I want to break free: #WriteBravely #WRitetribefestivalofwords2018

My girlfriends and I are road tripping from Madras to Pondicherry. It’s just the three of us. I am at the steering wheel of a feisty green Ford Figo, manoeuvring my way through the lush, bountiful landscapes, blasting music on the stereo. We are singing off tune and head banding to, “I Want to Break Free.” 

Suddenly Rinks jumps out of her skin breaking our make-believe world, “Did you hear that babes?”

“Did I hear what?”, I retort as I continue to head bang.

‘That thumping sound, Natz….Think we have a flat.”

“Oh! Shuddup Rinks, stop assuming the worst,” pitches in Bhavs.

“Christ, I hope not,” I say incredulously; bringing the car to a grinding halt.

I inspect the tyres, but they look perfectly fine. But there’s a loud, thumping sound coming from the boot. The sound rises in crescendo and is mixed with muffled wails and cries. 

My heart almost stops beating. By then Rinks and Bhavs have also got off the car and are clutching each others arms fearfully.

I muster enough courage to open the boot, though I can almost feel my heart popping out of my chest.

Queen continues to croon, “I Want to Break Free…” 

To our utter shock, curled in the boot lies a skeleton of a girl child, spitting fire and blood trickling from the sockets of her eyes. 

Our agonising screams can be heard back and beyond. The villagers come rushing towards us and the car. We aren’t standing next to the boot anymore, as we have managed to run half a mile away from the car.

The villagers who gather around the car come up to us, questioning us on our plight. When we tell them about the fire-spitting skeleton of the child, they look at us in disbelief and laugh some. There is nothing in the boot they say. Must be a figment of our over-active imagination, they joke.

Queen continues to play on auto shuffle, “I Want to Break Free…”

This post is written for Day 2 of The Write Tribe Festival of Words June 2018.

Prompt:  Use this idea to write a story : You’re traveling in a rental car when you hear the thumping of a flat tyre. You pull over and discover the thumping is not coming from a flat, after all, but from the trunk. What or who is making the noise?