An inch or more of slick
white stuff covers the road. My headlights glare
off it, and off the falling snow,
falling heavier now, splatting the windshield
like giant wet bugs,
and it just keeps coming straight at me.
Oh my God, it wants me.
Slow down, Kristina! But this time when I semi-
pump the brakes, the LTD
has a mind of its own and it just keeps going,
wherever it wants, and I can’t
slow it, can’t steer it, and all of a sudden, Wham!
It stops, nose down, slamming
me forward, against the steering wheel. And I
can’t move. Don’t dare move.
Okay, Not Good
I assess personal damage. Don’t
think I’m hurt, at least not badly.
Beyond a likely steering-wheel-
shaped bruise, and having
the wind totally stolen from
me, I’m all in one piece, and
everything seems to work.
The car, however, is a different story.
It landed facedown in a drainage
ditch, one rear wheel tilted off
the ground. No way can I get it
out on my own. I’ll have to walk,
and I’d better get going before a cop
happens along, not that many cops use