Four 'til Late
an excerpt

Jimbo snorted. "You're both out of your minds. It was fog. It's a cliche', even. People have always been seeing things in the fog. Down in Bloomington, if you go off the main roads, out into the surrounding country, there's always fog late at night. I've delivered out to the sticks and thought I'd seen all kinds of crazy things. Nothing scarier than this one time though," he held up a finger while he drank more of his beer to wash down a french fry.

Brett and Gonzo waited.

"This one time, I was down in one of the hollows, out on Old 37, way out there. I don't think it was in our area, but it was a slow night, and the manager answered the phone and sent me out instead of having me put together boxes or rolling sticks. It was a big order too, so it was worth it in commission alone. Anyway, the fog was thick that night, and every time I went down hill after going over a rise, it was like I was plunging into a cloud bank, I'd have to slow way down to 20 or slower. I was terrified I'd get hit from behind by someone going faster who couldn't see my tail lights. Luckily, it was 2am, and I had the roads to myself. I went on for a long while, it was pretty far out of town, I went up this hill and down into another pool of fog. The whole world went white from my headlights, when something loomed up in front of me. Something big!" He took another dramatic sip.

Brett and Gonzo hadn't taken a bite or a drink since Jimbo had started talking, and they continued to stare at him, drawn into his story. "I nearly died that night," Jimbo continued, "The thing reared up and I had to swerve just like Gonzo here did, just to keep from hitting it." He broke out into a grin as the others were still spellbound, waiting to hear more. "Goddamned deer almost took out my pickup that night."