The Ferrari Dino

• Lachlan Kelly, Grade 8, Northholm Grammar School
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

THE FERRARI DINO

Philip Reyes was cruising an ocean road, on the outskirts of Miami, just as the sun was about to disappear.The newspaper next to him read 4th may,1986. His ford F series was gently humming, changing pitch, as it hauls the car along the undulating, twisty ocean road. The newspaper publisher he worked for had told him that he had to come up with something otherwise he just might lose his job.

Philip had absolutely no idea what he would write about. He decided to go for a drive to escape Miami. He looked up the road, to a mass of rocks. Suddenly like a bullet, a flashback hit him just like that.

He was 16, and he was on the exact same road, with his dad, in a company truck. He had just spent the weekend at his aunts, and they were heading home. The night was black as ink, not a star in sight. He was on the brink of falling asleep, eyelids feeling heavy, when out of the blue, there was a blinding light that shot into the sky, around the bend of the road. His dad swerved sending the rocks in the back of the truck flying onto the side of the road.

As they came around the bend, they pulled over onto the side of the road, behind a Ferrari Dino. The Ferrari seemed to almost be glowing, from the perfect ring of fire round it. At first he thought it was an explosion, but to his shock, the car was flawless, without a single imperfection. There was a silhouette sitting in the driver’s seat, with a washed denim jacket, with Ray ban sunglasses, with an eerie red pulsing light coming out of the lenses. He sat there looking at them, and then with the rumble of thunder, disappeared. Philip has never forgotten that since. 

As he approached the bend, he snapped out of his flashback, and pulled over. The flashback was so intense, he had to sit and calm him self down slowly. He was staring at the road in front of him, mind blank, when suddenly the Dino came tearing round the bend.

He felt this strange sensation that he had to chase the Ferrari, so he floored it. Without thinking the engine roaring like an untamed beast under the hood, banging around desperately trying to escape. He swerved round the corners unaware he was actually chasing after this car. His headlights shone like two moons, parting the darkness making the road safe. Just these two cars, on one coastal road that seemed to never end, as if they had entirely left earth and they were floating through space. Philip was gaining on the Ferrari, the Ferrari moving further away, then turning around, it stopped. Philip slammed on the brakes. Tyres squealing, he came to a sudden stop. He turned off the engine, and so did the Ferrari. It was totally quiet, for what seemed like hours. Then the Ferrari shot towards him.as Philip tensed up, bracing for impact, there was a rumble of lightning, and the Ferrari vanished.