WRITTEN BY CHRIS SPENCER
ILLUSTRATED BY JUDI NYERGES
April 26, 2017

“Please Lord, let me catch this boat.”

Speeding down to the ferry, I pray everyone ahead of me has ferry passes.

“Please, please!”

The Oldsmobile in front of me stops just past the booth, then backs up three feet. Its window cranks down.

“How much?” she asks.

“$8.65.”

“My purse is in the trunk. I’ll get it.”

“Oh, God no,” I wail.

She hands the attendant money. A quarter rolls under the car.

“Sorry. I’ve got another under the seat.” She exits again.

“No, no!” I howl, and tearfully bang my head on the steering column.

Then my airbag inflates.

Video courtesy of WhidbeyTV Productions

Chris Spencer founded the Short Story Smash, the 100-word story competition that takes place each year at WICA. You can read more about that here and here. 

Judi Nyerges is a member of the Whidbey Island Sketchers and of the Whidbey Art Gallery. The newest working artist at Studio 106 in Langley, she is a retired high school art teacher and studio potter, transplanted to Whidbey Island seven years ago from Michigan. She sees the world in vivid color and quirky lines, and (thanks to Sadie, Mae, and Beezum) her world is covered in cat hair.

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Enjoy more articles, including a photo essay on ferries, in the upcoming print edition of Whidbey Life Magazine, which you’ll be able to purchase at local and off-island retailers in May or receive in the mail via subscription.

Story © 2017 Chris Spencer
Illustration © 2017 Judi Nyerges

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