Brief recap. I'm driving 50 mph in a car at night on a country highway. I round a curve and the head beams of my car hit a cat in the middle of the road. I was only 18 and a novice driver. Nevertheless, everything I needed to know to deal with that moment, came to my mind in a flash. It was supernatural. There is no other explanation. I had to avoid a rock wall on my right, a ditch on my left and a cat in the middle of a narrow 2 lane road. The passenger on my right thought he needed to help me drive so he reached over and turned the power steering drivers wheel significantly. There was no way to avoid an accident.
After "Danny" turned the wheel, I knew...for some unexplainable reason, that I had to turn the wheel slightly to the right. That put us into a backward spin which thrust us back into the cushion of the seat as opposed to throwing us forward on impact. If you knew me you would know that it is not "me" to think of something like that. It was utterly amazing. With my mind and body, countless thoughts, assessments and actions took place in about a two second period of time. Maybe less.
Another problem was the fence. I knew that hitting the ditch alone could be disastrous... but the heavy fence as well? It was a hopeless situation. But again, I somehow knew in that brief period of time that if I applied any pressure to the power brakes they would lock and we would flip. Where in the world did I- a naive inexperienced teenager- get that information?! Then, I covered my eyes and placed both of my feet on the floorboard...and waited.
Let me enlighten you about something. The fence I was careening towards was miles and miles long with a 12 foot gate every 1/2 mile that would allow a truck to enter the cow pasture with hay, I suppose. Of course, the foreboding ditch would be exposed on either side of the wide dirt path that enabled the truck to cross into the pasture once it passed the gate. Got that picture in your head?
So, I am prepared for a crash, with my hands covering my eyes after the car went into a backward spin at 50 mph. Miles of ditch were avoided as the car somehow managed to find the 12 foot wide dirt bridge and avoid the miles and miles of fence! Oh...and it was just a few feet wider than the car. Oh...and the car just happened to go through it at exactly the right angle to avoid the ditch.
The car crashed through the heavy gate and spun a couple of times before it halted...about 15 feet from a cow. He just slowly looked up and... mooed.
The cat lived. Neither Danny or myself had a scratch...and the police gave the ticket to Danny for "interfering with the driver."
A horrible accident was avoided. Nobody was hurt. That was the first time that I was really aware of...of...of something beyond me. Something that I didn't understand. But I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that "reality" was not limited to what I could see with my eyes and even understand with my mind. I knew...
I was not alone.
Neither are you.
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