Don’t Panic

The 1984 Toyota Corolla rushed down the twisting mountain road, rolling heavily through every corner. With the wheel in his hand, the older boy wanted nothing more than to send his brother into a panic. The younger of the two refused to be moved, he instead grinned at the squeal of tires and urged for greater speed. The two laughed and cheered as the small sedan creaked and rattled. It was being pushed far beyond what it should be able to handle in its current state. Shot suspension, rusty frame, bald tires. But to them, it performed magnificently. Every road a grand prix, every apex the perfect corner. Outside, inside, outside. Heel and toe.

The corners linked together, they must be taken at just the right speed. Too slow and it becomes a Sunday drive, too fast…

Gravel spat out as the car ran wide. Two tires found themselves off road, dragging the car into a rapid spin. Road, rock, creek, road. The vision from the driver’s seat alternated as the four thin economy tires left smoking black trails. The black marks wove an intricate pattern that looked to end at a wall of rocks.

The boys both stared in a silent focus out of the passenger window. The car skidded sideways, shaved past the rocks, leaving nothing but a scratch on the rear bumper, and barreled towards its new destination, a sharp drop into a deep river.

Smoking tires hit grass, the leading rubber ripped from their metal cores, leaving two steel rings in their place. The bare rims dug into the shoulder of the road, abruptly halting the sedan’s crab walk, tipping the car up. The view changed. Balanced on two wheels, the brothers stared mutely out of the passenger window. A long drop into wet doom. Water flowed lazily in the deep beneath them, unimpressed by the excitement above. Neither boy screamed nor showed the slightest bit of panic, they both somehow knew that no matter their actions, their mistakes were already made. No take-backs.

A moment passed as the car stayed balanced, not falling in either direction, something out of a circus act. Then, weightlessness and a jolt. The sedan returned to the asphalt right side up, bounced on the shot suspension, then laid still.

The brothers looked to one another. They still lived. They weren’t going to die. But when their father found out what they did to the car, that could undoubtedly change. Both boys’ expressions turned to shock, then horror as they scrambled out and began panicking.

Now, seemed an appropriate time.