Safe And Sound

We had the first little dump of the season tonight and, as in any first real snowfall, drivers lose their minds and forget to slow down.  I promise that I am not one of those people.

On my way home from school tonight and in the first dump of the season the brakes failed on the Yahoo (the Toy.ota Yar.is). One minute I was happily driving home, enjoying 680 News and salivating at the thought of the veggie burger awaiting me. The next minute, I was white knuckling the steering wheel and approaching one of the busiest intersections in town. I have slid through intersections before when the roads were so icy that navigating was impossible, but this was a different kind of issue.  This was not about the snow.  Pumping the brakes, all I heard was the crunch and crackle of whatever was happening in the mechanics of the car.  Looking up, I saw the red light ahead, but couldn't get the car to do what it was supposed to do.  I was terrified.  I didn't see my life flash before my eyes, I didn't freeze up, all I could think about was how my death would kill my mom. 

Our family (like so many other families out there) has endured a kind of tragedy that is beyond description.  I'll never write about it here, but I know that we can't go through that again. I am a pretty strong person, but tonight I felt more vulnerable than I have in a very long time.  We are all so vulnerable and life is fleeting.

I managed to steer the car away from the intersection and get home safely, but not without a lot of shaking and while driving so slow that I had to put my hazards on.  K2 inspected the brake fluid and even drove it a little when I got home and, of course, the brakes worked perfectly for him.  No matter, though, because K2 will get the Yahoo looked at by a professional tomorrow and I will move back behind the wheel of our very safe 4x4 Jeep.  I'm still a little shaky.