The last thing that the pair needed on their quest was for the car to break down. Despite this, as Pam drove through the heavy fog of the coastline, the dashboard warning lights blinked. Once. Twice. Then, before she had time to wake up enough to notice the check engine light, the car sputtered and stopped.
“For the Fates’ sake, not now,” she whispered under her breath as she turned the key in the ignition. The hatchback whined back at her as the car engine struggled to turn on.
The noise woke up Iris from her nap. She wiped the drool off her face with the back of her jumper, shifting her head off the window she had been sleeping against. Pam knew her companion would soon be ready with a snide remark about her driving, and tried to avoid the inevitable by speaking first.
“The car won’t turn on, we’re stuck here,” Pam’s eyes swept their surroundings. Nothing but fog surrounded them. The only thing she could see was the short stretch of road in front and behind them. They were doomed. Their first quest, and they had failed. “I knew we should have taken it for general servicing before such a long trip.”
Iris yawned, stretching her hands high above her head. Even after a nap, her hair fell in the same perfect curls. “Relax Peter Pam, I’m here to save ya once again.”
The lack of concern her companion showed only fuelled Pam’s own frustration. ‘Peter Pam’ was a nickname that Pam hated, adopted at the start of their quest simply because she had jumped at a shadow.
“Pop the hood and I’ll check on the coolant fluid level, see if there’s a temporary fix to help get this baby to a mechanic near Raceview,” Iris said with the iconic nonchalant smirk that probably got her anything she wanted. It made Pam grit her teeth. She didn’t see the appeal.
She hated people like Iris, who never saw the point in hard work but succeeded anyway. Some people just lived life on easy mode. Still, it was their best option, and so Pam popped the hood.