Waltz of Her Life

She could see the lights of Santa Claus when she passed there and a few miles beyond, the wheels would spin and whine here and there on the roadway. It was getting late, which made her feel scared and lonely, but the good thing about that was that very few other cars had ventured out onto the road.

"Lord help me," Linda said, out loud as she pushed down on Myrtle's gas pedal, making the engine whine and tires spin as they hit slick spots on the roadway.

On the other side of a grade, the car careened down in darkness, without any other cars on the road. She had changed the heater so that it blew hot air on her chest but her numb feet stumbled around on the clutch and brake pedals. In overcorrecting, she veered toward the shoulder and hit an icy patch. To her horror, the car skidded sideways. Time slowed down and a mini-movie of her life up to that point played in her head. She saw herself skidding so far around that she faced backward toward the oncoming cars.

Two hands seemed to take control of the steering wheel, startling her. A voice outside of her head, a male voice, said "Relax," and she temporarily released her grip from the steering wheel. The steering wheel twisted in one direction while the car righted its course, swishing around on the icy tarmac and easing back into the correct lane and the proper direction.

She allowed herself to exhale.

For the next few miles, she gazed out ahead of the car's front end at the roadway illuminated by her headlights. The scenery seemed different from the time when she and Lauren had driven out there themselves. Leafless trees from the forests seemed closer than they had been. The whole world drew in on her. She had kept the radio off for the entire trip so that if the voices had any other help for her, she would hear it.

Clouds and mist hovered over the roadway. She worried that the fog would obscure the road so much she'd be driving blind. While wisps of it curled over Myrtle's hood, she was still able to see the road, the roadside and the signs well.

The moonlit mist caused her to shiver. She looked up, wondering whether streetlamps on high poles had been installed over the highway. There was nothing like that; only the warm glow of the mist. It occurred to her that she should soon emerge from the thick forest and see the lights of houses on hills as she neared Louisville. Small snowflakes still dusted against the windshield, and she still had to toggle the heat switch back and forth, to warm her feet or chest.