Glass (Crank 2)

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