (Jaws) came to mind 🙃
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That does make sense, and Duel and Jaws had the same director.
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Beautiful! I love it. It’s creepy and relatable. And gosh, it’s been years since I saw Duel in a classic rerun and even now I’m still pissed. What the hell is with that truck? The film gave me trauma. Whenever a truck is behind me, I want to scream and drive at top speed.
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Thanks, Jessie! Glad you love it. I saw Duel as a child and it made a big impression on me. The truck was a scary, faceless villain with no apparent motivation, which prepared Stephen Spielberg to direct Jaws about four years later (though technically a shark does have a face). I don’t have a car right now but driving around fast big rigs on the freeway always made my heart race.
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A memorable story, a cautionary tale; always check the rearview and keep up your speed or pull over.
Glad your story didn’t end as Duel did.
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Thank you, D. Avery! Yes, I’m also very glad my story didn’t end like Duel, and my two friends who were riding in the back of my truck on that day back in ’92 are especially glad.
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