Home For Christmas

II

"She was more like beauty queen from a movie scene! I said don't mind but what do you mean I am the one? Who will dance! On the floor! In the round! She said I am the one! Who will dance! On the floor! In the round!" Newt looked at a sign on the road that said 'Sie betreten jetzt Günzburg'. Nice! "She told me her name was Billie Jean! As she caused a scene! Then every head turned with eyes that-" thunk. "What the fuck was that?" Newt whispered to himself, turning down the music. He looked in his mirror to see if he'd somehow managed to run over something. Nothing back there guess the coast is- thunk. Fuck.

There weren't any warning lights going off anywhere on his car and everything seemed to be working, but he pulled over just to be safe. He got out of the car and popped the hood open before realizing he did not, in fact, know how to fix a car. Nothing looked broken. Newt got back in the car to start it back up... no dice. "Are you fucking me right now? Come on, Peach." He whispered, trying again. "Come on, peachpie." He was running his hands along the steering wheel as if trying to soothe his malfunctioning car. After the 4th, 5th, 6th attempt he turned on his hazard lights and parked. After about 5 minutes Newt managed to wave a car down.

"Hi! Thank you so much! Do you guys by any chance uh know how to fix a car?" He asked smiling as they had rolled down the window to hear him.

"We don't uh speak English." The woman in the drivers seat frowned.

"Oh duh! Wissen Sie, wie man ein Auto repariert?" (Do you know how to fix a car?) Newt asked, putting his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Oh ja das ist einfach!" (Oh yeah that's easy!) The driver smiled, swatting at nothing.

"Großartig! Glaubst du, du könntest mir helfen?" (Great! Do you think you could help me?) Newt asked, now wishing he was wearing more layers.

"Na sicher!" (Of course!) The woman motioned for him to back up so she could exit the car.

"Ich danke dir sehr!" (Thank you so much!) Newt smiled, backing up and moving towards his car. The woman swatted her hand in response again. They both walked over to the car and the lady popped Newt's hood. Newt watched her from a few feet back, going on his tiptoes to see what she was doing. The woman turned around after a bit and Newt smiled at her. The woman then looked over to her own car and just yelled, "Werkzeuge!" (tools) at her buddy. The man exited the car, grabbed a red toolbox out of the trunk and brought it over.

The man and woman stood at the front of his car for about 10 minutes before the woman motioned for him to get in, simply saying "Versuch es." (try it). He hopped in and turned the key in the ignition. They all cheered when it turned on.

"Thank You! So much! Wait I mean, Danke! danke euch beiden!" (Thank you! Thank you both!) He hopped out and hugged them. They smiled and nodded at him politely, putting their tools away as they returned to their car. "Fröhliche Weihnachten!" (Merry Christmas) He shouted and waved as they drove off.

"Alright Peach, we're back on the road! Try not to die on me, girl." He smiled as he began to drive again. The car made a sound and he nervously laughed. "Please don't die." The drive continued as planned for the next to hours before Newt looked at how much gas he had left. "Oh SHIT! How long have we been running on empty? Fuck! Oh shit! Fuck! Oh a gas station, okay all is well." He pulled into the gas station and started to fill up his tank realizing he had made it all the way to Nuremberg. He smiled to himself and pulled out his phone, calling his dad. "Hey dad, I'm in Nuremberg." He laughed, technically he wasn't lying. He was in Nuremberg, maybe just for gas, but he was there. "Yeah I got here safe, I'm on the phone aren't I? Yeah I'm glad I got here now too. A blizzard? For real? There are people cleaning up the roads everywhere. I know I'll get there on time, maybe even a little early." Newt smiled into the phone. "Alright, yeah, stay safe. Stay warm! I love you too dad. Yeah, love you, bye." He finished up filling his tank. He hopped back in the car and watched as the snow began to fall more heavily, and the wind began to pick up.

"Well that doesn't look good." He laughed nervously. "No! A detour! That sucks! This sucks!" Newt said as he squinted at the detour sign. He was being rerouted towards Rothenburg. He frowned but continued driving, turning on the radio. A weather alert came on immediately, urging people to get off the roads.

"Well that doesn't sound good." He laughed a little more nervously. About 45 minutes into the drive Peach started making sounds again. "Oh no, not again. Come on Peachy, let's just make it into town. We can stop at an auto shop and then a hotel." Peach started to make louder sounds.

"That really doesn't sound good." Newt grimaced as he continued to drive. They drove for about 5 more minutes before Peach came to a complete stop. "Fuck." Newt whispered to himself, putting his head in his hands. "It's okay, this is okay, there's a solution to this problem." He started rubbing at his forehead. "Oh duh, I'll call for help!" He smiled, pulling out his phone. He then frowned as he saw he couldn't make any calls. "Oh duh, we're in the mountains, no service." He put his phone back in his pocket. "Ok well the weather warning said no one should be on the road so... So I'm just a dumb ass and there's no one to bail me out of this one, fuck." He whispered to himself, dropping his head on the steering wheel. This fucking sucked.

"Okay, I'm 10 minutes away from the nearest town, well ten minutes driving...  That doesn't matter. If I can make it into the town then I can get help." He clapped his hands together. "Oh it's gonna be so cold." He whined, bundling up. He opened the car door and it was immediately pushed back closed by the wind. "Not even god wants me to go out there." He whined again. "It's fine it's okay, I can do this. I can do this!" He jumped out of the car and started walking down the road. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."