The Ground is a Long Way from the 51st Floor
an excerpt

“Ah, really, sonny boy. Could you give a tired old woman a ride?” Her breath smelt so bad, you could almost see it in the air.

Dan hesitated, there was a serial killer on the loose, and he was not too eager to pick up some random woman, and let her within the safety of his car.

“I’m not going anywhere you’re going.” Both his tone of voice and the look in his eyes gave a look of finality, or at least he thought that they did. The woman did not get the same message, however.

“Ah, come on darling. It’s cold outside.”

It wasn’t particularly cold outside. Dan was fine wearing just his leather jacket. Old people are often cold though, or if they aren’t, their thin shriveled bodies and the way they shake make them seem as if they would be cold. Dan thought for a moment, weighing the risks, and the amount of inconvenience the woman was likely to give him.

“Fine, get in.” He gave in, hoping that he could dump her off in a few blocks, and be rid of her. She was probably wanting a ride to go meet her heroin dealer, or some such nonsense. All these street people were up to no good, Dan thought. They’d all squandered their money on drugs and alcohol, and forgotten to pay their rent. He didn’t know why he was giving her a ride, hitch hiking was a bad business. Equally dangerous for both parties involved. There was always the risk to the person climbing into a stranger’s car, as one can never know who exactly they are latching a ride with. It is equally bad business to let some random person into your car, as you have no way of knowing who they are either. This Dan knew, but he let the woman in anyways.

“Thank you, dear. You are too kind to a little old woman like me.”

“It’s no problem,” he lied, pressing his foot down onto the accelerator. “Where are you going?”

“Everyone asks, but no one has an answer.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, nothing dear.”

“Where do you want me to take you?”

“Oh, nowhere and everywhere. I’d love to go to London.”

“Where within five miles of here do you want to go?”

“Oh, darling, take me anywhere.” Her breath smelt awful, as it oozed from her crooked mouth with its crooked teeth.

“But that doesn’t help me. I need to know where you are going.”

“Just drive until you get sick of me I suppose, and kick my tired body out.”

Dan went silent. She sure was a disagreeable old woman. Her cryptic answers coupled with her smelly breath were driving him insane, he thought to himself as he rolled down his window to get some fresh air.

They drove along silently for a minute or so, before the old woman broke the silence.

“I lost my husband you know.”

“That’s great.”

“He was murdered.”

“Alright.”

“I think it was that man.”

“What man?”

“The man that killed all those people.”

“That really doesn’t narrow it down these days, lady,” Dan said with a sigh.

__________________________________________________________