The rain pelted the windshield as the darkness engulfed him.

The rain pelted the windshield as the darkness engulfed him.

The thunder of water hitting the metal roof of the car swallowed the sound of the engine and the rustling of wheels on an old asphalt road.

If he closed his eyes, he could imagine racing in the middle of the storm. No road under the wheels, no direction. Just the thunder of rain, and wind, and the darkness, that the weak front lights of his old truck couldn’t breach.

The light stopped just an arm’s length in front of the car, reflecting in the myriad of water droplets, getting lost among them.

He let his vision sway out of focus, watching the dance of light and rain before his truck. He imagined these little reflections being stars, and the darkness between them ― space. The thunder of the rain would be the roar of an engine of his spaceship, rushing into the unknown.

He threw a look at the speedometer and let the car pull him forward at the ninety kilometers per hour, dangerous speed for a night drive in the storm, and he imagined it being more. Faster, more powerful. Force that could raise him above clouds, above gravitation, into the stars, toward something great and unknown.

He let his foot drop lower, press harder. His back pushed into the seat with the growing speed of his movement.

The rain intensified. The shiny stars in the weak rays of his front lights were dancing frantically now, the reflected light merging into something enthralling.

The car vibrated under him, dutifully working its engine to give him the speed he wanted. The numbers were growing on the speedometer in front of him.

The rain was pouring from the sky, uncaring of the lonesome car rushing somewhere along the old asphalt road, silent, in the rumble of the storm.

Here and now, where no one could see, in the mind of the smiling man behind its wheel, this car was something more.