Down from the Mountain by Elizabeth Fixmer

Author:Elizabeth Fixmer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2015-01-06T20:34:40+00:00

Sixteen

When we get to the van, Rachel is so sick with cramps that she can barely drive. She makes it out of Boulder but she pulls into the lookout minutes later.

“You’re going to have to drive. I can’t.”

“But I don’t know how!” She opens her door and throws up. She’s so weak she practically falls to the ground.

“Oh, Rachel!” I jump out of the van to help her.

“You’ve gotta drive,” she repeats.

My belly flips and I feel sick myself. Rachel gets sick with almost every period. I’ve even seen her faint. I have no choice. I have to meet this challenge. I exchange seats with Rachel and study the buttons and controls. “Please try to stay awake so you can supervise. I don’t want us to go over the side of the mountain or crash Ezekiel’s van into a tree.”

“Of course,” she says. “And I’ll pray for you.”

Rachel struggles to stay awake long enough to give me a lesson. Before we leave the overlook, I practice accelerating and slowing down, stopping and steering. The scariest thing is backing up. It’s basically the same as the tractor Brother Paul let me drive a few times last summer, but everything’s so sensitive. I barely touch the steering wheel and the van turns. It’s the same with the gas and the brakes. After a few minutes of this, I take a deep breath and turn my signals on. I wait for a chance to pull onto the road.

While waiting for two cars to go by, I suddenly remember the money I gave to Trevor. No! I have to put that out of my mind. I need all my concentration for driving. The cars have passed and I ease onto the road.

“Good job,” Rachel says in a barely audible voice. She drifts off to sleep almost immediately. I slam on the brakes the first time I see a sharp curve ahead. The guy behind me almost smashes into me, but he manages to brake first. He’s mad, though. As soon as we’re around the curve, he pulls up next to me, rolls down his window, and holds up his middle finger. I’ve never even heard some of the words he shouts. It shakes me up to think I made him so angry! I hug the side of the mountain, feeling safest as far as I can get from the drop.

Rachel is sound asleep. She barely responded when I slammed on the brakes.

I’m terrified. I decide to drive slowly, even if that means making people mad. They can pass me and yell obscenities and make their weird gestures, but I’m just learning to drive and I’m taking it slow.

Lord, please help me drive safely. Be my hands on the wheel. Be my eyes seeing clearly and my ears hearing.

I realize I’ve never said a prayer like that. Normally I would pray for Ezekiel to see and hear God’s voice clearly.

The drive goes on and on. Slowly I gain confidence. I’m getting better at taking curves, getting the feel for how fast is safe, when to brake, and when to forge ahead.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.