Like a Bad Dream

What an evening I had last night!

I was heading off to Caledon for our regular Tuesday night rehearsal and as usual, I was late. I work until 7:15 and the rehearsal starts at 7:30. It's a forty-five minute drive from Mimico to Caledon. I was in a hurry.

At the foot of the Caledon mountain, I noticed a driver had pulled his car off to the side of the dark highway. His emergency flashers were blinking bright red.

"I wonder what's wrong with him?" I thought as I approached at 90 kph. "Helluva time for a flat tire."

As I passed him, I turned my head to see what the problem was, and when I looked back, there was one of these on the highway directly in front of my car. It was just standing there, broadside, slowly shaking its antlered head and stomping its front foot.

I swerved quickly, but I was too late. The front right corner of my car struck the animal's hind quarter, spinning him around and sending his head and shoulders down toward my right front tire.

"Son of a bitch!" I cursed as I felt the steering wheel jerk nearly out of my hands. The thud and crunch was a sound I won't soon forget. My heart was racing as I pulled over onto the graveled shoulder of the four-lane highway.

"Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch," I kept repeating, as though I might find some comfort in curse words. I got out of my car and cautiously peered around the front.

"Good," I said aloud. "No blood."

But I was quite certain the deer was dead. I walked back on the shoulder of the road toward the scene of the accident. Another vehicle was approaching and I watched as its driver changed lanes to avoid the creature lying broken and motionless on the pavement. I shivered violently there in the blackness of the Caledon countryside and took a few deep breaths to try to clear my head. Turning my back to the headlights, I looked up into the inky sky. A sprinkling of stars offered some reassurance that all would somehow be well.

"OK," I said aloud. "What should I do now? Think, Dale. Think."

My thoughts came to me in dis-jointed fragments.
My friends were waiting for me at the theatre in Caledon.
They might be worried if I don't get there soon.
My car doesn't seem to be damaged very badly.
I wonder if the steering is alright.
I hope the deer is dead and not suffering there.
I should go and check.
What if another driver hits the deer and loses control and crashes?
I wish I had a cell phone.

And this thought, Ms J. I hated this thought, but it kept coming back to me: I've taken the Life of that beautiful creature. Dear God! What if it had been a person there instead of a deer?

I climbed back into the familiar warmth of the car and performed a simple kind of meditative exercise. Fall still. Relax the muscles. Focus on the breathing. Quiet the mind. A few more cars whizzed past and I watched their tail lights as they slowly climbed the great hill ahead. In my head, a plan began to formulate.

I carefully pulled the car back onto the highway and gently accelerated. There was the unmistakable sound of squealing tires, Ms J. And the steering wheel was not centred even though the car was pointed straight ahead. I knew the front wheels had been knocked out of alignment and were now sliding as much as rolling. The car was not safe to drive home.

A bright street lamp stood at the corner of a nearby sideroad so I parked the car under it so I could better see any damage. I had just stopped again when another vehicle pulled slowly past and stopped in front. The driver stepped out and smiled.

"He got you too, did he?"

"Well, yeah," I answered. "He was right in the middle of the road. I killed him."

"Well, he deserved what he got. The crazy bastard ran right into the side of my car. I was driving along and I heard a loud noise beside me and when I turned my head to look out the window, there was a huge deer face bouncing off the glass! Look at the damage he caused."

I got out of my car again and pulled my jacket on to ward off the chill. We walked to the man's car and I was astounded at the amount of damage! The entire side of his car was scratched and dented.

The man laughed and turned his palms upward.

"Can you believe it?" he said. "It's a rental car. Brand new. I just picked it up an hour ago."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~!

Yes, dear Ms J. It could have been worse. Much worse. People have been killed in collisions with deer. Two or three hundred pounds of animal crashing through the windshield at 90 kpm can cause a lot of damage.

Sigh ....

I'm alright. The car will be repaired. My theatre friends were so sympathetic and so understanding. Everyone I've dealt with today has been just wonderful. All is well. All is well.

And once again, I give thanks.