Whew! That Was Close!

I have had many close calls in my life.  When I nearly backed off a railing-less cliff outside of a roadside restaurant.  The time I fell asleep at the wheel.  For just a second.  Having twigs and other projections just miss gouging my eyes out.  Teetering at the top of a long flight of stairs. Sure, my life may flash before my eyes, but it's more disturbing than that.  Each time a close call whistles past my ear, I see what would have happened in Technicolor.

 

It's winter and we are standing outside of the restaurant saying goodbye to friends.  I'm laughing, bending over at the waist at a joke my father's told.  My knees are weak from amusement and I stumble a little, backing up too quickly for anyone to warn me. One more step and my heel comes down on air.  My head jerks up and I see my father's face slide down out of my field of vision as I tumble backwards.  The only sound I hear is a guttural, “Hunh!” when I hit the bottom.

 

My head dips over the steering wheel like a dashboard bobble-head dog, getting lower and lower in its ellipses. My shoulders fall and the three fingers that were lazily steering slip into my lap.  My foot, still on the accelerator, presses harder as I lean into sleep.  The car gently curves into the wrong lane of traffic.  The sportier cars and more agile drivers are able to dance around my drifting vehicle.  But there is a truck.

 

In my rush to get started on the weekend laundry, I load myself too heavy.  My arms are full of damp towels and bed linens, piled up, obscuring my eyes.  One tentative foot reaches out to find the top step of the stairs.  But I’m already closer than I thought.  The balls of my feet rock against the top step.  My toes cramp, desperately gripping the worn carpet. I’m falling.  The sound of the splintering banister drowns out the sound of my breaking bones.

I'll spare you the eye-gouging scenario.  Rest assured, it's just as dreadful.

 

The question is, do I want to disable the imagination that fathoms all of these terribly possible, most certainly terrible scenarios? 

 

Sigh.

I suppose not. 

 



Reason I Didn't Write Yesterday: Wicked Witch