This post is part of the January 2012 Blog Chain at Absolute Write. This month’s challenge is a “winter nightmare.”
Making good time despite a late start from my brother’s, I was thinking about what I was going to post for New Year’s on Facebook and LiveJournal. I was thinking how much I’d miss my brother and his crazy kids after spending a week with them. I was even thinking about my priorities at work this coming week.
The one thing I wasn’t even remotely considering was a massive doe jumping directly in front of me.
All I can remember is a flash of brown in the headlights, a terrific crunch, and being showered with shredded glass as the driver’s side window shattered. I must have had the presence of mind to immediately pull over onto the shoulder and park the car, since that’s where I found myself.
I sat there, staring at the broken glass and what I could see of the mangled fender, listening to hooves on asphalt somewhere behind me. I actually had to take a deep breath, look at myself in the rearview mirror, and say–as calmly as I could muster–“That just happened.”
All those previous concerns were wiped away, replaced with just two notions: “I’m lucky to be alive” and “What am I going to do now?”
The 911 dispatcher might have been surprised at how calm I sounded, but I think that was just shock talking. While waiting for the police, I found myself focused on the glass. It was everywhere, in bite-sized yet razor-sharp chunks: on my seat, in my clothes, in my shoes, in half-a-dozen tiny cuts on my hands and back. Methodically, I picked the stray pieces up with my gloves and threw them out the window.
Guess I really needed something to focus on, something that I could control in a situation that was otherwise pure chaos.
The night guy at the Knights Inn was bemused but sympathetic when he saw a mangled Honda dragging bits of bumper pull in escorted by a county sheriff’s car. I had to keep telling myself that I could handle this, that I was an adult, that this was just another kind of reference question and as a librarian I had to do was find an answer.
I returned to the Honda and managed to cut away most of the really mangled portions of the bumper and wheel well, which was easier than it sounds due to the car being mostly plastic. Duct tape and a garbage bag served to keep out the wind and the dew until the next morning.
Not knowing how the day would turn out, I went to the motel office for their “continental breakfast”: a loaf of bread and a toaster, a rack of Little Debbie cinnamon buns, two boxes of cereal, and one pitcher each of milk and orange juice in a minifridge–all tucked away in a dark corner of the motel lobby. I took two of everything, and sat in a rickety chair pulled up to a cheap pressboard table, watching the sun rise out the window and friends post jubilant New Year’s photos on Facebook.
It’s been a long time since I felt that pathetic, or that alone.
Lord knows what those people must have thought, seeing me hacking away at a clear plastic storage tub lid with a hacksaw and shears in the Wal-Mart parking lot the next morning at 9am. It took me an hour to get the plastic cut to size and taped in place. It seemed to hold well enough, and the car seemed to run all right.
Then the window came off entirely a few miles down the road.
I was able to grab it in time to hold it on and pull over to the shoulder, but three-quarters of the tape had come off, and freeway traffic was whizzing by at 70-80mph, to say nothing of the chill wind and light rain. Made sitting in the motel lobby seem like paradise, to be honest. Desperately, I reattached the window with latticed strips of duct tape, one over another, and damn if that roadside patch job on I-70 didn’t see me through to Memphis.
I skipped lunch, skipped dinner, and drove the entire ten hours with nothing but snacks, cinnamon rolls, and Red Bull. The stereo still worked; perhaps in the spirit of danger and adventure I keyed in the complete Indiana Jones series to see me home.
Almost kissed the pavement at home when I finally limped in.
Fired up my old Escort to serve as a stopgap, went for a few quick essentials at the store…only to find as I pulled out that the Escort’s brake pedal had gone completely slack. Worse, the emergency brake, which hasn’t worked well for some time, completely failed too.
Luckily traffic was light on the way back, and I was able to coast home at low speed. I refilled the reservoir with fresh brake fluid, only to find that there was still no pressure and that the fluid was leaking out of the line. I immediately set out for the tire and brake place across the street–carefully, using park, my hazard blinkers, and what little braking power there was judiciously.
The mechanic said the problem was irreparable. My Escort’s brake line has rusted through, and with the car now eighteen years old and eligible to vote or be drafted in time of national emergency, the spare parts aren’t made anymore. I drove–well, coasted–the Escort home and took stock. Two cars, both with working engines, both crippled by other problems. It’s such a cruel coincidence I would have laughed if I hadn’t been crying.
Happy New Year indeed…
Check out this month’s other bloggers, all of whom have posted or will post their own responses:
Areteus
MamaStrong
LilGreenBookworm
Domoviye
writingismypassion
pyrosama
kimberlycreates
Turndog-Millionaire
AbielleRose
Proach
SuzanneSeese
Alpha Echo
Diana Rajchel
Ralph Pines
Alynza
Literateparakeet
January 8, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Wow, that sounds like a nightmare alright. Glad to know you weren’t hurt badly in the accident. Better the car than you.
January 8, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Thanks. Would you believe that the blog chain was one of the things I was thinking about on the road? Be careful what you wish for…
January 8, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Wow what an ordeal. I’ve always liked non-fiction of this kind. I’ve always found the voice is full of amusement and empathy and the book usually flies on by (for example, that did not feel like a 1,000 words.
I’ve not read a non-fiction book for a while now so this makes me want to get one right now 🙂
Good job and a great way to start off the blog chain
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
January 8, 2012 at 3:06 pm
I was afraid it was a little too morose and whiny myself, so I’m glad you liked it.
January 8, 2012 at 4:01 pm
How awful! I’m glad you are alright. Darn deer…can’t they look both ways before they cross?
The UN-Continental breakfast cracked me up.
Sorry you had that experience, but it did make for a great read!
Leslie (LiterateParakeet)
January 8, 2012 at 9:57 pm
In retrospect, the continental breakfast is pretty funny. They were 100% truthful, but simply neglected to mention that the continent was Antarctica.
January 8, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Oh wow, what a total mess you went through! Definitely an A-list nightmare. Glad you are well!
January 8, 2012 at 9:55 pm
Thanks. It certainly puts the other “nightmares” I’ve been through in perspective.
January 8, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Now that is a real nightmare in the fullest sense of the word!
January 8, 2012 at 9:54 pm
I know! It’s like somebody up there read this month’s prompt 🙂
January 9, 2012 at 6:47 am
Oh, man! What a messy start to the New Year! I didn’t think it was whiny at all, BTW. It’s life, and sometimes life sucks. And sometimes, we need to let it all out. From a writerly stand-point, I think it was written very well! Kept me reading, that’s for sure. That wouldn’t be a bad story to start out a new novel. 🙂
January 9, 2012 at 10:18 am
Hm, you think so? What could the deer impact and the associated crappy new year be leading into?
January 9, 2012 at 10:42 am
I think a new year’s resolution! Buy a new car. 😀
Well, I hope you do get a new car. It can provide a false sense of security I guess, because it can happen to anyone! Sorry to hear of it though.
January 9, 2012 at 10:50 am
It’s currently working its way through the bowels of insurance. They’ll pay for repairs or replacement, but only after a “local independent auditor” verifies the damage.
January 9, 2012 at 10:53 am
They tell you to be careful on New Years Eve because of all the drunks but they never tell you about the drunk deer. I hear the deer are big drinkers, now you know.
Seriously, I’m glad you’re okay and I would have started crying a lot sooner than you did.
January 9, 2012 at 11:28 am
Traffic was actually super-light that night; if people are going to drink they do it where they are and don’t commute there on I-70.
January 10, 2012 at 9:34 am
Wow, what an awful experience! I am glad that you came through physically unharmed and with your sense of humor in tact. 😀 You definitely resisted the tears longer than I would have…and probably used a lot less profanity too. 😉 Great entry!
January 10, 2012 at 12:19 pm
I did cuss out some deer I saw on foot later, if that makes you feel better.
January 10, 2012 at 10:40 am
Those stupid deer; they’ll get ya every time! Glad you weren’t hurt!
January 10, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Kamikaze deer! Then again, they don’t have rifles. If they did….
January 10, 2012 at 3:24 pm
…they wouldn’t be able to use them due to lack of opposable digits.
January 12, 2012 at 8:30 pm
What a horrible story, though I appreciate the humor you added to it. Those darn deer’s sure do like to have it out for us humans huh? The first time I ever hit a deer I could swear it was trying to commit suicide. He waited for the car on his side of the road to go by before jumping straight into the side of mine. 1am, middle of nowhere.
Glad you are safe and hope that you are able to get a working way of going soon.
January 12, 2012 at 8:31 pm
I mean horrible as in what a tragedy to have to endure, not that the writing was bad. 🙂
January 12, 2012 at 10:18 pm
I thought it was horrible too, and then the chain followed it up with true stories of infidelity and genuine privation. Kind of puts things in perspective.
January 15, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Yikes what a nightmare! Glad you made it home safely! I do love the lines about being a librarian and keying in to Indiana Jones though. 🙂
January 16, 2012 at 12:10 pm
We librarians need to be able to apply our skills in unorthodox situations more readily, methinks. And what better music for a window coming off than “Desert Chase” from Raiders of the Lost Ark?
January 19, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Nicely done! It read like fiction and I’m sure you wished it were.
I hit a deer too. There is something about ones adrenadline going from a near sleep state to 800 mph that really messes with ones brain functions. Kinda like radios go all staticy when UFOs approach.
Go to another shop. Parts for Escorts are still avaliable, abundantly. AND Brake lines can be manufactured on site with a roll of metal brakeline and a bender. The shop I used to work in used to did it all the time. It was actually cheaper than the factory ones.
January 19, 2012 at 5:25 pm
I’ve been to three shops, actually. They all claim that they can’t order the parts (which I doubt, unless they insist on ordering only from Ford) and that making the line on-site would cost more than the car is worth (which is probably true, it being a ’94 and all).
January 19, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Yikes! It’s good to know you are OK. You really did have a nightmare. Good post for the chain!
January 20, 2012 at 9:01 pm
I think at certain times of the year the deer are almost suicidal. This piece was very well written. Personally, I have a bunny rabbit on my road that likes to play “chicken” with anything on wheels. I hope you are able to get at least one car repaired!
Jane
January 23, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Cool story, it evoked a strong sense of presence in me when I read it. I especially liked the line “That just happened” – I think it created a believeable sense of panic in the reader.
I did wonder what happened to the doe though.
January 24, 2012 at 8:43 am
She was able to get away, but judging from the damage to the car and the bits of deer on it there’s no way she could have survived long.
January 24, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Holy bats, I have been there. Hope you get it all fixed. Having lived in WI/MN my entire adult life, it’s impossible to underestimate the damage deer can do. They are their own stinking vehicles, and vicious. I can’t imagine what it’s like for people that have to deal with moose.
January 26, 2012 at 4:42 am
Wow, what a sucky way to start the new year. Glad everything’s all right though and I hope all turns out well soon with the insurance company. Sometimes, they can make already bad situations even worse!
I enjoyed your story. A mildly amusing and well told slice of life. And truly a “winter nightmare”.
Thanks for sharing.