Oblivion

by Karolyn Cairns

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Lindsay pulled away from The Point, waving at Jace, and taking his word for it all his ghost buddies were standing there. He said he’d catch up with her at her place later. She turned onto the mountain road. During the descent she realized the brakes went out on the truck.

  Panic set in as she realized she couldn’t stop, slamming her foot on the brake pedal repeatedly. She was whispering a prayer as the truck increased in speed. She bit her lip and stifled a sob as she futilely pumped the brakes again and again. The truck began to go even faster as the downward momentum picked up.

  Lindsay was crying by then, knowing she was going to crash the truck. It was going too fast now. She couldn’t make the curve at the bottom of the hill as fast as she was going. A sense of calm seemed to fill her as she recalled Jace’s words about death.

  She thought about a lot of things those last minutes the truck sped up in a downward plunge to the bottom. She thought about Jace; how wonderful it was to have him in her life. She thought about every moment shared in those last moments. Her family’s faces made tears fill her gaze.

  She thought about everything she was going to miss, clinging to the image of Jace in her mind. Lance and Marnie’s baby, college, her future, everything she ever wanted flashed before her eyes. The descent grew faster. She saw trees in a blur out the corner of her eye as the old truck picked up speed and careened downhill.

  Lindsay braced herself for the impact that was quick to come as the truck reached the bottom of the hill. In slow motion, she saw the tree ahead in the truck’s path. The truck hit the tree dead on across the sharp turn off the mountain road. She felt burning pain as she was propelled forward into the windshield, felt numbness, and then a floating sensation.