Pray to God I See Headlights by onelittlesleep (PG-13)

[brynnmck.livejournal.com]

It's been a pleasure driving the van this month; thanks for riding along!

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: none (gen)
Length: 6400 words
Author on LJ: onelittlesleep
Author Website: her LJ Memories
Why this must be read:

This author's But I Never Could Sharpen No Blade (Quite the Way He Say) has already been recced here, and I wholeheartedly second that—one of the first fics I read in this fandom, and still one of my favorites. This fic is a prequel of sorts to that, and it's also one of my very favorites.

In a lot of ways, this is a fandom based on road stories. Road stories with a rockin' soundtrack. :) And this story uses that better than pretty much any fic I've ever read; it's written with the author's clear understanding of what life on the road can be like, all the exhilaration and fear and possibility and isolation. And beyond that, it's a fantastic Sam portrait, with Dean—as always—not far behind, both literally and metaphorically, and their relationship always at the heart of the story. I can't imagine it was easy for Sam to leave Dean, back in the day; here, both the need to leave and the cost of leaving are crystal-clear, and it's perfect.

An excerpt:

A week before, he was moving a box of wool blankets to the loft. Dean waited below, holding the ladder still for him.

He grunted and shoved the box along the floor with his fingertips. It knocked into Dean’s spare bike tire, dislodged a stack of boxes and Dean said

“Great job, dude.” when everything came crashing down. He ducked to avoid the fall, looked back at his brother below him. Dean waved his hand. “Yeah, c’mon. We’ll clean it up next Christmas or when we move. Christ, Sammy.”

Sam looked back at the mess.

His old sleeping bag was hanging out of a spilled open crate, unfolded like a long, loose tongue.

And then he knew he’d do it. His hands gripped the ladder as he swayed and climbed down shakily.


Find the story here:

Pray to God I See Headlights