Mr. Shiftlet: A Short Story

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Mr. Shiftlet continued driving down the road, on his way to see his mother in Mobile, Alabama. The rain was pouring and all he could hear is the pelting on his windshield. His mind was heavy, the questions kept swirling in his head, “Why am I going to Mobile?”, “What has my mother ever done for me in the last few years?”, “Why don’t I just let her die of polio like she let my father do?” “I can’t go see her! I can’t, the boy was right my mother is a stinking polecat. I need sleep, I have to lay down right away.” Mr. Shiftlet said as he pulled into a park with four little children running around a playset. At first he was going to take a nap but then decided to go say hello to the young children. “Hi kids, I’m giving out candy. Would you like some?” The kids ran over and Mr. Shiftlet opened the trunk of his car. “Hey angel would you mind hopping in the trunk and grabbing the bag of candy in the very back of the trunk for me?” The littlest girl walked over to him and he lifted her into the trunk.
The strange man wearing old dirty clothes picked the child up and threw him in the trunk. All of a sudden he slammed the trunk and grabbed the other two girls and threw them into the backseat of his car. He got in the front seat, turned around, and said, “If you say a word I will get out, I throw you in a ditch, and drive away.” The girls said nothing and he started driving down the interstate in his green Ford. He pulled off on a gravel road and drove a few miles, on the right of the road was a hitch-hiker. When Mr. Shiftlet pulled up next to him the boy said, “Hello sir, would you mind taking me to Brewton, Alabama? It’s only 64 miles away, I won’t bother you I

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