The Stranger And His Car
By: Aj Krow
Tags: Short Story, Fiction, Horror, Ghost Story, Horror Fiction

The Stranger And His Car

A short story

Photo by Thanos Pal on Unsplash

“Hey man, got any spare change? I — ”

“Nah man, I don’t carry cash,” The man entered the gas station as fast as he could. Lloyd sighed. He had only collected twenty dollars, nowhere near enough what he expected to make that day.

He walked back to his shopping cart with the little possessions he owned inside. He pushed the cart out of town, towards an abandoned home he had discovered a few nights ago while looking for a place to sleep.

He cut across a cornfield to get there sooner. The sun had already set, and police enjoyed looking for panhandlers to take a cut of their hard-earned money. It was harder to push the cart through the soil, but at least he would remain hidden from the police.

Once he crossed the cornfield, he passed through a dirt road, and pushed his cart through rows of trees. It was there he found a man cursing at his car.

Photo by Ca Ku on Unsplash

“Hey man, what happened to your car?” Lloyd asked.

“I don’t know. It’s not starting. You know anything about cars?” the stranger asked him.

“Sure, I know a thing or two,” Lloyd opened the hood of the car and looked inside.

“How did this happen?” Lloyd reached over and found the ground terminal removed from the battery. He placed it back where it belonged and asked the stranger to start his car. It roared back to life.

“Oh my god, you’re a lifesaver!” the stranger shook Lloyd’s hand as Lloyd shrugged.

“I didn’t do anything. For some reason, your battery cable was disconnected.”

“Still, thank you so much! I don’t know how to repay you — ”

“Got a dollar?” Lloyd lit up.

“Ow!” The man dropped to the ground.

“Hey, you alright?” Lloyd reached over to help him back up.

“Yeah, my legs just hurt for some reason. I’m not sure if I can drive home with my legs in pain this much.” Lloyd helped him up but couldn’t carry him for very long. The man fell to the ground again, but managed to sit upright this time.

“You know what, I don’t trust this car anymore. And clearly, I’m in no condition to drive. How about I give it to you?” the stranger said. Lloyd took a step back.

“What — why would you?”

“I’m telling you, I can’t drive this car anymore with my legs in pain! Besides, this car has given me too much trouble tonight. Let me give it to you! Just give me a ride home,” he handed Lloyd his keys.

Lloyd gladly accepted them and grabbed the few possessions from his shopping cart and threw them in the back seat. He helped the man enter the passenger seat and drove the car out of the forest and into town.

Lloyd was impressed with the condition of the car. It was a 1989 Oldsmobile with a red interior. The seats were in almost perfect condition and the dashboard showed the car had a low mileage.

As he drove down the road, he realized he was driving with a stranger in the passenger seat. He looked at the man to ask his name.

“Call me Jim.”

“Nice to meet you, Jim. I’m Lloyd.” Jim didn’t respond. He looked outside the window, staring at the lampposts they passed.

“So, uh, Jim, how did you end up in those trees?”

“Oh, some crazy kids were making fun of my car. I was pumping gas at that gas station we passed a while ago. I flipped them off and they chased after me, so I hid behind the cornfield, hoping they wouldn’t find me.”

“How long ago was that?” Lloyd seemed uneasy. He thought Jim probably gave him the car so the kids would find him instead of Jim later.

“Oh, it was a while back. You have nothing to worry about,” Jim said. He continued looking out the window.

Lloyd drove straight until Jim told him to turn. After ten minutes of silence, they arrived at Jim’s home.

Photo by marco forno on Unsplash

“Well, looks like we’re here. Again, thanks so much for driving me home. And I hope you enjoy the new car!” Jim exclaimed. Lloyd thanked him. Jim remained in the car, not moving. Lloyd waited a few seconds before saying something.

“Uh, so, do I really get to keep this car?”

“Yeah, let me just take out my belongings really quick.” Jim opened the glove compartment and pulled out a gun. He held it in his hand, pointing it at Lloyd.

“Man, what are you doing? Please, don’t do this. We’re cool man. You can keep your car, just don’t do it!” Lloyd began crying as he stared into the barrel of the gun.

But Jim didn’t pull the trigger or tell Lloyd to get off. Instead, Jim opened the door and let himself out of the car. He walked towards the front door of his house. Somehow, his legs worked, even though Jim had complained of pain just a few minutes ago. As soon as Lloyd blinked, Jim vanished.

Lloyd began to reverse the car to leave as quick as he could. Before he could leave, a woman stood in front of the car, blocking him from driving away. She stood with her arms extended, as if that were to do anything.

Lloyd panicked as the woman walked towards the driver’s seat.

“What are you doing in this car?” she screamed through the window. Lloyd started sniffling, thinking she would pull a gun on him too.

“Lady, some guy just gave me this car! I swear!”

“What do you mean? Who gave you this car? And why are you in my driveway?” she said.

“Some guy named Jim. He gave it to me earlier today, I swear!” Lloyd kept his hands on the steering wheel, ready to drive away if the lady tried anything.

“That’s not possible,” she crossed her arms.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Jim died a month ago.”

“What? How? What?” he stammered.

“Some gang members chased him after he left a gas station. He parked his car somewhere and went on foot with his gun to scare them away. But once he reached the main road, they ran him over and broke his legs, then took his gun and killed him with it,” her eyes teared up. “We never found his car, even though the police searched for it. Until you brought it here tonight.”