So Much Hope, Pride and Promise
Posted: Wednesday, November 09, 2011
by The Old Gray Mare
www.DressYourHorse.com
The day is sunny, hot and sticky. She is thinking that the humidity is over the top today. “I’ll really enjoy the soothing comfort of the air in Albino.”
She chuckles at her name for this car, then peeks around from under her lashes to see if anyone has seen her. All is quiet on the home front. Albino is a perfect name because the car is white, and she has added hot pink accessories hanging from the mirror as well as here and there.
“How lucky I am to be getting this car,” she thinks.
She buckles up, checks the rearview mirror, adjusts the side mirrors, struggles with the car seat controls and jiggles the seat forward, then a few millimeters back. At last, it pleases her. Ready!
The car eases effortlessly out of the driveway, stopping just short of the street pavement before it heads onto the street. She shifts into Drive and the trip is on. Today she’s meeting up with a long-time friend from back home in Connecticut. Shelly is meeting her grandmother in Naples, Florida who is helping her find an apartment for when she starts her job.
Corrina and Shelly have always been the best of friends, and Corey is thrilled to see her again after all these years. She’s excited about this trip to Naples to meet her friend - made even better since her mother trusts her with the car. It’s another first. Four weeks ago, Corey made her driver’s license on the first try and she’s been doing a lot of driving here and there with her mother in attendance. This is the first solo.
Corey is taking this trip very seriously. Everything has to be perfect. She promised to do nothing goofy, keep the speed limit and play the radio at normal sound levels. It’s rather important to her that her mother trusts her. All her life has resolved around her family and, while other kids go through the wild stages of the teenage years, she’s never been inclined to run with the cool kids.
“I like to think I have a good head on my shoulders. Some day I want to be appreciated and successful.” A pleasant, calm feeling creeps through her. Things couldn’t be any better. She’s been accepted at the school of her choice. Her senior year was amazing with high honors and a few accolades. Corey is all set to attend Brown University – what is it now? – two weeks away! Her hard schoolwork has paid off.
By now and despite a lot of traffic, Corey has been on the interstate for at least 50 miles and she is closing the gap to Naples. She knows she still has a lot of driving to do before she meets up with Shelly. The speedometer is holding at 70, and she’s been keeping a relatively steady pace. She makes a mental note to use cruise control when the traffic is lighter. The last time it scared her so she switched it off in a big hurry. She had pulled up behind another car too quickly and found herself fumbling for the brake. Precious split second ticked off and she found herself too close for comfort. Again she chuckles. Dad would say, “Live and learn.” Except she thinks he never did learn much. Why else would he have given up on the family – her mother and her. Such a waste.
Corey finds herself cruising easily at 75. “Upps,” she says to no one in particular. She likes discussing important things out loud. “I’ll take it back to 70. Promised Mom.”
Ahead of her a panel truck makes a sudden swerve. Something falls off his right side and skids into her lane at a right angle to the highway. Her reverie is cut abruptly short as she realizes it’s a big ladder and she can’t avoid it. In her panic she thinks, “What now?”
Corey applies her brakes with force and without hesitation as she tries to make the car avoid this dreadful obstacle. Albino is giving all systems a hard go and, somehow, some way, misses the ladder by a fraction of an inch.
But the car goes into a vicious spin. The force, the timing, the sudden application of brake and steering, combined with the speed, cannot stop the inevitable. A few seconds elapse from sudden start to brutal end yet no evasive action is possible. Just a hollow scream -
The car rolls and rolls. And it rolls. It lands down a short embankment on its roof, wheels spinning. Now hardly recognizable as a car that held so much hope, there is no movement inside the car.
The Old Gray Mare writes for www.DressYourHorse.com and her Blog sites.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Story or real? Loved it, and I hope there is a happy ending, or sequel.Elle - Sad to say the story is real and close. It happened earlier in 2011 in Florida. Her sudden loss was devastating as you'd expect. It has taken me a long time to write anything at all about it. That's often what happens when it's too close for comfort with me. There is no happy ending just beautiful memories and the constant what if's. Don't plan a sequel. I'm so pleased you read this one and many thanks for your support and kindness. Heidi
Your construction and style in this all too real story was excellent. I feel for you. I am glad you are back. I discovered I really missed you.I'm especially honored by your comment. It's taken a while to get back into the saddle, so to speak. Thanks.
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