The Flat

Puncture

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

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“Oh, NO!”  thought Jeannie as she carefully steered her car to the shoulder of the road. She’d heard an odd sound, and then the whole car shimmied and skidded. Right in the middle of the morning rush hour, of course.

She pocketed her keys and got out to see what she could see. As she circled the car, the rear right tire presented a woeful sight. Clearly, something had punctured it and blown it apart.  It wasn’t just flat.  It was graveyard dead.

Just as she was unlocking the driver-side door to grab her cell, a pickup truck slid in several yards behind her car. The man who jumped from the driver’s seat to the pavement was a sight for sore eyes!  He looked like a guy who knew how to take care of business.

Jeannie stood waiting as he loped up to her, grinned at her as if they were old friends, and asked if he could help.

“My right rear tire is blown. Something punctured it, I guess. I have a spare, but I’m embarrassed to tell you that I really don’t know how to change a tire.  I mean, I’ve seen it done, and my dad tried to teach me, but–”

“Okay, no problem. Can you pop the trunk?”

“Sure.  Thank you so much.”

He got right to work, locating the tools he needed as if he knew her car. Within 15 minutes he’d removed the bad tire, replaced it with the spare, and was cleaning his hands with a red bandanna handkerchief.

“Let me give you something for helping me out,” Jeannie said as she opened her purse. The guy got an offended look on his face and refused firmly. “No, Ma’am!  I figure if a guy can’t stop to help a pretty lady, he’s got something wrong with him.”  He began to turn away when Jeannie stopped him by saying, “Well, at least tell me your name so I can thank you properly!”

He turned, grinning again. “Name’s Morgan, Ma’am. Morgan Craig.  Two first names.”

“He really has a great smile,” thought Jeannie. She put out her hand to shake his and said, “I’m Jeannie Sally.  I have two first names, too.  What a coincidence!”

“Well, Jeannie Sally, I’m kind of wondering–you have a phone number?  Would it be okay if I called you?”

Everything Jeannie knew about safety and common sense whiffed right out of her head. She just had a good feeling about Morgan Craig. “Sure, I guess that would be okay.”  And she took the phone he offered and put her number in it.

“Thanks, Miss Sally. You’ll hear from me. You have a good day, now.”  As he walked away, she admired the set of his shoulders and the obvious comfort he had in his own abilities.

Maybe that flat tire hadn’t been such a bad thing, after all.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/puncture/

 

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