Reflections in the Hood of a Car

A first-person ficlet by Angelinhel detailing a the thoughts of Tom Sloane after his break up with Daria Morgendorffer and previously, Jane Lane. Told as a character study or slice-of-life, his motivations for the series of events from 'The Kiss' to the last breakup are explored from the narrator's point of view.

Plot Summary
While working on his rusted-out car, Tom reflects on why he chooses to try to ressurect the junker when he could more than afford a fancy new one. Feeling dissatisfied and without purpose beacuse of the fact his affluent family would hand him anything, he turns to 'blue collar' activities (working on his car, attending bad music performances by Mystik Spiral at The Zen) to give himself a sense of purpose.

Reflecting on his involvement with Jane, and then Daria, he admits to himself his actions were selfish and wrong. Even though a part of him wants to think he did them both a favor, in the end, he admits to himself that as much as he likes to fix things, he likes to break them, too.