Roadkill by Christa Faust

Eeegor · 12-14-2005, 05:31 PM

Lucy flew along the 5, raw, humpbacked silhouette of the San Gabriel Mountains already in the Nova's rearview and ahead flat endless nothing as dark and hopeless as she felt. She pushed the protesting automobile up to 120, hot dusty wind pulling ble... Read Full Article

Kanedawg · 02-26-2006, 02:23 PM

Smashing story. Compact and emotional and gripping with great use of language and imagery surrounding that lost out on the road at night feeling and, quite literally, in a surreal full circle kind of way, getting "trashed."

Ever submitted to Horror Garage Magazine? They have rejected me in the past but you might be able to make the cut. Assuming they're still around, last I knew they took very short pieces, though. Peace, Kanedawg

Mediahostage · 04-22-2006, 11:46 PM

Visceral! I was with her every moment of the way. Your imagery is vivid, and your words made me taste the fear and smell the terror on her breath. I cant wait to read more . . .

mydnyght · 05-30-2006, 07:17 PM

gripping!! it made we want to float out of the darkness, swoop her up in wings of night, and save her....

Miriel · 06-01-2006, 01:26 AM

I applaud you. A very good storie. I loved it. For a while I thought I was reading something by Stephen King. (Dont be offended if you dont like him, for me hes the ultimate writer)

Gorey · 06-04-2006, 07:34 PM

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and especially loved the slice of the world described, as well as the roadkill thing itself. I found myself thinking about that thing long after I read the piece, tattery black plastic and metal bits. It's something you can imagine passing by at 60 mph without a second thought. Quite a cool thing to take a piece of garbage and give it mystery, a story, a menacing feel.

Thanks!

GGJim · 07-17-2006, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miriel

I applaud you. A very good storie. I loved it. For a while I thought I was reading something by Stephen King. (Dont be offended if you dont like him, for me hes the ultimate writer)

I agree with the Stephen King comparison. His writing always makes me visualize with great clarity the settings through characters' eyes. Christa Faust has also acheived this for me. I was right there with Lucy, both watching her drive by and seeing the situation as she saw it, both physically and in her mind.
I also agree with the thought of this story being similar in feel to old Twilight Zone episodes from the 50's and 60's with Rod Serling. Maybe Night Gallery, too.

As for the story, I can only imagine Lucy ate some really good acid at some point before her drive. As she drove farther into the night, farther from her boyfriend and her home, her fears got the best of her. I have been there, tripping and wondering when in the hell the sun is going to ever come up. The night seems endless, your mind racing with so many thoughts criss crossing through. Lucy's terror continued to grow exponentially and there was no going back. When she saw the plastic baggy/birdish/broken figure in the road, it seemed like it must be kind of large. It had to be too flatten both tires. Later it was described in what seemd to be a much smaller size, and even hinted that it could be so slight that the wind might or might not be blowing it around.
And all that trash that was right at her car door when she opened it;
possibly all metaphors for disappointments in her life:
cracked plastic letter H with prongs - Heroin?
a watch with no hands - wasted life?
flattened stuffed toy - bad childhood memories?
porno mag with the chick getting double-teamed - Lucy's own lamented whorishness.

etc etc......

Lucy then walks to look for help but ends up where she started.
She is going nowhere.
She is realizing her life is shit and she has lost hope.

And this night will drag on forever.

I can only hope she comes out of her trip when the sun comes up.

bulletsinmyhead · 08-02-2006, 09:05 AM

I loved it!

Candlelight Chaos · 08-11-2006, 02:53 AM

Wow, I loved it as well, had me glued to the bitter end.. Nice very well written.

the_ink_bleeds_faster · 08-22-2006, 12:17 AM

I thought that story was very good. The description had me caught in reading it until the end. But my only question is, where was Lucy driving to?

BlackButterfly · 10-01-2006, 03:12 PM

I LOVED IT!!

A truly enthralling story of someone's personal hell... it had me the entire time.

It puts me in mind of one of those old Twilight Zone/Outer Limits stories that was mentioned, as well...

::guilt::

Sorry, I know this is an ancient thread, but anyone who hasn't read the front page story definitely should...

Malecke · 01-19-2007, 08:12 AM

Excellent.Very well written and articulate.I must admit I never expected the ending. It pulled Me in from the beginning, and never let go.

ashleyxnicole · 01-19-2007, 11:05 AM

I loved this.

OCD Insomnia · 01-30-2007, 01:26 PM

It kept my interest wich is saying ALOT. Well done my friend.

LaKeesha · 02-08-2007, 08:34 AM

Wow.

Your story reminded me of a combo. between Clive Barker and Poppy Z. Brite.

Not bad. Sad, but not at ALL bad.

Good job!

Orochimaru · 02-24-2007, 09:37 PM

No bad.In fact ,I like It....or maybe I love It?Why It isn't been published in a book?

Orochimaru@immortal.com

Clouds Of Lace · 02-28-2007, 01:35 AM

It's the first work that I read and I like it !Have u ever had the sensation that everything is made of plastic?Breath is made of plastic so everyone must die like a doll.

soggypicklemuncher · 04-06-2007, 04:15 PM

This is a well written story. It takes me back to some periods in my life when I was experiencing a lot of self-inflicted suffering -- physical, mental and emotional. If I weren't a sissy I might join the army as a result of the thoughts I'm having after reading it.

DarkHeartedDemoness · 04-09-2007, 11:47 AM

Why doesn't it work for me?

tw1sted*666* · 10-19-2007, 06:56 AM

that was truly, honestly like reading a stephen king story, th language used and th expression of the situation was just, wel his style! n i love his writing so of course, i loved this story

im so tired right nw but icouldnt look away from the words

Tam Li Hua · 11-01-2007, 01:50 PM

Just read this story.

Absolutely amazing!

Aside from a few grammar things and such, I absolutely loved this story.

DeathriteShaman · 12-14-2007, 10:05 PM

very unpredictable, the imagery was so graphic without being over the top, great read!

blackwater1110 · 02-25-2008, 04:06 PM

I finally found the thread for this story, so I can rave about it with everybody else here!

There was an excellent set-up, giving insight into who the character was, and making the reader identify with her.

All of the imagery was excellent, good use of many senses kept the reader involved in the story.

The buildup and conclusion were appropriately spaced, and the conclusion was clearly very appropriate for the story and gave one a satisfied feeling (from a literary standpoint).

The main idea around which the story was built seemed original to me (I hadn't heard of it before, anyway).

The motifs used were well-integrated through imagery, the character's thoughts, symbolism, etc.

I can definitely see the connection to the "Twilight Zone"--it definitely had that kind of a feel to it.

Anyways, excellent work, I was very impressed!!

L'Oiseau Noir · 02-26-2008, 03:43 PM

Guess I'm going to play the bad guy, as always.

I just got around to reading this story an hour or so ago, and I didn't like it. The description seemed rushed and all over the damn place, and there were several grammatical errors mostly dealing with punctuation. I also felt the excessive cursing detracted from the piece, and I didn't like how the voice of the story switched so rapidly. One minute it'd be a cool description, and the next an angry, ranty voice much like Cid Highwind from Final Fantasy VII. However, despite my problems with the piece I'll give Christa this--she's good with metaphors and similes, and painting vivid imagery.

Anyway, that's just my twopence.