Scene: lights & reflexes

A long stretch of road formless in the dark. Headlights from oncoming traffic are blunted by the haze of distance and all the crowding shadows. You are familiar with this road. Memory lights the way. Your hand is steady on the wheel and the windows are down. The wind stings your cheeks, makes your eyes water but there is almost nobody around. You speed up until you pass the glowing pair of red lights--a devil's staring eyes--a little way ahead. In a few meters, you will shift to the right, pull the car that way for the gentle turn. The island separating traffic has long disappeared into the black murk. Your eyes are a little unfocused. You are not thinking of the traffic. When it is quiet like this it is easy to think you are alone. The car beside you hardly makes a sound when your ears are filled with the howling wind. You push the knuckles of your hand into your eyes, blink at the tears, and reel from the explosion of white light. You squint into the black as you make the turn. The night presses against you, close and thick, until the headlights of a screaming car slide out of the shadow to gun you down. You are awake. You pull right, your car swerves into the next lane, and smash into another vehicle.