Present Day, NY / MA border, The Berkshires in the Winter

  I sigh and rub at my eyes as I travel along the interstate. I should have known the weather would be even worse up here in the mountains. It always is. The motor lets up a little when I lift my foot off the acceleration a little so I can slow down on the icy roads. When I checked the weather before I started my day, I knew it was going to get bad, but the further east I got towards the Mass Pike it was only getting worse.

  My head bobbed a bit to the 80s DC hardcore that blasted through the truck speakers and I sang along “and we never will, cause we’re just a minor threat!”

  I had to turn off the audiobook I was listening to once the snow got bad. I wasn’t able to concentrate on it. This in itself was kind of annoying because I was in the middle of like, the longest isekai series and I wanted to get through it so I could keep punching away at my to be read pile. Still, I was enjoying the book, and it’d be better to be able to actually listen.

  “Welcome to M-A,” the tablet that ruled my life announced as I crossed the border. I idly wonder if I should have stopped and tried to find a spot at one of the truck stops at the last exit. A shake of my head as I rule it out. I’m supposed to get this load of frozen turkeys to this store and then go to the Boston Markets to pick up stuff and take it down to Virginia.

  That was my life. I had a sweet gig with BuyMart doing this little dedicated drive. Then, after I delivered in Virginia, I’d pick a load up at the port and bring it all the way back up to Upstate NY. I happened upon the deal of a lifetime and kind of fell backwards into owning my own truck. With my relationship being a driver for BuyMart, I was able to get this cushy little contract.

  Currently, I wished I never even got into driving a truck. What the hell possessed me to get a CDL? It was 4 in the morning on a Sunday morning. Normal humans were still in bed, all warm and cozy, looking forward to a nice snow day and here I was driving in the goddamn Ice Capades.

  “Where in the hell are the damn snow plows?” I curse as I drive along, knowing now I should have stopped.

  It’s fine, I’m fine. This wasn’t a problem, not really, I’ve driven in a lot worse of weather. It just kinda sucks. Oh well, I guess, welcome to driving in the Northeast. I reach over and crank the defroster to blast on my windshield before it could really freeze up. I reach down and chug the rest of the energy drink before I toss the empty can into the trash can in front of my passenger seat.

  “We got this,” I tell myself as I drive deeper into The Baked Bean State on the pike.

  I keep pushing it, but I’m going slow. The snowflakes are big and easy to see even in the dark. I make warp speed noises sometimes and turn on the high beams for fun. As long as there weren’t any other trucks around. There were a few, not many, but a few. That was partly how I knew I wasn’t being crazy. Though, it’s not like anything stopped these milk haulers who ran around here. There could be an asteroid bearing down getting ready to hit the pike and there’d still be a milk hauler with his foot on the floor speeding through the interstate.

  When I just get past the first service plaza on the highway in Mass, the snow lets up and I can comfortably go a little faster. I cranked up the music and the sun’s morning rays appeared over the horizon. It is going to be a good day, I think to myself as I travel along.

  As I get closer to the huge downgrade, something flashes in the sky behind me that lights up my driver’s side mirrors. I blink and look at the mirror, wondering what it could have been. The sun wasn’t all the way up, but the orange hues were enough that anything flashing like that concerned me more than a little.

  TRUCKERS TEST YOUR BRAKES.

  STEEP DOWNGRADE AHEAD.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The large yellow signs just before Jacob’s Ladder warned me. So I eased off the accelerator once more so I could slow down. I didn’t want to be rocketing down the long grade on slick ground. The snow had mostly stopped, but the ground was still snowy and wet. Judging from the temperature on my dash, it was also well before freezing.

  I kept eyeing my mirror to see if another flash came across so I could see what it was, and just as I reached the top of the hill, it happened. A lightning bolt lit up the sky. It showed a deep blue that seemed to be traced with red.

  “What the fuck?”

  I blink as I descend the grade and my mind races. If I get over the question of why the hell there was a lightning bolt just after a snowstorm, what the hell was that coloring about? I keep coasting down the hill, pumping my brakes when I need to and then let off, so they don’t start smoking. I’m able to keep the truck right around 55-60 without using my engine brake, which I knew was a huge no-no with the weather.

  When I’m about halfway down the hill, it snows again and I roll my eyes a little. “Of course,” I mumble to myself.

  I shake my head and shrug it away, though the lingering unease about the lightning bolts has me a little unnerved. It’s not that I’m really nervous about the weird weather, it was just odd. Just another side effect from climate change, I tell myself.

  That’s when my mirror once more lights up with another flash and I stare. This one lasted longer, way longer than a normal streak of lightning, if I had to guess. Then I realized there wasn’t any thunder that went along with the lightning and my eyebrows came together in thought. Well, I was blasting the old punk music pretty loud, so I guess that’s why.

  “OH FUCK,” I scream as I look back at the road.

  While I was watching the lightning bolt, a plow that was parked to the side of the runaway truck ramp pulled out onto the highway. Of course, the one fucking plow I see all morning and it cuts me off. That’s when it all went tits up.

  I have a moment of rookie-itis and slam on my brakes. The road is slick with the mush and fresh snow and I instantly felt my trailer slide. I try to steer off into the runaway truck while I still have time, but it only makes matters worse. I watch my trailer fishtail behind me into the left lanes and I’m thankful it’s still early enough in the morning to not really be busy.

  My truck does a complete 180 on the highway and I’m not looking back up the hill. My hands are on the wheel, but there’s nothing I can do at this point. I tried to fight it earlier, and it just made matters worse. My mind is racing as I try to think of what to do. I guess the good thing is I can’t lose my job because I work for myself now. I’ll just have to pay to fix whatever damages happen.

  My body racks against the seatbelt as the trailer hits the jersey wall, and I close my eyes. This bridge has been under construction, for I don’t even know how long. I grunt out and hang on tightly to the steering wheel now, more for support than anything. I’m expecting the ride to finally end, but I must have been going much faster in the tail slide than I thought. In this situation, you’d expect to hear a lot of crashing noises. A lot of metal getting crunched or tires squealing. I hear two things. First, I hear my blood pumping so hard I think it might start spurting from my ears. Second, and in the background, there’s a loud ringing noise.

  I peek an eye open and I watch my trailer flip up onto the barrier. I don’t even have time to curse, but my eyes open wide as what’s about to happen dawns on me. Once the truck goes completely sideways, my body slams against the seatbelt once more and I can no longer hold on to the steering wheel as I’m pushed into the driver’s side door. The mug full of water falls out of the cupholder and slams down towards the door as well. Next thing I know, the clipboard on the passenger’s seat is flying across the cab and slaps me in the face.

  The fully loaded trailer still isn’t done on its path of destruction, though. It has slid the rest of the way over the barrier, and now I’m upside down. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was screaming at the top of my lungs. The cooler I kept in between mine and the passenger seat jumped in the air and I could barely stop it from pounding me in the face. I kept a gallon jug of water, energy drinks, and, of course, snacks in there. All of that slammed against the roof of the cab, which was now at the bottom before the cooler followed it all.

  Then I go weightless in my seat and I’m staring up and watching the bridge fly away from me as the truck and trailer fly down towards the water. That was when I realized I had been yelling the whole time. I stop yelling and just stare up at the bridge and the sky. My mind is empty as I slam into the back of the seat when the trailer comes crashing into the icy waters.

  Just before the truck goes sideways once more, sending me into the water, I see one final streak of that weird blue-red lightning streaking through the sky right towards me. I’m screaming out, holding onto the steering wheel, trying to fight it. Trying to will myself to just drive back up onto the highway overhead.

  Of course it doesn’t work. My body racks against the seatbelt once more and I grunt out. This time I’m being thrusted towards the passenger side of the cab. I’m able to look over and see the water creep in and float in. It happened quickly. I didn’t even have time to do anything before the water was surrounding me and sucking me into its depths.

  As of this posting there's 21 chapters and bonus stuff on the

  Hiroshi, Tale of a Sumotori

  There's also a to help me get Hiroshi self-published and we've hit most of my stretch goals already. :D