The second my girl caught her breath, she whipped out her phone
and texted her friend: “OMG, I almost just died!”
So dramatic!
It was scary, though. I was driving a route that my car knows
by heart: home to Oggi’s. I was first in line for the left turn on the inside,
the car to my right had the outside. When the arrow turned green arrow lit up, we
both accelerated.
Was he also swept up in the belting out of One Direction
with his front seat passenger? Was he
starving? Was it like a desert in his car?
I didn’t gun it, I just accelerated like any normal driver
would do. Thing was, it was raining. Have you ever driven in Southern
California in the rain? Not for the faint of heart.
So we both accelerated, and the guy on my right put a little
more pedal to the metal. Suddenly, he was spinning out of control, right in
front of us.
It was all so fast, but felt like slo-mo. I hadn’t had more
than a second to start going, it was just as easy to make the car stop. Of course,
adrenaline and fear slammed my foot onto the brake. Our selt belts seized, my
car lurched to a halt as the other car’s spin left it juxtaposed in the middle
of the road, my front bumper nodding hello to the other driver’s door.
Someone was letting out an unholy string of really bad words
right in front of my girl! Oh wait, that was me.
The other driver was laughing, which was unexpected but not
totally misunderstood. We were all fine, there wasn’t even a fender bender to
mess with. It as just an almost.
I almost hit him. Right there into his door. Into him. It
wouldn’t have been my fault, but I almost hit him. My girl was in the front
seat, just barely heavy enough for the button to light up indicating that the air
bag was armed.
Almost a disaster, but technically nothing. We exhaled.
“OhMyGod!” she shrieked.
[Thump, thump, thump] goes my heart.
ReplyDeleteI love your girl's High Drama. And I love you so I am therefore *so* pleased and delighted that you did not ram into the poor laughing guy through his door, through no fault of your own.
In the words of, well, you, "When it rains in San Diego everybody drives into eachother."
*So* glad you're okay, schnookums. Be caresul )as Dad would say) out there!
xxxEllie
Holy crap! So scary. I totally know what you mean when you write, "It was all so fast, but felt like slo-mo." Time gets all wonky, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteAh, but that relief and being okay and alive is so nice, even worth laughing about. Or texting about. I'm with your air-bagged armed girl on this one ;)
oxoxox,
Beth