Damon pulled into the driveway of his mother’s house, just like he did everyday yet today something was different. There was a fancy sports car, a bright Orange Lotus Elise in the garage. A fast car. In Damon’s spot. Damon parked his 2001 Honda Civic Si behind this new monstrosity, careful to bump it just a little. Suddenly loud blaring honking and flashing sounded through the quiet neighborhood. A 20 year old male barreled out of the house, looking stricken.
“Sorry bro, my bag bumped it.” Damon said, earnestly.
“What do you think?” Stephan’s face was lit with a certain innocence, a certain ignorance that aggravated Damon to no end.
“Can you drive it?” Damon wondered whether Stephan knew that this car could do 0-60 in 3.33 seconds. He wondered whether he knew that this was the car Consumer Reports had described as “the hybrid alien insect from the planet Sextron”. Due to the solid Aluminum frame if Stephan a speed bump improperly could damage the Chassis enough to render it totaled.
Stephan chucked knowingly, stupidly. “Not really” he answered.
Damon could only swallow hard and nod.
“Well let’s take it out for a ride. Let’s see what you’ve got.” Damon said this aggressively, knowing Stephan would back down. Knowing Stephan wouldn’t dare.
“Sure, later tonight after mum goes to bed.”
Damon’s Civic revved, in preparation. It was excited to be pushed to the limits, to be shown off. The powerful sound of a supped-up engine seared through the night, getting Damon’s adrenaline pumping. Stephan pulled up beside him, the moonlight shining off the perfect paint job.
There was no one to count down, no one to say ‘go’. It was not that official. So Stephan and Damon counted together.
“1-2-3 GO!” Damon’s Civic sped off through the night, the air thick with spent gas. Stephan, clumsy with a stick, was slower to start, but the perfect balance of the Elise took the turns easily: he quickly caught up to Damon. Damon noticed the approaching orange blur and slammed his gas pedal into the floor of his car. He was clearing the double digits now, yet the orange car sped on. The nose of the Elise was passing into view in Damon’s driver’s-side window, then all of a sudden it overtook him. It overtook his Civic. He was in 5th gear, the pedal to the floor.
Suddenly a wave of anger overtook Damon. He built this car. It was a part of him. It was him. Stephan could have anything in this world. Everything was handed to him. Damon wasn’t a mathematician, wasn’t good at computers, at books, at anything but cars. And Stephan was taking that glory from Damon. Damon couldn’t see anything but the orange car in front of him, mocking him.
A sharp corner was quickly approaching. Stephan slowed down to brace for the turn. Damon drew level with him. They blew through the turn together, nose to nose. Damon noticed a small bump ahead. Still level with Stephan he drifted slightly to the left, knowing Stephan wouldn’t notice. Stephan corrected by going left slightly. A red gleam in his eye, Damon aimed perfectly, and Stephan hit the speed bump.
Suddenly Stephan wasn’t anywhere. For a fraction of a second Damon was joyful: Stephan had been slowed down; had been brought to his knees; had been shamed. Now Stephan would know who was the real driver. But Stephan was in the air. The car that was as light as air, was now spinning above Damon. It seemed like slow motion in Damon’s rear view mirror. This wasn’t real. It was a movie. Just like ‘Fast and the Furious’. The car will be totaled, but Stephan will get out, will get up. Will be alive.
The car hit the ground with a screeching thud. It slid 20 feet on the pavement, the crumpled heap of the once beautiful sports car crying in pain as it went. It didn’t burst into flame – this wasn’t the movies – this was real life. Damon smelled burned rubber, but it wasn’t coming from the Elise. His car was stopped, but he couldn’t remember pressing the breaks. A cell phone was already out, but he couldn’t remember putting his hand in his pocket. He dialed 9-1-1, though in his heart he knew it was in vain. Slowly Damon pulled himself out of his Civic, and began to walk towards the crumpled wreckage of what had been his younger brother.

WRITING JOURNAL

I chose anecdotes to reflect the overall moral of the story. It was difficult to settle on specific ones to use, and they changed greatly as the story progressed. The resolution of the piece is pretty negative, and not that resolved. The moral is essentially you don’t know what you have until its gone, or cherish what you have, or “don’t be a cocky asshole.” I think its successful in that it surprises the reader, but there are specific clues as to Damon’s attitude throughout the story, with him purposely bumping Stephan’s car in the beginning, and also thinking about if Stephan knew that his car was so easily totaled. I think most people will be just expecting some classic story of Damon persevering or something. I did not return to Machiavelli’s fable as a point of reference. Although I liked it, it wasn’t something that particularly inspired me. The most challenging part of the assignment was outlining how to fulfill the standard fable form, when I didn’t really understand it. I do feel better in how to construct my next story but not because of the rigorous rules, instead its because of the fact that I had to figure out a lot of logistical issues involved in writing a story that I didn’t even know I didn’t understand previously.