Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #18 September 2015 | Page 84

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Johnny Esposito was driving around, trying to
clear his head. He was so unhappy at home. His wife
was fat and dull. Their love life was non-existent. His
neighbour, Raul, had everything that he ever wanted:
a knockout wife, a beautiful house, a gorgeous expensive car and lots of friends. He just wished he could
have that same life.
Johnny wasn’t quite sure where he was at the
moment as he pondered his current life. His Coach
had the new GPS function, and he had told it to just
give him directions for a pleasant drive. It pinged and
gave him another set of directions.
“Johnny, turn left at the next light, and stop at
the diner at the next corner. There is something you
need to see.”
Coach knew that Johnny was envious of
others around him. It had profiled him by his usage
into the ‘Get what you want from others’ category. It
also knew via the GPS function that Tim and Suzie’s
convertible was parked by the diner.
As Johnny pulled up, Coach said, “Get out
and look inside that Chrysler convertible on the street.
Wouldn’t you like one of those? It’s much better than
your junker. You could have a life worth living if you
got one. Go into the diner and see what kinds of people own such a car.”
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From inside the diner looking out, Tim and
Suzie saw a guy pull up and start walking around their
car parked across the street and looking inside it.

away.”

Suzie shuddered. “Tim, just stay here. He’ll go

But Suzie was wrong. That stranger walked
into the diner, and then started staring at them. Tim
started to get up, but Suzie pulled his hand down. “No,
just wait, Tim.”
Sure enough, the stranger left after a few
minutes, got in his car, and drove away. Suzie grabbed
Tim’s device and said, “Gypsy, will that stranger come
back?”
“Most likely.”
Suzie jumped in her seat. “Gypsy, should we
leave now?” she asked.
“My sources say no.”
“Gypsy, is our car safe? What could happen?”
“The Chrysler Sebring Convertible is the seventh most stolen luxury car in the United States.”
“We’ve got to get out of here now!” screamed
Suzie. She jumped up and ran out the door. Tim sprang
in hot pursuit. As Suzie ran across the street, she didn’t
notice a large Hostess delivery truck filled with ‘Devil Dogs’ barrelling down the road. The truck driver
blared his horn as he saw the young girl stop right in
front of him in fright.
Luckily for Suzie, the truck driver swerved,
and Tim reached her just in time to pull her to safety.

“What the hell?” said Tim. “I’m going out and
confront that jerk.”

“Suzie, what were you thinking? Come back
into the diner.”

“No, Tim, don’t. Ask ‘The Gypsy’ what we
should do.”

As Tim and Suzie went into the diner and sat
back down, Suzie wailed, “Gypsy told us that we
shouldn’t leave. It was right! Oh my God, give me that
thing. Gypsy, is it safe to leave now?”

“Really? Ok, just for you, babe. Gypsy, should
I confront that idiot outside?”

“Don’t count on it.”

“Outlook not so good.”

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