Once Is Never Enough by Haris Orkin

Author:Haris Orkin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Imajin Books
Published: 2020-09-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

A concerned crowd surrounded Flynn. One of the bystanders, a blue bearded techno-hipster with a man bun and an electric skateboard, helped him to his feet.

“Dude, are you okay?”

Flynn snatched the skateboard and throttle out of his hands.

“What the hell, man!”

“Sorry.” Flynn jumped on and took off down the sidewalk. He wobbled unsteadily, waving his arms to keep his balance, but managed to stay upright as he accelerated. He had some muscle memory of riding a skateboard before. How and when, he wasn’t sure, but his body seemed to know what it was doing. Luckily, the controls were somewhat intuitive and it didn’t take Flynn long to figure out how to accelerate and brake and lean into the turns.

Traffic was heavy, so the Navigator hadn’t gotten all that far. Flynn was able to maneuver between the lanes and close the distance between them. Full of adrenaline and determination, he didn’t let fear or doubt or lack of skateboarding skill hinder him.

The light changed to red and traffic slowed to a stop. Flynn’s electric skateboard hummed and propelled him forward, his hair blowing in the breeze. He felt exposed and vulnerable, but also exhilarated by the rush as the world passed by in a blur.

When the light changed to green, the Navigator took off fast, cutting off a delivery truck, and making a quick right, tires squealing. Flynn revved the throttle and took a shortcut up a Chinatown alley to avoid the backed-up traffic ahead. An elderly Asian lady jumped out of the way and screamed, “Bèn dàn!” as he rocketed by.

Up ahead, two skinny Chinese men unloaded cages of live chickens. One of the men was so startled to see Flynn zooming at him, he dropped his cage and it broke open, liberating the poultry. Two birds flapped and flew in front of Flynn, barely missing him as feathers fluttered everywhere. Flynn zipped out the other end of the alley and slalomed through a trio of startled German businessmen.

“Arschkeks verfluchter!” they shouted.

He narrowly missed a delivery van and wind-milled to maintain his balance before he caught sight of the Navigator again. It was only half a block ahead, but the hill was steep, and the electric skateboard strained to climb the sharp incline. As Flynn slowed down, the Navigator pulled ahead.

Flynn squeezed the throttle as hard as he could, but the electric motor had no more power to give. He watched in frustration as the Navigator crested to the top of the hill and disappeared down the other side. Flynn was ready to jump off and chase after on foot when he finally reached the top of the hill and saw all of San Francisco spread out below him.

The way down was just as steep and the skateboard picked up speed. Wind whipped his face as he sped down the hill. The light ahead turned red right after the Navigator passed through and Flynn knew he had no choice but to follow. Faster and faster he flew, cars on either side blurring by.

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