Wrench and Drive (Otherwise Untitled)
#190 of Short Stories
A kobold checks out a car's engine.
~ The kobold stood on the car's front bumper, tucked in under the shade provided by the raised hood. His fingers smudged with grease and oil, the tray of parts laid carefully atop the air intake. Randy surveyed the work before him, mind rolling through the possibilities excluded.
~ Out behind him and under the weighty afternoon sun sprawled an endless horizon of gnarled bush and grass, a weathered set of park tables flanking the car's proximity.
~ "Yeah, I don't think it's the intake grid or the injection cores. I think it's gotta be something electrical.", the kobold called out to the dragon dozing in the driver's seat.
~ Having been long bored of re-reading the sign about the historical event that took place thirty miles South and decades ago, Jake had reclined for a nap while he waited for the more mechanically inclined of the pair to evaluate whatever sounds the engine had been making. With a soft grunt and waving of hand out of the window, he stalled for his wits to come back about.
~ "So.. ", yawning loudly, "Not the accessible mechanics. Got ya'. I can check the electrical stuff, once we get set down for the night?", the dragon hazarded.
~ With a soft chuckle the kobold replied, "Twenty minutes, I can get this all back together, and then we can get back up on the road. Figure it out tonight, at a motel.", his hands descending into the task under the shade of the hood.