Dad's truck

When I was a little girl, my dad had this 1936 Ford truck. He never really drove it, just constantly worked on it and detailed it. I remember when I was ten, I sat in that truck. I used to play like I was driving down the country rode. To me, driving was so much fun.

One day, I was out riding my bike with my friends when we saw my dad working on the engine. I rode up and asked if he was really going to get it started. He told me that was the plan, whether it happened or not was an entirely different thing. I turned to ride off and I heard a loud yelp behind me. I turned around and saw the truck's hood slammed down on his fingers.

I rushed inside and told my mom. They took him to the hospital and my sister and I waited at home. My sister was fifteen, so she was old enough to stay home with just me. A few hours later, they came walking in and my dad had his hands wrapped with bandages. My mom said he wouldn't be working on much of anything for at least a few weeks; so we had to help him out.

The next few weeks were grueling. I had to do my dad's chores as well as my own. I barely had enough time before bedtime to get my homework done each day. Back then, being a adult was something I couldn't wait to be. Then my mom brought chores into the mix, I haven't wanted to rush to become a adult so bad until I did become a adult. I tried my best to have a fun childhood, but that was difficult after my dad got hurt.

One day, when I came home from school; I decided to sit in the truck. I was sitting there, wondering what it would be like to drive when I looked in the rearview and saw a hideously ugly man looking back at me. He looked like his face had been horribly burned and his eyes were cold and gray. I jumped when I saw the face and turned around, but no one was there. I shook my head thinking I must be exhausted and I was starting to see things.

I got out of the truck quickly and ran inside the house. I told my sister what I saw, but she just laughed at me. All through the afternoon and evening, I nervously kept looking outside at the truck. After dinner, I joined the family and watched "The Wizard of Oz"; still thinking about the truck in the back of my mind. I went to bed after the movie, knowing full well I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

Around midnight, the truck's engine started rumbling loudly. My dad woke up and ran outside with his baseball bat, yelling for whoever was in the back to get out. For a while, the truck kept reving it's engine. Then, suddenly it stopped and the headlights flashed on the flood lights. My dad ran up to the driver's side and opened the door, but no one was there.

He came back in scratching his head in confusion. He said he must have just missed whoever it was. I didn't think so, but I was just a kid and adults rarely listened to kids when it came to strange happenings. My family went to sleep and I sat up watching the truck. I didn't trust this was just a random event.

The sun came up over the hills in the east and nothing had happened after the one time. I got up and got ready for school. When we came out to leave for school, the truck was mysteriously gone. My mom ran in and told my dad the car was gone and I could soon hear him cursing inside the house. I sat in the backseat of my mom's car, watching as my dad was on our cordless phone and yelling his car had been stolen.

My mom settled him down and once the police arrived, my mom took us to school. All day long, I was wondering what had happened to the truck. Honestly, I hoped whoever stole it would not get caught. I hated that thing ever since that paranormal incident I had. After last night, I definitely didn't want to see it again.

When I got home, the truck was back in it's original spot. It looked nearly brand new. I went inside and asked my dad what had happened. He told me a couple hours after we left, he was taking a shower when he heard it pulling up. He said he quickly got out of the shower, got dressed and ran outside to find his truck sitting there washed and detailed.

I asked him if he saw anyone and he looked at me and said it was strange no one was there when the truck arrived. I asked him if he believed me yet but he said he would need a little more convincing before he believed his truck was possessed. I was exasperated. The man simply wouldn't accept what his own eyes witnessed. I suggested to him that maybe he should stay up and watch the truck to see if something happens.

I was surprised to find, later that night, my dad was actually sitting up and watching the truck. I quietly went back to my room before he saw me and waited. A few minutes later, the truck started up by itself again. My dad ran out with his Polaroid camera and quickly snapped a picture of the driver's side before the truck stopped reving it's engine. He had hoped to catch something with the camera.

We looked at it together after it dried. There, sitting in the driver's seat was what looked to be a man with a burnt face. He was reving the engine with a creepy, wide smile on his face. My dad went outside and looked all around the truck, in the backyard and in his shed; but found nothing. I just sat there feeling the goosebumps turn into chills as I looked at the picture.

The next morning my mom saw the picture and insisted my dad sell the truck. He loved that truck, so he drove it to his best friend's house and parked it there. Later that night, the truck came back and parked in it's original spot once again. This time my mom took it to the closest car lot she could find and sold it to the dealer. My mom didn't put up with what she called shenanigans.

It devastated my dad, but the rest of us were very relieved. Especially me, my dad said if we had kept it, he was going to give it to me. I would have took it to the junkyard. However, we gloriously were rid of that darn thing. My mom was happy and so was I. My sister didn't really care one way or the other.

My dad never did get another truck. I suppose he thought it would be like cheating or something along those lines. He did start paying more attention to mom and us kids. My sister wasn't thrilled about that, she kept getting herself caught doing stupid things. However, life was much better without Dad's truck.