Story Contest 2017 #2 - Outstanding Stories (Junior) » The Road Trip

“The Road Trip” is one of the outstanding stories of the second biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Nafis Faisal Pranto, Bangladesh.

The Road Trip

Once upon a time there were two friends named Ben and Max. They decided to go on a road trip. At first their journey was full of enthusiasm and promise but their enthusiasm shattered after a while when their car’s tire got punctured as they drove over a glass bottle.

Ben called the mechanic but the mechanic did not receive his call. So, they waited until the mechanic called back. Ben again called the mechanic and this time the call was received. Ben told him to come to Snake Road, but he replied that he couldn’t come as it was a Sunday.

Max said to Ben that, ‘I am hungry. We should have lunch.” Ben said “Yeah, I am very hungry too.” Max had brought a basket full of food. There were sandwiches, burgers, orange juice and many more. Ben had brought two bottles of soda and 4 burgers, and a handful of barbecue sauce. He had also brought 6 discard-able plates.

Ben’s car was a four seater, so they planned that they would take a nap inside the car after having lunch. They ate the burgers for lunch and threw away the leftovers. Max and Ben went inside the car and blasted the air conditioner and took a nap. It was night when they woke up. When Max woke up he saw that bears had surrounded the car because they followed the smell of their leftovers that they threw away and were looking for more. Max woke Ben up and told him about the situation outside the car. Ben quickly started honking the horn of his car which scared the bears away. They had dinner which was 4 sandwiches and went to sleep. Suddenly their sleep was interrupted by a loud howl. They both woke up and started searching for clues about the loud howl. They reached a cabin which had people inside. Max knocked on the door. A grumpy voice came from inside, “scram!!” “Whoever is in there, sure is grumpy”, said Ben. “I heard that!!” answered the grumpy voice.

Max and Ben decided to go back to the car and sleep. But suddenly they heard another loud howl, but it was louder than the last one. Max and Ben started running towards the car but stopped when they saw that their car was surrounded with wolves. They went back to the cabin and tried to open the door and sure enough it was not locked. There was an old man inside. Max told the old man that their car was surrounded by wolves. So, the old man let them stay in his cabin until morning. It was morning when Max and Ben woke up. The old man had prepared breakfast for them. Their breakfast was bacon and two fried eggs. When Max and Ben went to their car they were very shocked. There was scratch marks all over the car. After an hour the mechanic finally came and changed the tire. Max and Ben decided to continue their road trip even after all this. They had planned to go to the Museum of Natural History. Ben stopped at a nearby petrol station to fill the car up with petrol. After they hit open road they saw rivers, valleys and went through cities and villages. They had lots of fun. Max started eating a pack of Doritos.

Suddenly Ben became very nervous when he saw a bridge in front as he hates bridges. So he convinced Max to drive the car. Ben took Max’s pack of Doritos and started eating it. Max had spotted a Burger King drive-thru. By this time Ben had fallen asleep in the back of the car. So, this was the chance for Max to eat some real food. Max had ordered two cheeseburgers and a pizza. Ben woke up and asked Max, “What’s that cheesy smell?’’ Max said that he had bought two cheeseburgers and a pizza from a drive-thru. They ate the cheeseburgers and the pizza as lunch. Ben suddenly got a call from home. Ben said that his summer holiday has been cut short and his university is going to start tomorrow. Max quickly drove back home and parked Ben’s car in his garage.