1975 Chevrolet Truck

     Growing up in a small Georgia town. I�ve seen many things. Some exciting. Some frightening. This year 2004 was different than anything I�ve ever felt. It was a Monday, early in January. My brother in law and I were getting bored at the house so we decided to go to the mountains. I put fuel in the old Chevrolet seventy something model. We then returned to the house to find my sister on the computer. She had no knowledge of what my brother in law and I were plotting earlier that day. I �in the nicest way possible" asked if we might go to the mountains to find some slick conditions to play in. The only reason I asked to go is because Paul, my brother in law, said �she likes you better�. I just laughed. She said she didn�t mind if we went, so we set out on our journey.
     We picked up a friend who lived just down the road, for the ride, and started out at eight o'clock. We talked for the whole thirty minute ride to the mountains about our not seeing any harsh conditions, but we didn�t really know yet what was in store. Partway up the mountain we were involved with some black ice in the road but had no problems. A little further, we found, to our surprise, a tree downed in the road. Luckily or unluckily for us, it wasn�t down all the way. The ice on the trees should have warned us. We went under the tree carefully and found more rough conditions then the real "fun"started. Paul went into four-wheel-drive to slow the truck down the hills. We topped one of the hills and the truck seemed to slide down the other side.
     We knew something wasn�t right but we kept going ahead five miles per hour, thinking our speed would keep us safe, but thatwas not be the case. A couple of hills later, it hit full force, as we started down the hill backwards. It seemed to take forever to gain tire hold. I�m sure those moments are not going to be forgotten but were nothing to compare with what happened next. Like a flash when the throttle was pressed, the truck jumped, and we started spinning like a top down the road. We slid to the bottom of that hill, then Paul turned the truck around in the road. We drove the other way about a quarter of a mile in the other direction, none of us really knowing what was in store for us next. Paul said, �It may work to get some speed�, so we all agreed to try that approach. We were off as fast as we felt safe. We were almost to the top then we heard a loud metallic clank. The truck gave way in a flash, and in another moment we were off down the hill again, against our wishes. Finally after the truck stopped I got out to look over what had happened.
     When I got out of the truck it was still drifting ever closer to the large bluff and me so I had to jump back inside the truck. Just then it lost its grip on the slippery road and went over an embankment very near the bluff. With the help of God, the four wheel drive was able to get us back onto the road when Paul punched the gas and gained traction, taking us up the road bank on the other side. Those moments on that icy cold mountain were almost too much to bear. They could very well have been my last moments alive.That moment I knew I was involved in a miracle. God saved my life that night. Although we wished it were, the night wasn't over yet. I being new to that environment, didn�t quite know how to handle the fear. I was afraid for two reasons. The first reason I was afraid was the awful sound the truck was continuing to make. I thought maybe we would be stuck there in the freezing cold weather. The second thing on my mind was the gas, we were running extremely low. I was beginning to think we would run out.
     We proceeded to the first impasse to try the throttle trick we�d just learned. We caught a little speed going to the hill. This time it seemed like we would make it. The tires were spinning like mad. We were going up the hill better this time, but it was still doubtful if we would make it to safety and comfort that night. We were going away from the house and getting shorter on gas by the moment. After we got out of the most slippery conditions, we started down the wrong side of the mountain. This was new terrain for all of us. We had no idea where we were. We crept along still going slow to maintain stability .We all had ideas of where we would come out hoping we would exit into a place we were familiar with. The way my luck runs I personally thought that outcome was unlikely .My own suspicions led me to believe we were lost. When we reached pavement I realized I was correct. We had a theory if we took every left turn we would recognize something to navigate by.
     We finally found our bearing and we stopped at the first store to get gas. Four dollars and ninety cents is all we could scrounge. When Paul came out we then realized the lights weren�t working. Paul got out and opened the hood to check for the problem. His search turned to the fuse box. Five minutes later Paul had the lights working and we were off like a rocket toward the house. Two counties and some good conversation later, we were at home After that, I swore if I could help it, I would never again travel on black ice.

� Joshua Hales