The Creature

It was a dark and dusty night. I had been up since approximately 4 a.m. and was feeling exceedingly jet lagged. Not only was it normally dark outside, but the ground was dry from previous fires. All of the dirt was being disturbed by the wind, kicking up dust and creating a general haze for miles around. I was going the speed limit, which was 75 mph. I was on cruise control.

I was also drowsy, and I was afraid that I'd fall asleep at the wheel. I have a history of falling asleep mid-sentence. I didn't want to expand my repertoire of strange situations in which I am able to sleep. I had been conditioned to sleeping in vehicles while I was on my vacation. My eyes didn't want to stay open. To combat the drowsy feeling, I turned up the air conditioner to high and blasted music through the radio. I was trying to sing along at the top of my lungs. It was really more of a blurb because I was hardly singing coherently.

All of a sudden in my headlights, I saw a small creature coming at me. It had a strange bony and white frame. It had fangs protruding from its slim head and slim, frail body. I had never seen a creature quite so scary and bony-critter-like. It could have been an alien that escaped from Area 51. Maybe it was a baby chupacabra. Whatever it was, I was sure that it was menacing. It would attack my car and eat me. Or I would become its host body, and it would pose as me until it could figure out a way to take over other people.

I swerved to try and miss the horrible creature, and a terrifying scream escaped out of my throat. It was a scream worthy of an old Hitchcock film or perhaps from a victim on "Perry Mason." My heart was beating faster than the beat of the CanCan song from my Pump It Up game on expert. But I realized before it disappeared beneath my car that it was merely a small piece of tumbleweed. I mused at my own tired irrationality, and resumed my drowsy state of trying to get home safely without falling asleep.