Brain Fry- A Hilarious Mini Story Based On A True Incident
As I sat stranded at the crack of dawn with a flat tyre, I couldn’t help but ponder the snowball effect of one issue, leading to several more.
Story: S A Spencer
Photo by Robina Weermeijer
Only one
problem.
There is a chance that my car’s tyre is flat. I
quickly pull over to the side of the road and hop off. The nearest light post
is playing hard to get and won’t turn on for me. The bulb is dead. When I light
the mobile torch, I realise the problem count is not just one, but two.
My half-asleep brain is slightly coming to
sense. Yes, you are right. There is a second problem. My phone battery is
actually dying. “No worries,” a assure myself, “I can manage to fix the tyre
and get moving.”
McDonalds should be only about a five minutes’
drive away. I feel the pit in my stomach. Urgency kicks in.
I crouch and check that the rear right tyre looks
different from the rest. I was right. It is flat. And need to be fixed before I
can head to McDonalds. Oh, my god. I am really famishing. But how do I fix
this? Soon I realise there is a third problem.
The 3rd one is I don’t know how to
replace a car tyre.
I curse myself silently. Let me be frank with
you. I am an international student at an Australian university. I am from a
wealthy family. My family has many cars and drivers too. I never imagined that
a flat tyre would leave me marooned in a strange place at an inconvenient time.
4th problem hits my conscious like lightning.
It’s 2 AM. The road is empty.
I grab my phone and scroll through my contacts,
searching for a friend who I think lives close by. Bloody hell. The phone’s
screen remains blank and unlit when I attempt to use it.
That is problem number 5.
I can’t repair it myself and can’t even book an
Uber. Winter in Australia falls in June, so I can’t wait inside the vehicle
until morning, or I’ll freeze. The thought of being frozen to death overrides
the hunger pangs.
I plan to walk up to my apartment building. But
how long I have to walk? Unfortunately, my smartphone can’t give an answer
without juice. My reliance on modern gadgets and apps is so heavy that I can’t
recall the last time I made an educated guess. My brain is no more used to
guessing and calculating.
The chill seeps deeper into my bones with every
passing moment, so I start to walk. Oh yeah, wait a minute. A car is coming in
my direction. I stand still, listening to the sound of the wind rustling
through the leaves, closing my eyes, and offering a prayer to God, something I
hadn’t done in ages. “God, please touch the driver’s heart and compel him to
stop and help. God, please make sure he knows how to change a flat tyre. Not a
good-for-nothing like me.”
Surprise. God even listens to the prayer of a
non-believer! The car stops. And a man gets off. “What is wrong, mate?”
I am speechless thinking of the kindness of the
God Almighty. I stare at my car.
“Got it. Need a jump-start?” He opens his boot
before getting any response from me.
“No, sir. I got a flat tyre.”
He closes his boot and stares at me. “Oh, don’t
have a spare one?”
“I have. But…”
“But?”
“I don’t know.”
The man must be around sixty. He looks at me as
if I am an alien. “You don’t know where the spare tyre is?”
“I know. But can’t fix.”
“Then why did you say you don’t know?”
“Sorry, sir. Please…”
“Tell me one thing, where were you going at
such a late night? I mean, it’s past two am.”
Can I ask the same question to you?
I don’t know what to say. How does it matter to
him where I was going? His job is to fix my tyre and help me. “I got an
emergency.”
A shadow forms on his face. “Emergency means?”
I scratch my head. Never expected this man
would investigate like a detective. But I am not a criminal and he is not going
to dig into whatever lies I say now to get his sympathy. In return, he would help
in installing the spare tyre. “I have a stomach problem.”
“Oh, I see. Is it still there?”
“Yes.” I look down to hide my embarrassment.
“Are you going to a chemist?”
I feel my eyes brighten. This must be the end,
and he will stop questioning me. “Yes.”
“Which chemist is open at this late hour?”
Damn it. I never thought of this possibility. “No, not a chemist. My friend lives
a kilometer away,” I point my finger in the direction he was coming, “and he
has the medicine.”
“Oh, your friend.”
“Yes.”
“And he lives in that direction.”
I nod my head. I am too tired now to answer his
questions.
He stares at my car for a while. “But your car
is faced to the other side! Were you driving in reverse gear?”
Bloody hell. Why didn’t I think of my car’s
position before answering? I stand like a guilty person. Should I ask him ‘Please stop
investigating and help me with how to install the tyre?’
Before I could ask him anything, he asks me,
“What do you do?”
“I am a student.”
“Oh, a student! Australian?”
“No, international student.”
“How much you paid for this car?”
“$2000.”
“Thought so. The car appears to be from a
scrapyard. Are you still getting the stomachache?”
“I do.”
“Where exactly?”
I point at my tummy. “Here.”
“How does it feel?”
“Umm. I…” I struggle to find an answer. “It’s
like…like being hungry.”
“Hungry?”
“Sir, I was studying in the evening. And don’t
remember when I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was too late to go cook, and I
was famishing. I thought…”
“You thought you will knock on the door of a
friend and ask him if he has any leftover in his fridge!”
“No. I thought I can go to Meccas and eat.”
For the first time, I notice a flicker of a
smile on his face. “Oh, this is a brand-new type of stomach pain I had never
heard of.”
“Yes. Can you, please…”
“Look, man. I have never replaced a flat tyre
before. But I will guide you with what to do and help to solve your problem.”
“Sure, sir. I just need the guidance and I will
do it myself. And next time I will even help anyone who is stranded like me!”
He walks towards his car and opens the door.
“Call a motoring club and they will help you.” He jumps inside and shuts the
door.
I stand like a stone, eyes glued to his car. “Sir,
which motoring club? Do you have their number?”
He cranes his neck through the open window. “The
club in which you are a member.” Bringing the car to a start, he drives away.
I am still standing on the curbside on a cold
winter night. The pain has migrated to my brain and is pounding away at it. But
my hunger has quenched.
Please send your funny or other life experiences to me, and I will make a story and publish, acknowledging your contribution. Or, if you can write your own story, I will publish the same with your name as a writer. Writing should be between 1000-1500 words.
on Facebook and Twitter so that you know when a new story comes.
Do you like this story? Let your friends also read this.
Share through
Loved this story. I wish to read many more from this author.
ReplyDelete