Andrew had always been in love with cars. Ever since he could remember, that was his obsession. While other boys were playing with dinosaurs, Andrew was building a pretend garage out of foam blocks. He even had a block that was supposed to be a hydraulic lift. He didn’t know the word for hydraulic lift yet, but at least he had a block for it. He would put his little toy car on top and pretend to fix whatever imaginary problem was there.

It was no surprise then, when Andrew grew up, that he decided to be a mechanic. It wasn’t the prettiest line of work, he would often come home covered in grease and smelling like oil and gasoline, but he loved every second of it.

Andrew was so good at his job, that two days before graduating and becoming a licensed mechanic, he was offered the lead mechanic position at the race track. Andrew loved to watch the races and one day dreamed of working on the cars. He accepted right away and anxiously awaited the start of his first day of work.

A week before he was to start, the owner of the race track called Andrew to come down to the track for a little bit of on-site training. When Andrew arrived, the drivers were out on the track doing some practice laps. The owner took Andrew through a normal day of work at the track, and then went over some of the responsibilities for race days. Andrew was in heaven! He loved every single second, furiously taking notes on a note pad so that he wouldn’t forget a single detail. He was determined to excel at his dream job.

After a day of training, Andrew’s new boss took him back down to the track. The drivers were just finishing up their practicing, and one asked Andrew if he wanted to have a test drive in one of the cars.

Of course, Andrew immediately said yes! He had always wanted to drive in one of the race cars. He got into the passenger’s side of the car and was belted in with all the safety gear on. Another driver agreed to go around for a few more laps, and Andrew had a front row seat to a mini-race! Three laps around the track!

Andrew had never been happier. The speed, the adrenaline! He was over the moon.

During the last lap, the driver asked Andrew if he was ok to “kick it up a notch”. Andrew nodded yes – he wanted to feel what a real race was like.

The driver shifted the car into the next gear, then the next. Andrew was starting to feel the pull of forces on his body. A feeling he had never felt before in his entire life. The driver shifted one last time into his highest gear – pushing the car to it’s limits.

The next test on Andrew was the corner, as the car turned into it, Andrew felt every ounce of force on his body. As the driver skillfully negotiated the turn, Andrew thought to himself that it was the happiest moment of his life. One he would carry with him always. And as the car pulled out of the turn, and started to spin, hitting the concrete wall, flipping over, Andrew continued to hold onto that happy feeling until he was no longer able to stay awake. Fading into the blackness with a smile on his face as he was able to have the best day of his life, before it turning into the absolute worst and last.

For those of you just stopping by, this post is being written in participation of the A to Z challenge. No Love For Fatties will resume regular posts as of May 1st. Until then, enjoy a new short story every day of the month! If you are stopping by from A to Z, let me know by leaving a comment in the section below!