No Face Pete

No-Face Pete skids off the road in a snow storm and ruins his cruiser. He doesn't consider that having his eyes in the palms of his hands had anything to do with it, though it necessitates handless driving; he steers the wheel with his forehead, hands raised as if in surrender, or a friendly wave if he is resting one eye. 

No-Face Pete arrests the offending cloud, but instead of taking it to jail, he deposits it in the bank. When the bank manager shakes Pete's hand, it makes Pete seem to wink.

In the place where a face would normally be, Pete has a Coca-Cola advertisement, eternally urging people to "stay fresh with Coke." This can be ticklish for a law officer. Pete's mouth is on his chest. He must unbutton his shirt to speak into his radio, or to smile at Hattie, the waitress he secretly adores. It gives her nightmares. This is unfortunate. 

On the Tuesday following the storm, a busboy and a nail tech rob the bank, making off with the cloud. No-Face Pete jumps into his new cruiser and follows the snow, hoping to catch them before the trail goes cold, but of course, it is cold to begin with. The cloud will later claim to have been suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, but for whatever reason and by whatever motivation, the cloud joins forces with the young bank robber lovers. Putting on gloves against the frigid weather, No-Face Pete blunders around blindly, discovering nothing. 

What can we learn from this story? Is it ever really possible to "stay fresh with Coke"? Why did Pete deposit the cloud in the bank, rather than escorting it to jail? What would you say if I told you that the nail tech is Hattie's sister? Can a cloud be held morally or criminally responsible for the weather? How does the story make you feel? How does it compare to other stories you have read? Did you care about/ identify with the characters?

Closing haiku:

car crashes in snow

but each flake is light as air

oh baby that's jazz
___________

I wanted to write something using surrealism. This is it, I guess.