She Said, "This Will Not End Well"

The Prompt: Write a story that does not end well and allows the consequences to stand.

Stan said, "We need a pickup. We have a trailer to pull, and hay bales to haul, and lumber to buy. "

"That old pickup will not work for all of that!" Yelled Sam. "You can take it or leave it, but I will sell it. I was thinking for scrap."

"Sam, just give me some time and you will see, it will run for another ten years once I fix a couple things. It really doesn't matter what it looks like, Sam. Just as long as it runs, we are in business."

"No way Stan, goodness, I can't ride in this. The floor is almost gone on my side! Is that one of the things you plan to fix? What about the exhaust leaking into the cab? And what about the tires? That chrome is nice and shiny, but the tires are threadbare!"

"That truck will cost more to fix a couple things than it will cost to buy a newer one. That has too many miles. Next we will need a motor and transmission."

"Things were made tougher back when this was made, and it has run good all these years and with a few fixes, it will run many more years."

"Stan, you are dreaming. I am going to call a junk dealer and see how much he will offer me for that heap of junk. Then we can look around to one that we can use for everything you think we need one for."

"But Sam, just give me a chance to see what I can do. I know I can fix it. And it won't cost an arm and a leg, like it will for another used pickup. We know what we got here. We don't want anyone elses headache."

"Okay, Stan. you have two weeks to see what you can do with it. How much do you think it will cost to fix a couple things?"

"It won't cost much at all, Sam. I know someone who has one just like it and he is parting his out. His motor blew up and he is selling parts and is expecting me. I will go over today and see if he has what we need. to get it back on the road."

Two weeks went by and Stan appeared to be far from done with the pickup. He told Sam that he was waiting for parts, that he had to order, and that he would need another week or so.

Sam hesitated but Stan convinced her to wait, saying that he was close and that it has hardly cost him anything to fix. He agreed to sell if it didn't meet to her satisfaction.

Two weeks later and Stan was proud of the job he had done. He asked Sam to get in the pickup and take a ride with him. He was sure that she would be happy with the pickup and couldn't wait to try it out, as he hadn't driven it yet either.

Sam carefully got in the pickup and noted that he had added reinforcement to the floor of the pickup on her side. It felt secure and she smiled but was hesitant to say anything much.

As Stan pulled out of the yard, everything appeared to be working all right. The exhaust that was previously in the cab was no longer. He had gotten different tires and had patched up some of the rough spots on the pickup truck.

As they moved down the road Sam was ready to tell Stan that he was right when all of a sudden, the pickup appeared to be moving toward the bridge and Stan wasn't able to pull it back from hitting the bridge.

A tie rod had gone out, and they came quickly to a stop. Sam started to cry and Stan reached over to comfort her. "I'm sorry Sam, I really thought this would work. I still think it can, but I'm willing to go by what we agreed to and sell it.