Powder
A semi operator stood on the tire of his rig’s front driver side wheel, peering beneath the hood of the unit.
He was travelling for a few days and was close to the end of his journey when his dash illuminated the check engine light. He had owned the vehicle for some time and was quite up to date ion his servicing guidelines, so he initially assumed it was some glitch in the sensors and as such decided to ignore it least until the next rest stop.
He continued his journey for some time and had almost forgot its existence. Having journeyed another fifty or so miles he started recognizing an unusual rattling sound emanating from the vehicle. He could have stopped but again there was not too much cause for concern since he thought it was another ten miles to the rest stop ‘Perky Parrot’. “Valves needs adjusting!” he said to himself. That however was not an immediate issue, not five minutes later the rattle gave way to a loud explosion and bits of metal falling from the rig unto the road way. Acting quickly he put the engine into neutral gear and maneuvered the rig to the shoulder of the highway, killed his engine and hit his brakes.
The behemoth came to a halt on the shoulder of the road its tail end sticking ever so slightly onto the highway. There came a peculiar smell of heated metal entering the cab of the semi. “What the fuck was that?” He asked himself as he quickly descended from the cab, he grabbed a series of orange emergency cones and proceeded to lay them out along the length of the semi. He then placed two triangle caution reflectors one at the front of the unit the other at the extreme rear. Once he’d done the precautions for traffic, he circled the unit looking for any signs of catastrophe.
Nothing was obviously wrong externally, no hanging bits along the undercarriage. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket, then retrieved an engraved silver plated lighter from his denims, lit a cigarette and exhaled in a sighing breath. He took a few moments to observe the starry sky which seemed to be a lot closer than normal due to the remoteness of the location and lack of light pollution.
The big dipper was leaning away from the top of the sky and making its way toward the horizon. A feeling of insignificance overtook him as he stood there beneath the plethora of stars that formed the Milky Way. Amongst them our technological advancement was obvious as a single satellite moved steadily across the expanse of the sky.
His cigarette exhausted he returned the pack to his pocket and made his way to the front of the vehicle deciding to view the engine. He waited to allow it to cool of prior to attempting a diagnosing of the issue. Undoing the latches he pushed the hood backwards exposing the engine, climbing upon the wheel to gain a better vantage point of the engine compartment.
As soon as he got up on the wheel he could see the cause of the explosion. A large gaping hole was to be seen on the lower half of the engine block as if some force from within had made its way outwards, taking the path of least resistance. Looking closely he noticed a curved bit of foreign metal wedged into the edge of the hole.
Taking a pair of leather gloves he had stuffed in his back pocket, he proceeded to attempt removing the bit of metal. However the intense heat produced by the small piece of cast iron was too much for his gloved fingers. “Agghh!” he shrieked as he let go of it “son of a bitch!” Stepping down from the wheel of the rig he checked his gloves which were burnt with a distinct crescent shaped char mark imprinted upon them. “That shit must have been white hot!” he exclaimed as if telling someone. It was only then that it dawned upon him that this was a piece of the pistons from the combustion chamber. “Holy fuck!” that explained its shape and intense heat. So there he was having blown a piston through the wall of his engine block, he realized the helplessness of his situation. Reaching for a second cigarette he sighed and remarked “this is not good!”
Sitting on the driver seat inside his cab. He retrieved his cell phone, dialed a number before lighting his cigarette. “Roadside assistance?” he asked of the voice on the other end of the line.” Yeah I’m around roughly five miles from the ‘Perky Parrot’ rest stop northbound on I-75. Yeah I think I’ll need a towing, blew a piston through the block wall... Ah not really, I’m on the shoulder just waiting. If you could make it sooner than later it would be greatly appreciated…. O...Ok gotcha… guess it’s just a waiting game now then? … Oh by the way you got any number for engine suppliers in the area I’m sure that’ll come in handy. You could shove a fist through the hole in the block and god only know what all else is going on inside the engine you know... ok thank you … yes this is my cell call me if you need anything or have any updates.”
He got off his first call and searched his contact list before placing a second call. “Oh yeah capo. Como estas?” speaking in Spanish he gets into a lengthy conversation with the contact on the line.
A headlight appeared in his rearview mirror off in the distance, he kept watching its approach which seemed quite rapid. Retrieving a third cigarette which he lit using the butt of the prior. “I’m certain I will be a few days late.” As the car in the rearview approached he stepped down from the cab and standing at the side of the unit waved his arm in a signaling manner. “Tomorrow I will see if I can get a engine replacement, if not you guys will ha….” BOOOM!
A loud ear rattling explosion interrupts the quiet ambience of the area. Within a fraction of a second his eye caught a glimpse of something flying in his direction at such a high velocity his only reaction was to cover his face with his arm.
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