The needle touched “E,” so we pulled off I-70 into a station from the 50’s. Four young cowboys sat on a fence where their pickups cooled, boot-heels hooked on the center rail, dark eyes hooked on Don’s gold Trans-Am. I filled it quickly, avoiding eye-contact and clenching my full bladder. Then the engine vapor-locked again. I jumped out to push-start while Don dumped the clutch. Nothing once. Twice.

          Then the ‘boys come a-runnin.’ They helped me push that car dang near to Colorado before it would kickover.

          We laughed, friends for five minutes.

          We didn’t stop until we hit Nevada.

 

CJ Mathis’s stories have been published by Flash Fiction Magazine, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Camden Park, and others. He writes in multiple genres, publishes space fantasy novels, and dabbles in poetry. He lives in Dallas area with his wife and their rescue superhero dog Saber-Girl, calls his sourdough starter “Ursula” and cooks crazy-good Cajun food for a Midwest Yankee.