A Change of Plans
I am driving left-handed, right arm draped across the back of the empty passenger seat. The lake mirrors a grove of aspens from the shore, and the afternoon sun is at my back.
A deer leaps out onto the highway and I instinctively swerve to miss it. Airborne, the car lands with a jolting thud onto the shimmering surface of the watercolor.
It's been on TV a half-dozen times–what to do if your car is submersing–but I can't remember if the drivers' window should be opened or closed. Panic clamps around my thoughts–I am a fish in a waterless tank, windows sealed.
I exhale, the sound indistinguishable from the whoosh of water rushing in. When the car goes under–yes, that's it–the pressure will equalize and I'll be able to roll down a window, pull myself through it, and swim to the surface.
Just then a rainbow trout flashes past the windshield and I am momentarily stunned that it's going about its business while I'm in a life or death situation, but something about it makes me feel better at the same time, like whether I make it or not, the impact isn't going to be that devastating. I unfasten the seatbelt and clip my sunglasses over the visor
*Sue Ellis's work has appeared at The Shine Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Flashquake, Camel Saloon, Mused, and Cynic Online Magazine.
