A Black Friday

It had rained the previous night and even in the morning, the roads remained damp. My family was coming home from Black Friday shopping in Natick yesterday. Our car was driving up a slight ramp, and there was a slight turn to the left. I was sleeping in the back of the car, but I awoke when I heard a sudden shrieking in the back wheels of our car as my dad stepped on the breaks. Although the breaks were being stepped on, the car continued to move uncontrollably. When my eyes opened, I saw the head of our car swiveling from the farthest left lane to the farthest right lane and in a matter of seconds, we were back in the left lane, but our car had turned 180 degrees. Everything happened so quickly, but sitting in the back row of our car, I felt like the trunk on my side of the car would slam against the railing of the ramp, but for some miraculous reason, it stopped right before contact.

This was a miracle, no crash, no cars around us [if there were any cars around us, I’m sure there would have been a multi-car accident since we swiveled from left lane, to right and back to the left again], and the fact that our car was driving on a ramp instead of on the highway, is something I’m really grateful for. I guess I’m kind of in shock right now. I don’t know how the car stopped right before contact with the ramp and I continue to wonder whether there is someone, somewhere who had saved us and was somehow controlling our fate. On Thursday, I published a poem noting the things I’m grateful for. I must add something, and that is life.