Muse Playground prompt 15.08
"You better watch what you say about my car. She's real sensitive." Arnie Cunningham in Christine
"How can a car be alive?" Lieutenant Callahan asked, from the UNIT van passenger seat.
Harry shook his head. He'd seen a lot of things over the years but never a sentient car. He had thought that nothing could surprise him any more, but then every time he thought that, something else would surprise him, so you never could tell. By all accounts, it was only the one car that had come alive and rampaged round London, but that was enough. Fortunately, all the damage had been confined to one area; unfortunately, it was Hyde Park.
What he hadn't been able to work out was how the car got in there in the first place, there being so many people, trees and barriers of all kinds around. When they got there, it was clear to see: the whole of one corner of the park was flattened, it looked like.
"Publicity are going to have a field day," Colonel Black muttered from beside him, and Harry couldn't disagree with her.
As well as the carnage in the park, there were the usual gaggle of bystanders, who couldn't believe their eyes and were after a closer look, or something. Harry could never quite understand what they wanted, but they had to be dealt with nevertheless.
"I'll herd cats," Callahan offered, once they were all out of the van, and Harry waved him off.
It was not the most exciting job, but it could be the hardest, hence the name it had somehow acquired after a couple of weeks. Today Callahan had a cold, which wasn't serious, but he was apt to sneeze rather a lot and that would keep the crowd away on its own.
After a briefing from the UNIT team there already, Harry's team was left to its own devices.
"We're going to need something to get that car out." Colonel Black nodded towards the lake, where the previously sentient car was half in it and now presumed dead.
"I'll do it," Captain Yalor offered, and a minute later they all had jobs, which they set about doing. The clean-up team, which Harry was the head of, had been working together for a few weeks and by now they were well practised at it.
Fortunately, no one had been injured, but there was one woman who had been in the car, just before it drove into the lake, and from what he heard, Harry was worried about her. So he focused his attention on her.
She was sitting by the lake, looking at the car, not having moved at all since she got out of it. She had dark hair and although Harry was terrible at judging ages, he thought she might be in her forties. He could see when he got closer that she was shaking. The van was not that close and he didn't want to go back until he knew exactly what he needed from it, so he took his blazer off and draped it around her shoulders. She looked up at him as he did so.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, casting an eye over her to assess her condition for himself. From all reports, she hadn't been injured, but it was just as well to check.
She shook her head.
He crouched down beside her. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Elaine... Miller."
He smiled at her. "Harry Sullivan. I'm a doctor. And you're safe now."
"It just came alive. I always joke about it having a mind of its own, but I never thought..." She put a hand up to her mouth and he could see tears welling up in her eyes.
"If there's anything to find, we'll find it." Although he couldn't work out what could possibly cause such a thing, but then it wasn't his job to. "Would you like some tea? There's some in the van."
She nodded. "Yes, thank you."
After taking the hand he offered to help her up, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her, waited until she was finished with it, and then refused to take it back. "I have a spare," he said. He always carried two handkerchiefs, one for him and one to give out, although it meant he got through rather a lot and kept having to buy more.
As they walked, Elaine looked round at the state of the park and everything that was going on in it. Harry wanted to save the explanations until she had some tea in her and felt a little better, so he changed the subject completely.
"What were you planning to do today, before all this happened?" he asked her.
She pulled his blazer around her. "I only went out to buy a new toaster. Ours blew up quite spectacularly this morning and I was out looking for a new one." She shook her head. "You wouldn't believe the number you can get, and they all have so many functions. I just want to toast bread!"
He smiled. He hadn't tried to buy a toaster in a while, but it was a trend he'd noticed. "I think it's a ploy to get you to spend more money."
"You're probably right there. It's the same with mobile phones." She sighed. "You can't just have a phone, it also has a camera and an mp3 player and costs you hundreds of pounds. I can't even work out how to text."
"I texted someone once," he confided, "and they had to ring me up to find out what I meant."
She laughed at that, and he smiled, glad he was helping a little.
"Here," he said, as they reached the van and opened the back door. "It's warmer inside." It wasn't that cold a day for spring, but the shock would make her feel cold.
He followed her in and pulled out a thermos and a plastic cup from the bag on the seat. He filled the cup with the tea and handed it to her.
She took a sip and pulled a face. "It's very sweet."
"It'll do you good." Harry made it with extra sugar expressly for this purpose, and also if any of the team needed extra energy, it would do for them too.
She seemed to accept that and took another sip.
"Can you tell me what happened?" She had probably been asked this already, but Harry needed to be sure he had all the facts.
She nodded and looked down at her cup while she related the tale. "I stalled the car at the lights, and when I turned the engine back on the next thing I knew, it was driving on its own. I shouted and turned the wheel, but nothing happened. The handbrake just came off in my hand!" She shook her head and took another sip.
It wasn't a particularly reassuring tale, as there was nothing to say it couldn't happen to anyone else. "Go on."
"So I just clung on for dear life. And when I saw it was headed to the lake, well, I..." She took a deep breath. "It sounds silly, but I said 'please'. So the car stopped, I got out and then it carried on without me."
He'd heard far more unlikely stories. "It doesn't sound silly." He reached out a hand to pat her shoulder.
She looked up again and smiled at him. "Everyone's going to think I'm a madwoman to have driven like that."
He shook his head. "We have a good publicity officer, she'll make sure no one will blame you."
"I keep hearing stories of crazy things happening, especially in London and especially at Christmas. I just never thought they would happen to me."
"I think they happen to all of us at some time or another." Some more than others, but probably no one in London was safe entirely.
She finished off her tea and handed the cup back to him.
He tucked it away. "Feeling better?"
She nodded.
"Can I give you a lift home?"
"Well, I won't say no. The toaster can wait for another day."
"There's always the grill," he agreed.
They jumped out of the back of the van, Harry offering Elaine a hand down, then he pulled his radio out of his pocket. "Colonel."
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm taking the van, I won't be long."
"We're going to be here a while anyway."
There was the sound of heavy machinery in the background, and on the radio too. He looked over to see there was a lifting machine working on getting the car out of the lake. Harry thought it was just as well he was getting Elaine out of here.
"All right, Colonel, you're in charge."
"Sir."
He put his radio away again. He had tried asking them to call him 'doctor', but that title had different connotations in UNIT and he have to live with 'sir'.
Now in the front of the van, Harry took Elaine home and on the way their talk returned to inconsequential things. He asked her to tell him about the toasters she'd seen and just what they did, other than toast bread. She turned out to be a good story teller and kept him laughing most of the way.
He parked the van up by her house. "Do you want me to see you in?"
"No, I'm fine now, really."
He nodded and watched as she undid her seatbelt.
"Oh, your jacket." She wriggled out of it and handed it over to him.
He took it in his left hand. "Thanks."
"Well." She hesitated, with one hand on the door handle. "Goodbye."
He nodded. "Goodbye." He watched her go and waited until she was safely inside the house before driving off. He wished that the journey had been longer because he'd enjoyed talking to her and wanted to spend longer with her. But he had a job to go back to and he had to put her out of his mind and get back to it. So he did.
"How can a car be alive?" Lieutenant Callahan asked, from the UNIT van passenger seat.
Harry shook his head. He'd seen a lot of things over the years but never a sentient car. He had thought that nothing could surprise him any more, but then every time he thought that, something else would surprise him, so you never could tell. By all accounts, it was only the one car that had come alive and rampaged round London, but that was enough. Fortunately, all the damage had been confined to one area; unfortunately, it was Hyde Park.
What he hadn't been able to work out was how the car got in there in the first place, there being so many people, trees and barriers of all kinds around. When they got there, it was clear to see: the whole of one corner of the park was flattened, it looked like.
"Publicity are going to have a field day," Colonel Black muttered from beside him, and Harry couldn't disagree with her.
As well as the carnage in the park, there were the usual gaggle of bystanders, who couldn't believe their eyes and were after a closer look, or something. Harry could never quite understand what they wanted, but they had to be dealt with nevertheless.
"I'll herd cats," Callahan offered, once they were all out of the van, and Harry waved him off.
It was not the most exciting job, but it could be the hardest, hence the name it had somehow acquired after a couple of weeks. Today Callahan had a cold, which wasn't serious, but he was apt to sneeze rather a lot and that would keep the crowd away on its own.
After a briefing from the UNIT team there already, Harry's team was left to its own devices.
"We're going to need something to get that car out." Colonel Black nodded towards the lake, where the previously sentient car was half in it and now presumed dead.
"I'll do it," Captain Yalor offered, and a minute later they all had jobs, which they set about doing. The clean-up team, which Harry was the head of, had been working together for a few weeks and by now they were well practised at it.
Fortunately, no one had been injured, but there was one woman who had been in the car, just before it drove into the lake, and from what he heard, Harry was worried about her. So he focused his attention on her.
She was sitting by the lake, looking at the car, not having moved at all since she got out of it. She had dark hair and although Harry was terrible at judging ages, he thought she might be in her forties. He could see when he got closer that she was shaking. The van was not that close and he didn't want to go back until he knew exactly what he needed from it, so he took his blazer off and draped it around her shoulders. She looked up at him as he did so.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, casting an eye over her to assess her condition for himself. From all reports, she hadn't been injured, but it was just as well to check.
She shook her head.
He crouched down beside her. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Elaine... Miller."
He smiled at her. "Harry Sullivan. I'm a doctor. And you're safe now."
"It just came alive. I always joke about it having a mind of its own, but I never thought..." She put a hand up to her mouth and he could see tears welling up in her eyes.
"If there's anything to find, we'll find it." Although he couldn't work out what could possibly cause such a thing, but then it wasn't his job to. "Would you like some tea? There's some in the van."
She nodded. "Yes, thank you."
After taking the hand he offered to help her up, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her, waited until she was finished with it, and then refused to take it back. "I have a spare," he said. He always carried two handkerchiefs, one for him and one to give out, although it meant he got through rather a lot and kept having to buy more.
As they walked, Elaine looked round at the state of the park and everything that was going on in it. Harry wanted to save the explanations until she had some tea in her and felt a little better, so he changed the subject completely.
"What were you planning to do today, before all this happened?" he asked her.
She pulled his blazer around her. "I only went out to buy a new toaster. Ours blew up quite spectacularly this morning and I was out looking for a new one." She shook her head. "You wouldn't believe the number you can get, and they all have so many functions. I just want to toast bread!"
He smiled. He hadn't tried to buy a toaster in a while, but it was a trend he'd noticed. "I think it's a ploy to get you to spend more money."
"You're probably right there. It's the same with mobile phones." She sighed. "You can't just have a phone, it also has a camera and an mp3 player and costs you hundreds of pounds. I can't even work out how to text."
"I texted someone once," he confided, "and they had to ring me up to find out what I meant."
She laughed at that, and he smiled, glad he was helping a little.
"Here," he said, as they reached the van and opened the back door. "It's warmer inside." It wasn't that cold a day for spring, but the shock would make her feel cold.
He followed her in and pulled out a thermos and a plastic cup from the bag on the seat. He filled the cup with the tea and handed it to her.
She took a sip and pulled a face. "It's very sweet."
"It'll do you good." Harry made it with extra sugar expressly for this purpose, and also if any of the team needed extra energy, it would do for them too.
She seemed to accept that and took another sip.
"Can you tell me what happened?" She had probably been asked this already, but Harry needed to be sure he had all the facts.
She nodded and looked down at her cup while she related the tale. "I stalled the car at the lights, and when I turned the engine back on the next thing I knew, it was driving on its own. I shouted and turned the wheel, but nothing happened. The handbrake just came off in my hand!" She shook her head and took another sip.
It wasn't a particularly reassuring tale, as there was nothing to say it couldn't happen to anyone else. "Go on."
"So I just clung on for dear life. And when I saw it was headed to the lake, well, I..." She took a deep breath. "It sounds silly, but I said 'please'. So the car stopped, I got out and then it carried on without me."
He'd heard far more unlikely stories. "It doesn't sound silly." He reached out a hand to pat her shoulder.
She looked up again and smiled at him. "Everyone's going to think I'm a madwoman to have driven like that."
He shook his head. "We have a good publicity officer, she'll make sure no one will blame you."
"I keep hearing stories of crazy things happening, especially in London and especially at Christmas. I just never thought they would happen to me."
"I think they happen to all of us at some time or another." Some more than others, but probably no one in London was safe entirely.
She finished off her tea and handed the cup back to him.
He tucked it away. "Feeling better?"
She nodded.
"Can I give you a lift home?"
"Well, I won't say no. The toaster can wait for another day."
"There's always the grill," he agreed.
They jumped out of the back of the van, Harry offering Elaine a hand down, then he pulled his radio out of his pocket. "Colonel."
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm taking the van, I won't be long."
"We're going to be here a while anyway."
There was the sound of heavy machinery in the background, and on the radio too. He looked over to see there was a lifting machine working on getting the car out of the lake. Harry thought it was just as well he was getting Elaine out of here.
"All right, Colonel, you're in charge."
"Sir."
He put his radio away again. He had tried asking them to call him 'doctor', but that title had different connotations in UNIT and he have to live with 'sir'.
Now in the front of the van, Harry took Elaine home and on the way their talk returned to inconsequential things. He asked her to tell him about the toasters she'd seen and just what they did, other than toast bread. She turned out to be a good story teller and kept him laughing most of the way.
He parked the van up by her house. "Do you want me to see you in?"
"No, I'm fine now, really."
He nodded and watched as she undid her seatbelt.
"Oh, your jacket." She wriggled out of it and handed it over to him.
He took it in his left hand. "Thanks."
"Well." She hesitated, with one hand on the door handle. "Goodbye."
He nodded. "Goodbye." He watched her go and waited until she was safely inside the house before driving off. He wished that the journey had been longer because he'd enjoyed talking to her and wanted to spend longer with her. But he had a job to go back to and he had to put her out of his mind and get back to it. So he did.