Everything that Pedals knows

Jim Stanson has left the hospital. He has no car. So he calls a cab. Then decides to wait at the convenience store across the street from the hospital. He buys a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter, and steps back outside. He has begun to shake uncontrollably.

The rain is still falling. However, it isn’t near the deluge it was this morning. He pauses before lightning the cigarette. This isn’t right. He remembers the rain falling this morning. And the way it had poured on the way to work. From there his memory is blank. Until waking up on the side of the road. What had happened?

He tosses the cigarette without lighting it. Then he crumples the newly opened pack. He had quit smoking years ago. Although, he has a loss of memory, he still knows where he lives. Also how to get there. He counts this as a blessing as he tucks back closer to the convenience store.

Everything that pedals knows

At least he still has his phone. He watches the rain fall, and thinks about the things he can remember. He remembers the face of a stranger. A very somber face, with very wise and clear eyes. Then he remembers mind numbing pain. From there he is going to the hospital with no other memories. Other than feeling fine.

The rain starts falling heavier, as a vehicle pulls into the convenience store parking lot. Thinking it is the taxi, Jim steps forward. Then he steps immediately back under the awning. It is a patron. Not his taxi. He tries to avoid as much of the rain as possible. However, it is becoming harder because it is raining heavily now.

The rain is falling heavily. From inside the convenience store comes overly loud sound. It is audible, up and above the din of the falling rain. Loud arguing. At that moment the patron from earlier comes storming out of the convenience store. The angry patron gets in the car and slams the driver side door!

Jim watches in disbelief as the car revs loudly and races forward. The impact with the front of the store is dramatic, and loud. Furthermore, it rumbles the ground Jim is standing on. He watches in shock as the car reverses out of the store, and gets turned around then flees.

The crash

There is debris everywhere, and there are sparks and loud electrical pops from exposed wiring. He realizes he feels so incredulous he has forgotten how to move. He wills himself forward, and peers inside the destroyed front of the building.

The clerk is laying on the floor. He is covered in debris, and what appears to be blood. Jim feels his pulse reaching overdrive and he carefully makes his way to the badly injured clerk. As he kneels beside him, he can see the man is struggling to hold onto consciousness. As he peers into Jim’s eyes he grabs Jim’s hand. What happens next shocks them both equally. Figuratively as well as literally.

As the man’s hand grasps Jim’s, a bright light erupts from them. Furthermore, Jim feels a powerful pull. He makes an effort to resist the pull. It feels as though his very essence is being drawn from him. Jim closes his eyes and opens them again. There is no light.

The clerk rolls away from him in sheer terror. Then he scrambles a little further away. After this he stammers out a hasty warning to Jim.

Everything that pedals knows

“Stay away! What…what did you do!? What happened? How did you do that!?” The entire time the clerk continues to scramble away. There is no apparent injury of any kind. In fact he appears to be in better health than when Jim purchased the cigarettes a short while ago.

Jim, on the other hand, is fading fast. He recognizes that he is about to pass out and tries to hold on. However, it is too late as he sinks to the floor, and the lights go out.