"Lost His Shirt" by Brad Rose appeared in Word of Mouth edited by Robert McEvily, 2010

My car’s headlights pierce twin tunnels into the night’s remote darkness, as the rain stabs down, its bright pins glittering toward God’s paved earth. Nothing ahead, but the promise of heavy weather for hours to come, and two-lane tarmac interrupted by the stutter of a white center line. Suddenly, the high-beams sweep a half-naked man, shirtless, running at the side of this otherwise vacant road. As I approach him, I slow down, but he doesn’t look up, he doesn’t pause, he just keeps running---towards or away---it’s impossible to say. I ease past him, and a half mile later, I glimpse a white Ford, empty as an abandoned prison readied for demolition, tilted on the side of the road. Windows rolled down, rain pouring in, no telling how much has been lost, or just who, if anyone, managed to escape.