Summer in the City by Marie-Louise Gay & David Homel

Author:Marie-Louise Gay & David Homel
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Groundwood Books Ltd.
Published: 2012-03-04T05:00:00+00:00

The rain was so hard I could see the reflection of our headlights in it. My father put the wipers on high, but that only made things worse. We moved forward slowly, with cars on both sides crawling along next to us.

“This water’s pretty deep,” my father said, trying to sound like he drove through rivers every day.

We were trapped on the expressway, since the next exit was a long way off. A car passed us, going fast, sending waves splashing against our doors.

“What does he think he’s driving? A speedboat?”

I tried to make a joke so my father would relax. His forehead was almost touching the inside of the windshield, and he kept wiping the steamed-up window. We were following the taillights of the car ahead of us.

All of a sudden they glowed red, and the car stopped. We had to stop, too.

“What’s he doing that for? Why’s he stopping?”

Something had happened up ahead. Maybe the guy who thought he was driving a speedboat caused an accident, or got stuck in the deep water. We couldn’t see a thing.

Lightning flashed all around us, and the thunder exploded right above our heads. If lightning strikes your car, you’re safe because the rubber tires don’t conduct electricity. I learned that in science class. But the teacher never said anything about what happens if the rubber tires are sitting in water which, as everyone knows, is an excellent conductor. I decided I didn’t want to find out.

“What’s that sound?” my father asked.

There was so much noise all at the same time. The lightning was sizzling, the thunder crashing, the hail pounding the roof of the car, the water sloshing…

Sloshing?

I looked down at my feet. Water was coming into the car from underneath.

“Dad.” I pointed, and he looked down.

“We’d better get out of here. If the water gets much higher, the engine will stall.”

He turned the wheel and pulled onto the shoulder, where normally you weren’t allowed to drive. But this was definitely not a normal day.

Static or not, I put on the radio.

“Cars are stalled on the Decarie Expressway,” the announcer was saying. “Apparently the water is rising to dangerous levels there.”

“I could have told you that,” my father said.

“At least they know we’re here.”

I started thinking about all the movies I’d seen where cars fall into the water. How does the hero escape? How long will a car float? Are you supposed to open the windows or keep them closed? Should we stay in the car or climb out and sit on the roof? Can you swim in a flooded expressway?

Then I remembered my father could hardly swim at all. Would I have to save him?

He rolled down the window and tried to look outside. He got a face full of rain.

“Charlie, we’d better make a plan. If the water keeps rising, we’ll have to abandon the car. We’ll push open the doors. If the water’s too deep or the current is too strong, we’ll have to get up on the roof.

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