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Teenage Girls with ADHD - Suffering in Silence
Teenage Girls with ADHD
Suffering in Silence
Nature has not always been a woman's best friend and during the teenage years the hurdles that have to be negotiated and overcome by young women are invariably challenging, overwhelming, frightening, demoralising and seemingly unsurpassable, even for the most adept and well-functioning adolescent. When Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is added to the mix, the result can be a downward spiral and a self-destructive experience.
Diagnosis of ADHD in adolescent girls
An early diagnosis and treatment of ADHD is very important as it will lead to better cognitive, academic, social and psychological functioning in subsequent years (Weiss et al, 1985) it therefore becomes crucial that at least by early adolescence those suffering from this condition will have been correctly identified and receiving treatment. However many adolescent girls with ADHD go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for a number of reasons.
Girls with ADHD often behave very different to boys, falling into the much harder to diagnose ADHD category of "predominantly inattentive type" (DSM-IV, 1994). The diagnostic approach for ADHD is biased in favour of disruptive behaviour and male gender and girls with inattentive symptoms but no conduct problems are more likely to be thought of as learning disabled rather than ADHD (Hinshaw, 2002).
Many teenage girls with ADHD go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for a number of reasons.
- Girls may work harder to hide their academic difficulties to conform to teenage expectations
- Girls are misdiagnosed as depressed
- Girls who are intelligent are able to compensate for their ADHD symptoms particularly in Primary School and are more likely for a later diagnosis
The ratio of boys with ADHD to girls with ADHD is 6:1 to 12:1 in clinic samples, 3:1 in community samples and recent studies suggest it may be equal if the inattentive subtype is considered (Gaub & Carlson, 1997). However, when girls suspected of having ADHD are referred for diagnosis and treatment they are often much older and they have deteriorated so much that their presentation is similar to that of very disturbed hyperactive boys.
Girls of with Inattentive type ADHD daydream more, appear passive and academically withdrawn, are shy, timid and easily overwhelmed. They rarely act out, they may have difficulty verbalising their thoughts and feelings, they can be easily discouraged and they may appear as "sluggish" and lethargic.
These girls are often more conscientious and guilt-ridden and they work harder in order to hide their academic difficulties and to conform to their teachers' and parents' expectations.
They come to the attention of mental health services later than boys and they are more likely to be diagnosed as anxious and/or depressed (Biederman et al, 1994).
Those girls who are particularly bright, resourceful, better adjusted psychologically and with a nurturing, supportive, encouraging and facilitating family and school environment ("scaffolding") are able to mask and compensate for their ADHD symptoms for much longer and they are therefore more likely to receive a late diagnosis, if they do.
A girl's inattentive-subtype ADHD that has not been recognised as such during early years is no less real when it raises its head during adolescence, a time when the demands for planning, organisation, recall, and focus become intense, sometimes accompanied by severe behaviour disturbance.
It is ironic that factors such as a high IQ, obsessive and perfectionistic symptoms to do well in school, absence of learning difficulties, a good temperament, a stable psychosocial environment and hard working habits can work against them in being not recognised early enough for being dysfunctional and impaired.
Despite numerous discussions for a need to have gender-based diagnostic criteria for ADHD, mental health professionals continue to rely on behaviour criteria that better identify disruptive boys.
The challenges faced by adolescent girls with ADHD
Although many of the issues below also present challenges for girls without ADHD, these seem to be more common, frequent and severe among girls who are confronted with the double challenge of adolescence and ADHD.
Girls with ADHD begin to experience social deficits as early as preschool years (Greene et al, 2001) and these have their greatest impact during adolescence when girls begin the psychologically separation from their family (much harder for girls than boys). This is when social life, status within peer group and forming early intimate relationships acquire a much greater importance. Many women with ADHD often recall feeling "different" from the other girls when growing up and being marginalised by their peer group. The need to overcome this apparent "difference" and to be accepted by the peer group during the teenage years is intense and in an effort to "belong" it may lead to dangerous or self-destructive behaviour.
Understanding, acceptance and support by the family is crucial but it can do little to compensate for the damaging feelings of non-belonging and rejection experienced by the all-important peer group during adolescence. The low self-esteem feelings that girls with ADHD experience as a result are disturbing, unsettling and often haunt them for years to come.
Inability to meet social expectations
Identity confusion, self-doubt, anxiety, uncertainty about the future and insecurity about one's core values are endemic in adolescence. However, the special challenges girls with ADHD face greatly intensify these feelings. Society in general and families in particular have already drawn a "script" for what they expect of their sons and daughters. For girls, the demands are greater than for boys and they come sooner. For example, girls are encouraged to be neat, "feminine" (controlled and passive), lady-like (emulate older female role models), carefully groomed (in order to be attractive to the opposite sex), sensitive to the feelings of others (preparation for motherhood) and obedient and compliant with adults (submissive). These very expectations are very often the direct opposites of those tendencies natural to many girls with ADHD.
Many adolescent girls with ADHD anxiously comply with these expectations sometimes obsessively, to these expectations in an attempt to gain some acceptance and respect from their family and teachers so as to compensate for the disappointments they experience in their peer group. They may try hard to be fashionable and well dressed. However they often let themselves down by their inability to organise their rooms and life so as to have and be able to find in the chaos of their room clean and colour-coordinated clothes on school mornings and so as to avoid the sneers and caustic remarks coming from their peers.
In addition their ability to understand social cues and meet the demands of social conventions appears to lack both focus and timing. Janet Giler in her paper in 2000 identifies specific problems in five areas. They are: 1- appearing uninterested because of poor listening skills; 2- displaying poor management or expression of anger or moods; 3- bragging or being outspoken and appearing self-involved; 4-forgetting appointments or being late; and 5-failing to show interest by NOT remembering or checking with their friends about their feelings, relationships or reactions to events that have occurred in their friend's life.
Although all of these are important probably the issue of poor listening skills is crucial. Listening requires taking the time to let the other person be the centre of attention by focusing on the topic however girls with ADHD want to interrupt or change the topic and tell how they were affected or reminded of an experience they had. Unfortunately, changing the topic or telling personal associations with the topic, makes the female with ADHD the centre of the conversation. This can often be perceived this as selfish, self-centered, or just uninterested.
In addition failure to filter thoughts and being impulsive about someone else's flaws or being over complimentary about their own abilities looks or interests can also cause a range of socialisation difficulties.
Emotional reactivity and hormonal fluctuations
Most adolescents are "jumpy" but the typical hyper-reactivity of ADHD increases during adolescence as hormonal fluctuations complicate and escalate behaviour. The self-doubts, competitiveness, abruptness and irritability so common among adolescent girls are often more intense for girls with ADHD. They get much more easily hurt and these painful feelings can rapidly escalate into impulsive remarks, verbal or physical over-reactions. However, as soon as the drama is over and the curtain has fallen, they are often ready to forgive and forget. Following the storm, they behave as if nothing has happened and they are surprised and bewildered when those they have stung with their comments remain bruised and intolerant of further temper explosions.
The pressure to conform to the peer group's unwritten and constantly shifting rules and expectations can become the driving force and raison d'être for an adolescent girl. An enormous and disproportionate amount of energy that stuns parents is spent on analysing and scrutinising their peers: they watch, they comment, they gossip, they compare, they imitate, they identify, they conform or they criticise. But whereas in normal adolescent girls this is a phase they are able to negotiate, it causes deep despair and despondency in adolescent girls with ADHD.
Anxiety and depression are common in women with ADHD, often beginning during the pressure years of adolescence. Such depression is much easier to identify and many adolescent girls and women with ADHD find themselves treated for depression while their ADHD goes unrecognised (Kessler et al, 2006).
Pressures to "mature"
Adolescents have fallen victim to the widespread and commonly held adult view and belief that adolescence is a transient stage not to be enjoyed in its own right but as a passage that prepares them for adulthood. The pressure to "grow up" and become "responsible" precedes adolescence and increases dramatically during time.
The incompatibility of secondary school and ADHD
As if social pressures were not enough, the academic pressures reach a climax in secondary school.
The mass education of the secondary school system seems designed to be ADHD-unfriendly. The day starts too early, it lasts too long and it demands that students find their way around a large, often complex maze of corridors and staircases in order to get on time to their various classrooms. The expectations to focus, concentrate, be organised and proactive, and by far exceed the capacity of most students, even those without ADHD.
As if that was not enough, students with ADHD are put in the position of being forced to read and study subjects that hold little or no interest for them and they will probably be strongly advised against doing any of them once they have moved on from secondary school.
Sexual risks
Impulsivity, restricted thinking of consequences and the need to belong may steer adolescent girls with ADHD in the direction of early sexual relationships and a greater risk for an unwanted pregnancies than other adolescent girls (Arnold, 1996). They struggle with chronic low self-esteem and the need to belong to their peer group and so they may seek affirmation through the sexual attentions of boys in an effort to compensate for feelings of inadequacy in other areas of their lives. Because of their difficulties with impulse control, planning ability and inconsistency, many of these girls are prone to have unprotected sex, use birth control inconsistently, have multiple partners and are at an increased risk of sexually transmitted illnesses.
ADHD and driving
Studies of adolescents with ADHD have shown that they have a greater likelihood of being involved in traffic accidents (Snyder, JM, 2002). Most studies have only examined the driving behaviour of boys with ADHD, but two studies in New Zealand (Nada-Raja et al, 1997) and subsequently (Woodward et al, 2000) looked at both boys and girls and found that girls with attentional difficulties were equally at a high risk for both traffic accidents and driving offences.
Risk for substance abuse and addictive behaviours
Experimentation with alcohol, nicotine and substances begins earlier in young people with ADHD and adolescent girls are no exception. 60% of adolescents with ADHD will have used illicit substances by the age of 14 years compared to 17 years for controls, 15% of adolescent girls with ADHD already have a substance use disorder (SUD) and one in five smokes cigarettes (Biederman et al, 1999). What is more frightening is that it takes 6 years for 50% of teenagers without ADHD to remit from substance abuse compared to 12 years for ADHD patients (Wilens et al, 1998).
How Parents and Professionals Can Help
Watch out for the emotional roller coaster
The intensity of feelings and reactions so often seen in adolescent girls with ADHD has a neurobiological basis; their reactions tend to be even more extreme at times of stress, fatigue, hunger, sleeplessness or premenstrual symptoms (PMS). The adolescent girl, her parents and her teachers need to recognise the additional vulnerability that she has and to begin to identify and manage the potential stresses that can worsen her reactions.
Treatment begins with the diagnosis. Medication and psychotherapy used together seem to be the most effective treatment. Stimulants are the treatment of choice and their response rate of girls is similar to that of boys. Appetite suppression may not lead to weight loss and if the girl is pregnant, stimulants should be avoided.
Medication regimes often need to address a complex set of issues, including anxiety and/or depression, rather than ADHD alone but some medications for mood disorders may interfere with attention.
Relationships with peers and issues of self-image and self-worth are so dominant among most adolescent girls with ADHD that psychotherapy needs to be specifically aimed at addressing these. Group psychotherapy can be very supportive and effective because the group also serves as a platform for sharing experiences and coping strategies with like-minded adolescents. Such a group could take place in school by a school counsellor, or in a community mental health service.
Many mothers can be hypercritical of their daughters with ADHD through lack of knowledge of their condition. These mother-daughter relationship issues need to be thoroughly addressed and clarified either in formal or informal therapy sessions and discussions.
Treat Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Premenstrual Syndrome PMS or PMT or Premenstrual tension particularly affects teenage girls with ADHD.
The tremendous hormonal changes and fluctuations during the menstrual cycle intensify and complicate the confusion and unpredictability that are associated with growing up with ADHD. While PMS may bring annoyance, irritability, fatigue, or cramping for many adolescent girls, those with ADHD may also feel such an increase in the intensity of their emotional reactions, bad temper, and low frustration tolerance that they require immediate and active intervention.
All those involved in managing adolescent girls with ADHD should be aware of this additional vulnerability and keep up-to-date on research on PMS and new treatment approaches for decreasing its impact. Premenstrual symptoms are worse the period and although selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors are well known to control PMS, more recent research suggests a number of other to ways to reduce PMS symptoms in the more vulnerable ADHD population (Rapkin & Winer, 2008).
Reduce the risk of anxiety and depression
Emotion can quickly and easily fire up and get out of control when everything appears too much and environmental stressors suddenly overwhelm the adolescent girl's already strained psychological system and self control. The break-up of a relationship, a failed exam, a rejection letter from a university or prospective employment, an accidental pregnancy, any of these may be enough to push her into depths of anxiety or depression that may require both medication and psychotherapy.
Parents and professionals need to be vigilant during the teenage years in order to assess whether the "normal" emotional roller coaster for their adolescent with ADHD has gone over the edge and developed into a severe level of anxiety or depression that requires treatment in its own right in addition to her treatment for ADHD. Because stimulant medication for ADHD may tend to increase anxiety, a small dose of an antidepressant may effectively counteract anxiety and also treat depressive symptoms.
Reduce sexual risks
Support groups specifically designed for adolescent girls with ADHD can help them feel more accepted and less alone without having to seek male sexual attention.
Helping teenage girls with ADHD become engaged in structured, constructive and rewarding activities will help them channel their energy, increase their confidence and help them improve their sense of self-worth. Recent studies confirm what we have always known, that those adolescents who are kept out of harm's way, busy with extracurricular activities, sports, etc. are less likely to get in trouble during high school (Guindon, ed. 2009).
Last but not least, an open, genuine, trusting, honest and supportive relationship with their parents gives them somewhere to turn to for advice if they become sexually active, either to help them make a sensible choice of birth control or to help them make the best decision they can should they become accidentally pregnant.
Reduce the risks associated with ADHD and driving
An increasing number of young women take their driving lessons earlier than before. Parents of daughters with ADHD but also their instructors need to impress upon them that they may require more practice in driving so that their driving skills can become better embedded and more automatic, requiring less concentrated effort and attention.
Since attention problems are often strongly involved in traffic accidents, young people with ADHD should take care to drive in less distracting situations during their first years as drivers. They should avoid heavy traffic, social distractions, such as excited, talkative peers, develop a more conscious awareness of their need to "keep their eyes on the road" and certainly they should not drink, smoke cannabis or take other illicit drugs while driving.
Even in adulthood, individuals with ADHD may find themselves distracted by conversation while driving as well as the issue of mobile phones and background music.
Situations that may lead to impulsive reactions, such as driving with peers who have been drinking and who may encourage an adolescent girl with ADHD to take a ride with them "for fun" should be discussed in advance and avoided, if possible.
Recognise and embrace their strengths
Girls who have developed an ability or talent in some area are better protected from the clouds of self-defeating gloom. One of the most constructive approaches in helping adolescent girls with ADHD through their high school years is to actively help them recognise and develop areas of competence and talent. The more they are in touch with their areas of competence the less vulnerable they will be to criticisms and frustrations.
There are many arenas in which they can show their abilities and develop competence: part-time work after school, voluntary work and taking part in community projects that can all be enormously beneficial in helping them build a sense of self-confidence.
Help them learn assertiveness and self-advocacy
It is during the secondary school years when adolescents develop the skills necessary not only to survive the jungle of peer relationships but also those needed for a more independent life beyond school.
They will need to know well and be able to express their needs with confidence and convincingly to academic staff or prospective employers who are likely to be either uninformed or poorly informed about ADHD.
The need for and benefits of structure
Adolescent girls but particularly those with ADHD need structure, support and encouragement in order to maintain some order in their lives. Because of their quest for independence and separation from their parents, it is probably wiser if someone else other than their parents provides this structure. This can be a therapist, a coach, a school guidance counsellor or a trusting relative. Learning to be on time, developing strategies to improve their organisation, setting priorities and being proactive rather than staying in a reactive mode, must be seen for their benefit and not as something imposed by their parents.
The teenage years are especially challenging for adolescent girls with ADHD. To meet these challenges, they need understanding and support from their peers, their parents and schools combined with appropriate medical and psychological treatment, depending on their particular needs and issues. With the right supports and interventions, they can make the crucial transition from the confusion and self-doubt of adolescence to a sense of growing strength, self esteem and competence as they enter their young adult years.


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Mental Health Senior Worker (Ref: FMY-181)
- Recruiter
- Location
- West and South Yorkshire (with a significant amount of travel)
- Salary
- £22,526 - £26,501 p/a (depending on experience)
- Posted
- 08 Jun 2018
- Closing date
- 24 Jun 2018
- Industry
- Charities, Crime, Mental health, Social welfare, Volunteer management, Health, Mental health, Social care, Adult care, Criminal justice, Mental health
- Job level
- Experienced (non manager)
- Hours
- Full time
- Contract
- Contract
- Listing type
- Job vacancy
Fixed contract until March 2020
Are you a proactive, driven and compassionate influential? Looking to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable women? Then don't miss out as St Giles Trust is looking for a Mental Health Senior Worker to work on our innovative Footsteps project, where you will provide a comprehensive and holistic support service for women within the Criminal Justice System and for those with a Mental Health or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
About St Giles Trust
A well-established charity that helps ex-offenders and disadvantaged people to move their lives forward, St. Giles Trust offers support to help people overcome any issues that might be holding them back and to prevent the likelihood of them reoffending on release.
A key part of the work we do is Footsteps, our specialist mental health service. This female-led initiative offers emotional and practical support to women with multiple and complex needs at every stage of their Criminal Justice System journey, giving them options and choices and the opportunity to turn their lives around.
About this pivotal role
Reporting to the Community Team Leader, our Mental Health Senior Worker will provide a complete assessment, referral and support service, including exploring innovative and effective methods of case-working Mental Health and ASD service users. You will make pre-release visits to identify suitable service users and produce tailored action plans, plus provide vital support for issues such as housing, benefits and GP visits – with the intention of closing all your cases positively and efficiently
You will be expected to recruit new volunteers and Peer Advisers to the service and provide effective supervision to your own assigned team, while developing strong inter-agency relationships is also a key element of the role.
What we are looking for:
- You must be eligible to apply to for prison clearance
- Experience of working successfully within a Mental Health setting with vulnerable service users, as well as with women and those with multiple disadvantages
- An understanding of the issues faced by females with Mental Health issues or with ASD
- Knowledge and understanding of housing options available to ex-offenders
- Experience of supporting a team of volunteers or staff
- Excellent communication, organisational and interpersonal skills
In return, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance, staff pension, flexible working, a mentoring programme, an advice and counselling service, season ticket loan and much more.
Due to the nature of the role, St Giles Trust is seeking only female applications for the role. For further information, or to apply, please visit our website via the 'Apply' button.
Closing date: 11pm, June 24th 2018. Interview dates: July 9th, 10th and 16th and 17th.
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ZAGREB (Reuters) - Several Croatia players being in a position to win European club competitions is evidence of the Balkan nation's quality ahead of the June 14-July 15 World Cup in Russia, coach Zlatko Dalic said after naming his preliminary 32-man squad on Tuesday.
Real Madrid midfielders Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic will face Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren in the Champions League final in Kiev on May 26.
Atletico Madrid right back Sime Vrsaljko is in Wednesday's Europa League showdown against Olympique de Marseille in Lyon and Dalic was delighted to have all of them on board.
"I am overjoyed that other players have won domestic silverware with their clubs while some were also in contention for European glory right until the latter stages," Dalic was quoted as saying by Croatia's FA website (www.hns-cff.hr).
"I wish Luka, Mateo, Dejan and Sime enjoyable finals.
"We'll have a Champions League winner for the sixth year in a row and all this shows we are packed with quality ahead of the World Cup, which in turn gives us a lot of confidence.
"The important thing is that everyone stays fit so that we can have an injury-free build up to a tournament where we expect to live up to the high expectations of our fans."
The Croatians, who reached the semi-finals in 1998 but have since failed to advance to the knockout rounds, are in Group D alongside Argentina, Nigeria and Iceland.
There were no surprises in Dalic's squad, with several fringe players and young prospects called up ahead of the final cut due after Croatia's friendly against Brazil at Anfield on June 3.
The Croatians will play Senegal at home in Osijek on June 8 in their final warm-up.
Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic (Monaco), Lovre Kalinic (Gent), Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Karlo Letica (Hajduk Split).
Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Domagoj Vida (Besiktas), Ivan Strinic (Sampdoria), Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), Sime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid), Josip Pivaric (Dynamo Kijev), Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen), Matej Mitrovic (Bruges), Borna Barisic (Osijek), Zoran Nizic (Hajduk Split), Duje Caleta-Car (Red Bull Salzburg), Borna Sosa (Dinamo Zagreb).
Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan), Marko Rog (Napoli), Mario Pasalic (Spartak Moscow), Filip Bradaric (Rijeka).
Forwards: Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), Nikola Kalinic (AC Milan), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Marko Pjaca (Schalke), Ante Rebic (Eintracht Frankfurt), Duje Cop (Standard Liege), Ivan Santini (Caen).
Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade; Editing by Pritha Sarkar


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18 Feb 2018 17:07
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The Destination Network appreciates your Production business and your confidence in our ability to create the highest quality, most effective commercial for you.
Our professional television production staff prides itself on creating a professional production in a cost effective and efficient manner.
Click here to view "Television Production: How Does it Work?"
Out of House (OOH) Specs and Guidelines
There are three main areas of the production process for which we ask your input and assistance as the client:
The Script:
To write a script that will be the most useful to your business, we need information from you. The Production Coordinator will give you a Client Questionnaire to fill out. Please be as complete as possible as this is the primary source of information for our copywriters. We also ask that you provide the Production Coordinator with other materials, such as a menu, print pieces and/or other examples of your previous advertising efforts, so that we can coordinate with your existing message and image.
When the script is finished, the Production Coordinator will contact you and ask you to read over it and approve it. If you see items that need to be changed, just let the Production Coordinator know; we will make the changes and get the revised script back to you promptly. Please also be sure that the Production Coordinator knows the correct pronunciations any technical terms, unique names, often mispronounced or foreign words used in the script.
We also want your input on the type of voice you would like for your commercial spot. We have a "stable" of professional voice talents to draw from, but we need to know your preferences, such as male or female, young or sophisticated, calm or excited, etc. We can provide you with two or three audio samples to choose from within your stated preferences.
When the voiceover is completed, we will ask for your approval, as we did with the script.
The Shoot:
Because each video production is unique, the Production Coordinator will make every effort to schedule a conference call with you before the shoot and plan the details. An outline for the day of filming will also be provided before this phone conference. This "Pre-Production" meeting will ensure that we use your production time most effectively.
Please review the final script carefully so that you are familiar with the items and/or areas of your business that we will need to shoot. We will rely upon you to advise the crew and provide them with the items you wish to feature in your advertisement. If the script requires specific shots, we will make every attempt to provide you with a list of items (such as your featured dish) to be prepared.
If the script calls for interviews or the use of models, we need your patience and understanding. We may have to repeat scenes until we achieve the best possible performance. If you're assisting with model/actor recruitment, please inform everyone that the shooting process is unpredictable and that they may be asked to repeat their actions several times. In all cases, we ask that you provide a comfortable waiting area and possibly refreshments for the cast. Models and/or actors expect to be provided complimentary meals and beverages when shooting restaurant dining scenes.
When photographing food, interviews and other close-up subjects, special lighting may be required and the set-up may take some time. Whenever possible we will use available lighting (turned up as much as possible) as our digital cameras are work much better in lower light levels than older analog models.
When the production crew moves from one area of your business to another, they will have to disassemble and reassemble the lighting equipment, move cameras, re-establish audio integrity, etc. These tasks can be time consuming, so please understand that the crew cannot be rushed from one area to another without sacrificing quality.
When shooting food, the dishes and/or food items prepared for the shoot will not be reusable.
Post Production:
The editing process takes place in our Panama City Beach facilities. We can schedule the edit session only when all of the production elements are in our possession. These will most often include: the final script, the approved voiceover, your company logos in high resolution .jpg format, any footage you provide and, of course, the footage shot at your location. The Production Coordinator will work with you to gather and/or get your approval on these and get them sent to our Production department.
When the edit is finished, you will be sent an email which will give you instructions for logging on to the internet to view your new spot. This digital proof is called a VOD (Video on Demand) file. Delivery of your finished spot via the internet, allows you to see the finished spot virtually immediately upon completion, and it allows you to forward the email to other key decision makers in your company for their approval. Please complete the VOD wizard, giving approval or giving your requests for changes. At this point, you may also purchase dubs of the spot - VHS, Beta, DVD, etc.. Please consult with your AE about the technical requirements to receive and view this type of file. If you do not have the capability, the AE can show your spot on his or her computer. VHS tapes are a last resort, as they are expensive to make and ship. There is a $50 charge for VHS approval, plus shipping.
If there are changes necessary, we will get your spot "fixed" as soon as possible. Please be sure you are as specific as possible regarding the changes you request. Your AE will be eager to sit down with you and review the spot with you, if the VOD approval process is not adequate for your needs. We ask that you view the fixed spot and reply to your AE and/or the Production Coordinator as soon as possible after you receive it. The sooner it is complete, the sooner we can get you "on the air!"
Media Formats
This section outlines media submission guidelines for Destination Network. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide technical specifications for media that is being submitted to our stations. Should you have any questions regarding your submission, please contact your Account Representative for more information.
Video Submission Guidelines
Preferred Formats
When providing raw footage for editing, we prefer as close to acquisition format as possible. Currently, we prefer HD resolution at 1920 x 1080 60i.
We are capable of receiving with these formats:
FTP transfer (via sharefile, for items less than 2g)
DVD data disk (items less than 4.7 gig)
External Hard Drives (items more than 2g)
HDV videotape
DV videotape
DVCAM videotape
BetaSP videotape
Blueray Disc
If you are submitting completed projects, please make certain to include a slate with your project has the following information:
Name of Client
Title of spot
Exact Length
Contact info of Production House
Dimensions for Submissions
If conversion of video from it's acquisition format is necessary, it should conform to these specifications:
1920 x 1080 60i (high definition 16:9)
Drop Frame (29.97 fps)
Preferred formats for submitting files are:
H264 Quicktime Movie (mov)
Audio Video Interleave (avi)
Available Software
Generally, we prefer that you submit either unedited video, or completed project that have been rendered from your editing software. Should you need to submit a project init's native edit format, we accept projects from these systems (on a case by case basis, please contact us PRIOR to submission for approval):
Final Cut Pro 7
Adobe Premiere (CS5)
If you do submit a project in this manner, please use your software to "collect" all files and folders necessary and submit the archival version of the project. Keep in mind that we DO NOT have any 3rd party filters, effects or fonts and if you need us to work on these projects, you will need to include these items.
Graphic Submission Guidelines
Preferred Formats
When providing media for graphics files, we prefer the following formats:
Photoshop files (psd)
Jpeg (jpg)
Illustrator Files (ai)
Targa (tga)
Tiff (tif)
Bitmap (bmp)
If at all possible, please keep the files layered, rather than flattened. If you are providing the files in a flattened format, please include the alpha channels with them.
All of these formats should be AT LEAST 72 dpi, RGB, 8-bit files . If you are creating the files from scratch, It is good to start with 1920 x 1080. This creates a 16;9 aspect ratio. Keep in mind that our station presently down converts HD to SD using the "crop" or "center cut" method, so all HD projects should have graphics placed to be safe with a 4;3 crop.
To submit these files, we prefer them in these formats:
FTP (please contact your AE for instructions)
Email (5 MB limit)
DVD data
USB drive
Hard Drive
Available Software
We use these software applications for creation and managing our graphics:
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
We DO NOT take graphics submitted from these programs:
Microsoft products (Power Point, Expression, Word, etc.)
Should you need to submit art from one of these applications, please convert it to one of the preferred formats (listed above).
Aspect ratio is the relationship of the vertical dimension to the horizontal dimension. It is expressed as a ratio. High definition aspect is 16 by 9, which is to say, the rectangle that is a television screen is 16 units by 9 units. This becomes important when selecting the best version of your logo. Many logos designed for print have a more horizontal aspect ratio.
Audio Submission Guidelines
Here are the preferred formats for submitting audio:
AIFF files (48 kHz - stereo)
WAV (16 bit - stereo)
MP3 (192 kbits/s - stereo)
If you are including voice over AND music, we request that these elements be provided in separate files, one with raw voice over and one with music.
To submit these files, we prefer them in these formats:
Email (5 MB limit)
FTP (please contact your AE for instructions)
CD data
DVD data
USB drive
Hard Drive
Mailing Information
Please send your media to:
Destination Network
8317 Front Beach Road, Ste. 23
Panama City Beach, FL 32417
Attn: Production Manager
If you would prefer to deliver via electronic means, please email for detailed instructions: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
The Hotel Villa Paradiso dellﻗEtna is located in an ideal site, from which it is very easy to visit
the countless architectural and naturalistic beauties of Eastern Sicily.
The Hotel stands at the foot of Mt. Etna and represents the perfect starting point from which to reach the Etna ski cableway in Nicolosi (South Etna) or those of Linguaglossa (North Etna), or to visit the impressive lava flows, which over the centuries have erupted from Mt. Etna.
The lava flow is a real show to be admired at least once in oneﻗs own life. The entrance to the Highways is just a few miles away from the Hotel (km. 4).
The Hotel arranges several excursions with or without a guide. Our staff at the reception will be glad to help and give you any advice you may need according to your needs.
Main resorts to be easily reached from the Hotel and travelling time:
10 minutes time: Catania, Trecastagni, Nicolosi, Etna park nature reserve, private beach at the Cyclopsﻗ coast, Acireale.
30 minutes time: Taormina, Giardini Naxos, ski cableways, main crater, Alcantara gorges, Golf Course (Il Picciolo Golf Club)
60 minutes time: Syracuse, Piazza Armerina, Morgantina, Venusﻗ Morgantina (Aidone Museum), Caltagirone, Noto valley, Anapo valley, Pantalicaﻗs necropolis.
Distances: Catania airport (Vincenzo Bellini): km 25. Railway station. Km 16. Entrance to the Highways: km 4. Commercial centre: km 1


text:
Of Cops and Careers
My foot was staining the snow red with blood when a lone police officer pulled up in his patrol car. It was New Year's Eve in Park Slope and I had just been in an accident that embedded a lot of glass in my right leg. The cop was gruff and not very gentle as he tightened the sock I was using as a tourniquet. His repeated radio calls for an ambulance got no reply. The snow was coming down harder around us and the cop seemed worried.
"Listen you're losing a lot of blood, I gotta get you out of here, OK?" And with that he scooped me up, placed me in the back of his car and rushed me to a Methodist Hospital emergency room bursting with the casualties of a wild Brooklyn night.
The officer cornered a doctor he apparently knew and I was prepped for surgery immediately. I remember him walking away, his uniform drenched with my blood, and I never saw him again. Prior to that incident the only cops I knew were the ones who constantly rousted me and my brothers as teenagers, throwing us against walls and seizing our beer.
So when my Wall Street job was downsized a few months later, I applied to be a police officer. My score on the civil service test wasn't exceptional, so it would be a year before they reached me on the list. Then there would be medical and psychological exams, physical endurance tests and a background investigation.
In the meantime, I answered a small newspaper ad for "federal public health investigators" in July 1972 and was quickly assigned to cover clinics in Central Harlem and Washington Heights. My job was to draw blood from new arrivals suffering from syphilis, wait for the diagnosis and treatment, and then interview them to get names and locating information for their sexual contacts. I then had to find those contacts and convince them to come into the clinics to be examined. I wound up leaving a lot of notices with bartenders and filling blood vials in locations that were far from hygienic.
Decades later, at a party attended by the Center for Disease Control executive who ran this program, I learned that the decision to hire me and my fellow investigators was based on only two qualifications: a bachelor's degree and former employment as a cab driver. After suffering a year of very high attrition among its new recruits, the CDC reasoned that if you could drive a cab in New York, you could probably get people to talk and had enough street smarts to survive the tough situations that would inevitably occur. This executive called it "the conviviality factor".
When one of my convivial co-workers told me the City was hiring probation officers, I figured a job in the criminal justice system might speed up my entry into the NYPD. My two years with the CDC was accepted as the social work experience required for the position, perhaps because I worked in "Social Disease" clinics, so I was appointed within weeks of applying.
It was January 1974. The law enforcement veterans I began working with seemed a bit overwhelmed. Over the previous decade, the murder rate had tripled, arrests soared, court dockets became unmanageable, and probation caseloads quadrupled as under-staffed crime fighters in crumbling infrastructures tried to cope. Old timers would wistfully recall days when order reigned supreme.
I was assigned a caseload consisting of drug offenders receiving methadone who lived in Bushwick. I spent my time visiting apartment houses along Knickerbocker Avenue, testifying in Supreme Court, and interviewing inmates at the Brooklyn House of Detention (Inmate: "I was just standing there cleaning my nails with my knife when that fool just ran up and threw himself on my knife" Me: "So he threw himself on your knife 19 times?"). I also had to collect urine specimens for drug testing and took some small satisfaction in perfecting ways of getting guys to fill the cup (dipping fingertips in a cup of warm water proved very helpful).
In the Spring of 1975, after I had finally satisfied all of the NYPD entry requirements, including grueling physical tests that my right foot barely passed, I was slated to enter the Police Academy. I was given a date in May to report and started taking swimming lessons at night since I heard swimming proficiency was a must. Then the City's fiscal crisis reached full bloom and the Academy class was canceled. A month later I was laid-off as a probation officer. My career in law enforcement had suddenly come to a screeching halt.
But it was to resume a year later and last for decades, taking me from make-shift classrooms on Rikers Island to pitch-black stairwells on the Lower East Side and from rackets disguised as businesses, to corrupt politicians slobbering at the trough of greed. I spent 20 years on the line and 20 years in management. I testified against terrorists, white collar bamboozlers and murderers. I watched policies get shaped and abandoned and helped break some new ground. I got sued by subordinates I fired and sweated out internal investigations for bending some outdated rules.
When I finally retired in 2014, I looked back with fondness on all the hard-working detectives, probation officers, special agents, prosecutors, analysts and technicians I had worked with along the way. But I couldn't help but wonder how everything would have turned out if long ago a cop whose name I never caught had taken off on a snowy New Year's Eve. I can tell you one thing – if he hadn't shown up, someone else would be typing this sentence.


text:
About us
Terms & Conditions
Contact Us
Car Rental
Day 00: Delhi – Overnight train to Ramnagar: At appropriate time you will be picked up from your place of stay in Delhi or from Delhi airport and transferred to Delhi railway station to board an overnight train to Ramnagar.
Day 01: Corbett National Park (Jeep safari in Dhikala): You will be assisted at Ramnagar railway station and drive towards Dhangiri Gate from where you will enter into Dhikala via Gharial pool, Champion road and High Bank – all of them are great observation points on the Ramganga River to see the wildlife from a close distance. On arrival at Dhikala, check in at Dhikala Forest Rest House. After brief leisure, proceed for an afternoon jeep safari to the Dhikala "chaur" – grasslands to encounter the vast wildlife of Dhikala. After safari return back to FRH and enjoy an evening wildlife movie followed by dinner. Stay overnight in Dhikala FRH.
Day 02: Corbett National Park (Elephant & Jeep safari in Dhikala): Early morning proceed for an elephant ride into the dense forest of Dhikala range. Elephant safari is the best way to explore the wildlife from a close distance. Post elephant ride, return back to your rest house and have breakfast. Later after lunch and brief leisure, enjoy the jeep safari following a different route into the dense forest of Dhikala. Evening enjoy dinner and overnight at Dhikala FRH.
Day 03: Corbett National Park (Elephant ride – Afternoon jeep safari in Bijrani): Earlymorning move for another elephant ride inside Dhikala range. After elephant safari back to your rest house and have late breakfast. Later checkout and you will be transferred to your wildlife resort outside the jungle. After lunch and brief leisure, proceed for an afternoon jeep safari into Bijrani range. Stay overnight at your hotel.
Day 04: Ramnagar – Delhi (Day train journey):Morning after breakfast you will be transferred to Ramnagar railway station to board a day train back to Delhi. The tour ends here.
Trip Activities: Jungle Safari
Trip Types: Adventure, Casual Vacation, Family Vacation, Romantic Gateway


text:
Day One. Saturday, May 5th, 2018
He stepped on the gas pedal twice. Then he crossed his fingers, and twisted the key.
Here goes nothing.
The starter motor whined for a second…
And the Chevelle barked to life. A moment later it settled into a fast, booming idle.
Ah. Thank you…thank you… thank you…
-and about goddam time.
He'd started the engine cold, so for the first few minutes it ran fast and rich, drinking extra gasoline at a quicker pace in an effort to keep itself from stalling.
Not all of what it drank actually got used, though, so within moments, the garage began to fill with the eye-watering stink of partly-burnt Sunoco 110. He winced: not at the smell, but at the thought of all that twelve dollar-a-gallon racing gas being turned into nothing more than expensive air pollution.
Not that he had much of a choice in the matter; the vintage engine had been designed to run on ridiculously hi-octane gas, and although the stuff once used to be cheaper and more plentiful than water back in the late-sixties, it had long since disappeared from the gas stations of today. Which left racing gas as the only substitute.
Because, if he drove it on anything less, or God forbid, drove it hard on anything less, the big V8 would soon be dead; murdered from within by burnt valves and broken pistons, their failures cascading into further failures that would spread like a sudden mechanical cancer, until death occurred.
It was a mechanical certainty, with the only variable being how long that death took to occur, and how violent it would be when it happened. God knew, he'd seen enough YouTube videos of engine-dyno-sessions-gone-wrong. Enough of them to make sure he didn't ever want to find out for himself.
Well, you wanted everything to be "original"…
God help him though; it did sound beautiful. With the possible exception of his wife's whispered voice and the sound of his children's laughter, few sounds in the world could match it.
Part of the feeling came from the same place that had been inspiring teenage boys (and increasingly girls) to hotrod cars since the beginning of automotive time: for some people, loud, fast things just flipped a switch somewhere inside them, turning them on.
The bigger part of the feeling though, the thing that really flipped his switch, he got from just listening to something that old sound so very much alive, and from knowing that it was still alive because of him.
So, twelve dollar-a-gallon gas notwithstanding, he tried to enjoy himself as he listened for any signs of the misfire he'd first heard last week. With any luck, he wouldn't, and he'd be able to consider the problem fixed. Then they could both get on with life.
God willing.
It had been the distributor. Which of course was one of the few things he hadn't rebuilt with the rest of the engine.
Even though it was the same forty-plus years old as everything else, dumbass.
On the way back from Redstone Raceway last Saturday it had simply, "shit the bed", as his father used to love saying, and left the Chevelle barely able to limp home.
So, he'd pulled the failing part that afternoon and then spent the next three nights cleaning and rebuilding it in order to reinstall it the following Saturday.
Yet despite all his earlier work and the care he'd taken reinstalling it this morning, he'd still been surprised that the engine had started at all. And even now that it had, he still waited anxiously for it to stumble or miss a beat.
His pessimism came from the fact that he'd had a bitch of a time getting the thing apart. Then, when he'd gone to put it all back together, he'd accidentally cracked the distributor's aluminum housing. The housing, of course, was a rare part found only on that particular engine. Not to mention that it was also the original one for his particular car, which made it practically irreplaceable.
So rather than get another, he'd chosen to try and fix the thing himself with something called "Super Weld", a grey putty that promised to bond everything from plastic to steel, and always "WITH AN IRON GRIP!" He normally didn't place much faith in "Super" anything, but he'd been desperate, and the store clerk had promised him it would work, so he'd given it a shot.
Besides, even if it didn't work, what would happen? Sure the distributor might crap out a second time and the engine would run like shit again, but at least it wouldn't be a show-stopper; he'd just be back at square one. Only next time he'd send the damned thing off to Jeff Dottery's shop in Hamburg and let him fight with it.
So far so good though.
Slowly, optimism began to creep in. After all, repairs like that either worked or they didn't, and if anything was going to blow, he reasoned, it would have blown by now. But so far nothing had, and the engine seemed to be running fine.
After listening for another minute he made a few more stabs at the gas pedal. Each time, the big Chevrolet responded with a crackle.
Yeah, I think that did it.
I wonder if the kids want to go for a tune-up.
Maybe I'll even ask Jane-
Although she'll probably say no.
The three of them sat out at the end of the runway, looking over at the house through the Chevelle's passenger window. Jack still wondered if there might still be a chance. Although the kids, he knew, were just looking because he was. And that wouldn't hold them long, either; they'd all, quite literally, been there before, and the results lately had always been the same.
Gary gave up first. He began to fiddle with the CB radio that hung under the dashboard. Jack, meanwhile, had already slipped the Chevelle's transmission into DRIVE, and could feel the engine thrumming steadily through the floorboards as it tried to push the big car forward. He needed only to let off the brakes and step on the gas: then it would be one good (if slightly illegal) time with his kids, coming up.
Yet there they sat.
I should just go back in and ask her anyway. Hell, I should just go in and tell her. Even if I have to drag her out, she'll end up having a good time in the end. It's nice out- maybe we can go up to Hillside for ice cream.
As he tried to decide what to do, a part of him quietly hoped that she might solve his problem for him and come out on her own. Maybe she'd hear the engine still idling outside, wonder what might be going on, and come out for a look. If she saw her family sitting out at the end of the runway smiling back at her, then perhaps she'd stop for a moment and reconsider whatever monumentally important task she'd been doing inside.
And if she did that, well then maybe, just maybe, she'd say to hell with it and finally come trotting down the driveway to them.
And if allll of the above somehow miraculously happened, you could bet your ass he'd tell Gary to hustle his ass into the back seat—sorry; Roll Control and Kenny Loggins and the rest of their usual little game would have to wait—beside Denise, so that their mother could ride up front.
That was what Jack really wanted, because he knew that if he could just get Jane into the passenger seat beside him, where the warm curve of her thigh would be within easy reach while he drove, that her hand would settle over his the way it always used to, and she would come back to all of them.
If she'd just do that, just do that one simple thing, then that would be all he'd need; the world would be set right again, and he finally would let off the brakes. And away they'd all go.
But that's a lot of maybes. Good luck making them happen.
She just seemed to be so… gone, anymore: staying late at work, travelling for work, or bringing work home with her. And although he knew that she tried not to let those things interfere with her home life, for the last few months Jack had begun to feel as if home was losing ground. The kids, and increasingly he, had begun to feel more and more like just another job that she needed to get done, right there next to the laundry (which he knew she was doing right now, because according to her, dammit, it needed to be done today).
It wasn't that she wanted to be away from them, she just seemed to get so… wrapped up… in things.
And then, when she got started on something, watch out; the woman became a machine. Everything else about her just seemed to fall away-
No, that wasn't quite right. Nothing about her fell away. The opposite happened, really; she locked her real self up. Locked the Jane that her family loved away, out of sight, and left them instead with a person who looked like Jane, and sounded like Jane, but was decidedly not Jane.
Which wasn't her fault either, he supposed. He thought about her last assignment. That pharmaceutical place down in New Jersey, with all those poor people. He remembered how much they'd hated her…
I'd probably become a machine too, doing what she does. It's not exactly a job you gloat about at parties. I wonder if she even thinks, really thinks, about it herself. I sure as shit couldn't.
Although, you'd think she would jump at any chance to get away from it for a while… if she really disliked it. Or maybe in some weird way she does like it-
More than she likes being with us? Jesus, I hope not.
Although that's why they use her. Because she's so good at it. And how can you be so good at something for so long without at least liking it a little?
And I know it's one of the reasons she likes me- because I'm a fixer. She takes things apart, breaks them apart, but I fix things. So I give her balance.
Or at least I did.
He looked at the house for another moment, trying to give his earlier hope a chance, but she still didn't appear. He thought again of going back for her. Then he looked around at the kids. Whatever he decided, he'd have to do it soon; they were already getting restless. Gary had stopped fiddling with the CB's switches and begun twirling the device's mike from its coiled rubber cord. Denise had already whipped out her phone, but suddenly began muttering about having no signal. It wouldn't be long before they started asking him about the delay.
Still, something told him to go back, that he really should go back.
Stop bullshitting. Just go back in and get her.
But then Gary spoke.
"Yo Dad, I think it passes the sitting-at-the-end-of-the-runway test. Why don't we see how it goes?"
"Yeah Daddy, are we moving out or not? Remember, Ben's coming for lunch and he's gonna be here soon."
Finally, Gary looked up from the CB.
"Dad… she's not coming. I already asked her. She said she had too much to do."
Yeah. She told me that too… a lot to do before lunch, maybe next time… blah, blah… but I've gotta talk with her later. She can't keep this up-
We can't keep this up.
Jack looked at Gary. "Now, before we go… you good?"
Gary patted himself on his side. "Yup, just this morning. Not like I'll need it. Knowing you, there's more in the trunk. Probably a month's worth." The boy smiled.
"Bet your ass there is. Because that's something we don't ever screw around with, right?"
The boy nodded.
"Okay, good. Now-" Jack looked backward towards Denise. "Soundtrack please?"
She smiled, "You got it Daddy!", and stabbed at her phone. "Danger Zone, it is…"
But after a minute had passed, Denise still hadn't produced the song. She growled, then announced, "I'm sorry guys, but for some reason I don't have a signal. And I was getting "Danger Zone" off Spotify, so…"
Jack checked his own phone. It too, showed "NO SIGNAL". "Gary?"
But the boy, now looking at his own phone, just shook his head. "Sorry…"
"Okay, doesn't matter," Jack announced, "I'll sing it myself-" and he set off on his own ragged rendition of the song, complete with guitars.
"Oh God please! Make it stop!" Both kids had practically shouted in unison.
"Okay, okay," Jack smiled. "No soundtrack then… ya' big babies… Which I guess leaves us with just one last thing to do." Jack pointed to the red toggle switch that enabled the Roll Control. "Would you do the honors, young man?"
Gary flipped the switch. A red light came on. And then Jack wound the engine up, up, up…
"Tower, this is Chevelle One-Nine-Seven-Zero. Ready for takeoff.
"Roger that Chevelle. You are clear for takeoff…"
The game wasn't quite the same without "Danger Zone" blaring in the background, but it was still pretty fun. And when Denise finally finished her "safety briefing", with the words-
"Hit it!"
-well, that was always fun. Gary hit the small red button that released the Chevelle's front brakes just as Jack stabbed at the accelerator, and the Chevelle shot forward with a roar. Atlas House shrank in the rearview mirror. Then was lost in the white cloud of tire smoke that the Chevelle had left behind.
And a moment later, it was gone.
A few minutes after that, they were cruising sedately down the access road that led out to the main. Jack drove with his right hand on the wheel. The other hung down through the Chevelle's open window, his fingers drumming against the cool metal of the door as a White Stripes song tried to beat its way through the car's small dashboard speaker. Whatever might be going on with the cell signals, the FM was at least still working.
Beside him, Gary sat with his arm hung out of the passenger window, knifing his hand through the slipstream. Denise sat with her chin resting on the back corner of her father's seat, an absent but contented look on her face.
The road started a gentle slope upward, so Jack stepped a little harder on the gas to compensate. Then he stepped a little harder still. The engine's tone deepened and Chevelle surged ahead. Without breaking her gaze at the oncoming road, Denise grabbed for the seatback so she wouldn't slip backward. Gary, meanwhile, turned and met his father's eyes. The boy gave his father a speed-induced smile and a thumbs-up. Then he turned back to the windshield, the smile still on his face.
Jack returned his son's smile with a smile of his own, but was surprised to feel it fade the moment the boy turned away. Then he remembered sitting out at the end of the driveway, and understood why. A wave of regret rolled over him.
Now I know I should've brought her with us. This is one of those short, happy moments that the kids will remember forever, and she should be part of that memory…
But now she won't.
He thought once again about going back for her, only not like before, not just with vague promises of what a good time they might have. No, he'd go back armed with real, factual knowledge of what a good time they were having, and would have, if she'd just go with them.
But that wouldn't work, and you know it.
He sighed resignation. Neither of the kids heard him, probably because the music and the engine made just enough noise to mask anything shy of shouting, but in this case that was a good thing. After all, what good would it do to dampen their fun with his regrets? And really, wasn't resignation just the thing he needed?
I should just let go and enjoy the moment. After all, I'm here, even if Jane isn't…
So, for the kids' sakes he willed the moment to last, and tried to enjoy it. With or without her. A moment later, as the car sped ever faster up the hill, he found that he actually could enjoy it, and that he really did want it to last. Even his right foot hesitated to lift off of the gas pedal. Hesitated to end the steadily building rush of acceleration, because to do so would be a tacit admission that the moment would end.
But like all good things, it had to end, and his foot had to lift-
Because they were approaching a stop sign.
Popping, burbling sounds came from the Chevelle's exhaust pipes as the engine wound down. A moment later he switched on the turn signal.
At the intersection, they would turn left and head for home past Murphy's farm. The kids liked that part the best, because when they reached the straightaway that dissected Murphy's cornfields, Jack would always "put his foot in it". Then the Chevrolet would get its "Italian tune-up" and the kids would get the thrill they'd come to expect.
The old farmer wouldn't mind, either; he did the same thing with his son's old Buick. At least Jack had thought it was Murphy. He couldn't be sure because he'd never actually seen for himself. Sometimes though, late at night, maybe while he and Jane were on the back deck drinking wine and enjoying the summer air, they would hear.
First the car's engine would start, barking to life and settling into a fast idle that sounded a lot like the Chevelle's. But then it would begin to rev: slowly, higher and higher, until it redlined.
And for a few seconds the Buick would sound nothing like the Chevelle, or anything else that had ever rolled off of any GM assembly line. Instead it would sound like some enormous monster, calling out in an eerie, warbling howl. A howl so loud that it echoed off of the neighboring hills.
The container did it, of course. Murphy kept the Buick parked deep inside of what looked like a large, army-green shipping container, the kind that's meant to be loaded on an ocean freighter or truck/trailer, that he'd somehow buried beneath a hillock out by his barn. And thus situated, the open end of the container tended to act like a kind of big, directional megaphone, focusing the sound waves from the car's exhaust pipes so tightly that their sound traveled all the way to Jonas Hill and back. The container itself also resonated, adding that weird warble to the sound.
Jack could imagine campers in some of Jonas Hill's state parks stopping what they were doing when they heard it. He could see conversations pausing around campfires as hikers and vacationers became, for just a few seconds, like their prehistoric forebears, listening to some unknown beast roar off in the distance.
But in the end of course, the great, mysterious beast always revealed itself to be nothing more than acoustics, plain and simple. Jack could tell every time, because a moment later the sound would shift. That would be Murphy idling the Buick down the ramps from the container and into the open air. A moment after that, the Buick would tear off into the night, tires screaming, sounding like a normal car again.
Conversations on Jonas Hill would resume, perhaps with a little nervous laughter. Maybe one or two of the campers would check their smart phones, holding them up like bright, modern talismans against the darkness that some ancient part of their DNA still told them to fear.
Not once had Jack or Jane ever heard the Buick come back. They guessed that Murphy either took it easy on the way home, or just came home long after they'd gone to bed. The next day though, the Buick would be back, shiny and clean, parked once again beside the barn in the shipping container. The only evidence of its having gone anywhere would be the fresh tire marks scrawled across the pavement from the spot where the dirt driveway met the road.
A '69 GSX in Spring Green, with the 455 and a four-speed- I wouldn't mind a chance to hoon around in one of those myself.
Although, God help me, not for the same reason Murphy does. If I ever lost one of my ki-
They reached the sign just as another car blew through the intersection. It was headed from right to left, the same way he intended to go. But… he looked both ways: the Sunday morning roads were otherwise empty. So, he decided to wait and let the other car get a good head start. That way, they'd have plenty of room for a nice, thorough "tune-up".
They wouldn't have to wait long either; the car was a new Mustang convertible, and the badges on its fenders proclaimed it to have a "5.0" V8 under its hood. They made, what- four hundred-plus horsepower?
Whatever the number, the Mustang's driver appeared to be using all of it; the guy was really hauling ass. Hell, he hadn't even stopped for the intersection before accelerating again. He'd just jammed on the brakes for a split-second, looked at the oncoming Chevelle, then roared onward.
Asshole… We put a scare in him at least.
The Mustang's top had been down, and its driver's face had been clearly visible for that split second. The poor dumbass had looked terrified. But it served him right.
Another retard with more right foot than brains.
As he sat watching the Mustang drive off, he realized that the music had stopped. So he looked down at the Chevelle's radio. It was still on, but the little red RECEPTION light had gone out. Then the speaker started to hiss. He reached for the knob-
Suddenly tires screeched from the left. He jerked his head back up-
"Uh, Dad? What's-" So Gary had noticed it too…
A quarter mile down the road to the left, an approaching car had gone off of it and was doing violent snap-rolls across the far side of the adjacent field. While closer in, Jack's eyes registered skid marks-
But they seemed to go the wrong way to have been made by the now-rolling car. They tracked off into the opposite field, where-
Now Jack saw the reason; the Mustang that had just blown past them not seconds before was now slowly bouncing to a stop in the freshly plowed dirt. He didn't understand though; the Mustang looked empty…
Then he realized that something else was wrong. Very wrong.
Because everything was blue: the Mustang, the wrecked car, the dirt, the trees beyond…
From behind him, Denise screamed.
Coming down the road and across Murphy's field was a glittering blue wall. He could see through it, but it shimmered with faint ribbons of light that seemed to run down its face like water. It hugged the ground so closely that it followed the furrows in the dirt, yet at the same time, it stretched all the way off to the sky and both horizons. Ahead of it rolled angry black lightning clouds.
Soon it reached Murphy's barn. The blue spattered through the sides and then sliced down through its roof, although seemingly without doing any damage to the barn itself. Then it ran over the buried shipping container. The container's door stood open, and the Buick sat inside. The shimmer seemed to boil against the container's top, and small blue sparks sizzled down inside. They landed and scuttered across the Buick's roof.
For a fraction of a second the Buick stood framed in green relief against the massive sheet of blue. But then it too got swallowed as the wall finally spattered down. Jack watched the wall come, fascinated…
Someone started shaking him, which broke the trance, and he looked around. It was Gary- Gary was shaking him, and screaming. Denise was beating on the seatback and yelling at him too.
"Daddy! Go! Go! Go!" and she screamed again. Gary yelled at him over and over to go right go right go right!
"Yes, oh shit we have to go we do have to go…"
The blue wall was only a few hundred feet away and still sliding towards them. He hauled the Chevelle's steering wheel right and stomped on the gas pedal. The engine spun up to a howl and the tires squealed. The car lunged forward and then began to arc right.
Then it fishtailed, and Jack's first real feeling of terror set in. If he spun the big car out the blue wall would catch them before he could straighten it out again. He didn't know what had happened on the road behind them, but he was desperately afraid to find out.
He yanked the wheel back and forth as the heavy car's rear end snapped from side to side. Until at last the tires found purchase and the car straightened out. Finally able to transfer its power into full acceleration, the engine revved up to its redline. Then the transmission shifted up into second gear and the acceleration began anew. For a split second the tires spun again, and they made a chattering squeal, but momentum had shifted to their side by then, and they grabbed hold once more. In the rearview mirror he glimpsed the twin strips of rubber they'd left behind-
Just as the wall slid over them.
Seventy, eighty miles per hour, the car raced down the two-lane road. Gary alternated between looks at the road and looks at the wall. Denise sat back, bolt upright, bracing herself with one hand.
They seemed to be opening up a lead on the… whatever-it-was, but Jack knew that lead wouldn't last; the road wouldn't go straight for much longer. Gary turned to him. The boy's eyes were wide.
"What do we do Dad? What is that thing?!"
"Daddy I'm scared. What are we going to do?"
Denise looked at him in the rearview mirror. He didn't know what to say to either of them. He knew he had to figure things out, but his brain and eyes were wholly preoccupied with flight. All he could spit out were a few distracted sounding words.
"I'm not sure yet. But we're gonna be OK, just hang on."
He snatched a look at the gas gauge: they had just under half a tank. He checked the temperature and the oil pressure gauges- Oh Jesus!
The road had begun to curve, too sharply for thirty-three hundred pounds of car to take at high speed. He eased off of the accelerator, fearful that letting off too suddenly would cause the Chevelle to snap sideways into a spin. His caution proved pointless; just as he lifted his foot, another car appeared from around the turn, going the same direction.
The Chevelle still hurtled along the narrow road at eighty-five miles per hour, but the other car seemed to be crawling at less than forty. Jack wouldn't be able to brake in time. Everyone in the car sucked in breath. Gary and Denise began to scream, "Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!" in rapidly rising voices.
Fuck it, I'll pass him-
Oh shit…
Yet another car appeared, this one in the opposite lane. Gary and Denise's voices devolved into a garbled litany of warnings.
As if I don't see what's coming!
Too much seemed to be happening at once. He couldn't think, had to think, and Jesus, the kids…
Why won't they shut up and let me think!
For the first time in his life, Jack swore at his children.
"Shut up, goddammit!"
He yanked the wheel left and then back right again, just as the oncoming car slid past them. In the rear view he saw both cars spin out.
But he couldn't afford to keep an eye on them; blue had begun to splash through the trees.
Jesus, Denise!
"Please honey, just shut up and let me drive!"
"But Daddy-"
"Goddammit! Do you see what I'm doing? Let me drive!"
"But Daddy they disappeared!" She started to cry.
"Deni- Wait what?"
She went on, sobbing, her voice nearing a shriek. "They disappeared! I saw people get out of those cars, but then that blue thing came and they were gone. I saw it. They were just gone!"
He thought of the Mustang coming to a stop behind the wall, and of the other car that had crashed for no apparent reason.
Oh God… that fits.
He looked in the rear view again. The blue thing still slid behind them.
Whatever that is, we have to stay ahead of it.
"It's alright honey. Calm down." He realized that his voice was louder than it needed to be, so he tried to sound calm himself. "We're gonna be okay."
Although I think we just killed those people. And we're gonna run out of road soon.
Another car appeared in front of them, but by then the road had straightened and they passed it easily. As they did, Jack blew the horn and Gary directed the other driver's attention backward. The man's face dropped at what he saw. Then he was behind them. Another car passed them going the other way. He laid on the horn again to warn its driver. Brake lights flashed, but too late; the wall crossed over it a second later. The lights went out just as the car disappeared behind the curve.
The other car was still in sight, but falling further and further behind. Two more cars passed opposite them and he tried the horn again, but couldn't tell if it did any good; the road had again curved, too much. Then they passed another to their front, honking and pointing. The whole time, the Chevelle never slowed to less than seventy miles per hour, yet the wall seemed to keep pace behind them. It was all the damned curves and turns.
Seeing that, Jack suddenly realized that they had another problem. The wall seemed to be travelling in one steady direction: south. But the road did not, and in another mile, they'd have to make a choice, because the road was going to end in a four-way intersection with a bigger road, State Route 87. When it did, they'd either have to go straight, or take a right and follow 87 South.
If they went straight across, that road would take them on a hopeless series of twists and turns before climbing a steep hill. But 87 South didn't exactly go perfectly south either. It really ran at an approximate forty five degree angle for almost twelve miles before it reached the Turnpike.
But if it follows us to the Turnpike, even that doesn't go straight south! And there will be a lot of cars; by now other people must be catching on. Shit, shit, shit! I don't know what we're going to-
But there was no more time to think about it. He caught sight of the traffic light that hung over 87.
It looked dead…
The Chevelle's speedometer indicated ninety-five miles per hour when he finally began to brake, two hundred feet from the light. The car's exhaust pipes crackled and popped as the engine wound back down and its brakes sent a hum through its body as they tried to shed speed.
Jack scanned the traffic ahead, trying to calculate where they might enter it. Then, from the left, he saw a minivan coming down 87, going much too fast.
Just before they reached the intersection, the minivan raced through, weaving around the other traffic. Strapped to its rear were several children's bicycles. Jack could see them sway and jounce as the minivan swerved. The other cars slowed in surprise, choking the intersection. He couldn't see how to make the turn and keep going, but with the wall still only a quarter mile behind them, he saw no other choice. He turned the wheel hard to the right. The Chevelle lurched over and started to slide…
…right into the path of another speeding car. Its panicked driver tried to brake and swerve around, but couldn't. The car glanced off of the Chevelle just in front of the left rear wheel.
Everyone in the Chevelle screamed as the impact knocked it from its slide and sent it into a looping spin. The other car swerved again, but its momentum carried it into the light pole, where it hit with enough force to split the pole at its base. Then it bounced backward across the intersection.
With the road suddenly blocked, more speeding cars also tangled in the wreck, choking the intersection further.
The Chevelle slid to a stop. Jack looked up through the windshield just in time to see the pole split and start to fall. The arm that held the traffic light did a lazy spin as the pole went over, picking up speed along the way. Its motion swung the dangling traffic light around in a tight arc, like a mace. Then it snapped downward.
Jack realized that they needed to go, or the pole would fall across the road and trap them. He stomped on the gas and the car roared forward again.
"Oh shit! Oh shit! Jesus guys hang on!"
The traffic light swung down just in time to punch a deep dent in the Chevelle's trunk lid, then drag across it with a ragged screech. The Chevelle's rear end sagged under the weight, and everyone inside snapped forward as the car suddenly jerked to a halt.
The tires lost traction and began to spin, making a blubbery, howling noise. For a moment Jack thought the pole would trap them anyway. That the Chevelle's tires would just keep spinning until the wall came and ended everyone's struggle for good.
"Come on dammit!"
A cloud of white wafted up from the spinning tires, carrying along the sour smell of burning rubber. It wouldn't work. The light had caught on the edge of the trunk and wasn't going to come loose. Suddenly a new idea sprang into his head. He reached down and slammed the gearshift into REVERSE. Again, he stomped on the gas, and the car went-
The engine raced up, but the car sat still.
Oh fuck me! Did I break something? Now?
He took a frantic look out the window. The wall was only a few hundred feet away. The engine still raced without moving the car. He didn't understand-
"Dad! It's in Park!"
Stupid, stupid. Why didn't you look you stupid ass!
He reached down again and slid the lever back one more notch. But the transmission caught while the engine was still racing, and the Chevrolet suddenly shot backward. His eyes snapped to the rear window where suddenly the traffic light loomed large, the end of the light pole close behind it. His foot went to the brake, but it would be too late- the Chevelle had jerked backward too quickly.
The traffic light smashed through the rear window and tumbled across the rear tray, before coming to a stop halfway over the back seat. It lay there, like some yellow three-eyed monster that had fought its way in, but died trying. Broken bits of Safe-lite glass pattered down all around it.
Denise screamed. The light had missed her but the bits of glass in her hair testified to just how close it had come.
We're all OK, though. Good. We're getting the Hell out of here.
Jack snatched one more time at the gearshift and yanked it back into DRIVE. Again the Chevelle howled forward. This time the light bounced backward out of the window and rattled across the trunk lid without catching. It clanked down over the rear bumper and smashed to the asphalt as the Chevrolet pulled free.
Gary started patting Jack on the shoulder. The gesture felt surreal, as if Gary were praising him for hitting a home run or making a good joke; anything other than keeping him and his sister from dying a few seconds sooner. Jack looked around at both of them.
Gary was obviously okay. He actually seemed thrilled to be alive and thrilled with his father for making it happen.
But he hadn't been nearly bludgeoned to death by a traffic light. Denise sat with glass still in her hair and the same frightened look she'd had on before. Without the rear window, the sound of the exhaust came through much louder, and he had to shout over it.
"You kids OK? Denise honey, you OK? I'm so sorry sweetheart!"
Gary confirmed his appearance with a wide-eyed, glowing statement about how awesome his Dad was. It hadn't yet occurred to Jack that his boy might already be deep in shock.
Denise however, left no doubt about it; her eyes stared at him as she spoke, and she called him by name, but she sounded like she was talking to herself.
"Daddy I'm scared and I want to go home."
He had no answer for her. Replying with the truth wouldn't have helped; he was scared and wanted to go home too.
He thought briefly of Jane. More and more, not knowing if she was okay had begun to eat at him too. But by the look of things, they wouldn't be going back anytime soon.
By the look of things, they'd be lucky to see Jane, or home, ever again.