Car Leaks Petrol, No One Sympathizes

The Bluebox sprung a terrible leak en route to work. We were going slow, taking the turn from one main road to another. All of a sudden, the engine quietly kaputzed and refused to be resuscitated. When Mr. Manx opened his door, we were greeted by the powerful stench of fresh petrol and a spreading puddle on the road.

Yep, that wet patch was the spilt petrol. Mr. Manx yelled to get out of the car NOW, and we grabbed our bags and scooted to the pavement.

Then the car burst into flames.

Kidding. It did not. It gave a superb impression of a paperweight and wafted strong fumes, while passing vehicles honked angrily. As if we were stopping there for fun. Mr. Manx called for a tow truck and we waited. At one point, a police car pulled up and the guys inside wanted to know what was going on. When Mr. Manx told them, they shrugged and drove off. Fair enough as I couldn’t see what they could’ve done either.

We decided that I might as well catch a cab to work while he continued to wait. After I got into one, the cabby, too, started saying that it wasn’t right of us to stop where we did. Arrrrrghh. I was that close to telling him that we’d done that just to see how many people we could piss off in one morning. WHO IN THEIR BLOODY RIGHT MIND WOULD STOP THEIR CAR AT A SINGLE-LANE EXIT FOR FUN LAH???

Apparently the cabby wasn’t the last person to think that. Mr. Manx got yelled at by a mannerless Caucasian driver, and then someone in a truck dropped a cigarette as they rolled past.

Then the car burst into flames.

Kidding again. It did not. It got towed to the mechanic, where a detached line was quickly repaired.

Irritations aside, I think things could easily have been a lot worse. What if the leak had happened five seconds later than it did? We’d have entered the other main road and unsuspecting vehicles behind could have been caught completely off guard. Or what if it had happened while we’d been on the fast lane of the expressway? It’s not as if any alarms went off, or the car came to a gradual stop. It just died completely, suddenly and quietly. So I’m glad that it happened where and when it did. I’m convinced that God was watching over us.

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