The impact happened without giving proper notice and the glass splintered in an instant before falling from the window in slow motion. The boys looked around at each other bewildered and asked if everybody was okay.
“I told you not to turn off traction control!” Tom yelled.
Jack was still dazed a bit and reached for the emergency break handle that he’d pulled except the handle was still in his closed fist. It had detached from the center console as he’d tried to change course. He wasn’t sure if he’d pulled it too hard or if it had broken on its own. Either way, the front end of the car was nestled into a 60 year old tree and as retaliation, one of its branches had punched through the passenger side window.
Besides a small cut on Paul’s right cheek, everybody was physically fine. For the first time since impact they stopped looking around the car and looked outside. The pine trees towered over them by the dozen and the gravel road they were on stretched out in both directions further than any of them could feasibly walk.
“Anybody have any coverage?” one of the boys asked.
There was silence as they waved their phones around their heads. Tom winced as he lifted his left arm. He had in fact felt the muscles move in a way that was abnormal but was stretching the truth to make sure everybody knew that the traction control shouldn’t have been off.
“Relax Tom, you’re the one who wanted to keep drifting even after the corner’s got tighter,” Paul retorted. “You’re fine Jack there’s nothing you could have done better. The car failed.”
Jack sat quietly, still a little shocked and embarrassed. He was the group’s best driver and that’s why he was behind the wheel in this situation. Slowly the boys clambered out of the car, stretching their shoulders and arms and trying to crack their necks. The car was totaled and they had not seen another car for the last 20 miles. The forest road was well maintained for its usage which is how they’d decided on it. Without coverage or any knowledge of how car’s actually work, the boys stared dumbly at one another afraid to be the one to suggest their only option.
After a moment, Jack set out in the direction they’d come from. Paul trotted after him and Tom slumped his shoulders and took a deep breath before following suit. It was already dusk but the summer months provided seemingly endless light and the warm air was cut by a breeze that made itself known by the tree tops.
Andrew Witt 
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