Hyde Road - Risk the pass
From Create Your Own Story
You had thought it prudent not to drive through the mountains at night in this weather, but seeing those harsh eyes looking right at you is just too unnerving, you pick up your bag and put it beneath your seat, you restart your engine. The man doesn't seem at all phased and just continues staring as you start to pull back and turn your vehicle around. Pulling back into the main road you shudder to yourself, the feeling hanging on you like a bad smell. You leave the town behind, the last street lamps behind you, the road begins to climb into the hills.
The news comes onto the radio, it's now 5pm. "In the headlines, correctional services trying to determine how prisoner escaped." The reception is not as good as it should be. "In the weather, we expect heavy snowfall's over night with strong winds coming off the mountains." You aren't convinced this is actually news as you watch the precipitation around you. The reception gets steadily worse. A song comes on, but you are now hearing more noise than anything else. You hit the autotune button, but the radio doesn't find anything with a strong enough signal in this weather. You turn the radio off the noise more annoying than anything else at this point.
You turn on your high beams, the car's lights illuminating the feathery crystals as they blow about in front of them as you wind you way into the hills. The last of the velvet light coming through the clouds, and the beautiful paint box of colours that makes up the sunset, can be seen slipping away as the sun disappears for the day the darkness rapidly closing in. You have driven this road before in the snow but you take it at a cautious speed, careful in the cornering. The heater has warmed up the inside of the vehicle, and you are feeling confident.
You crest a hill and you enter the pass, you see a sign board to that effect reflect at you as you pass it. It is really rather dark now and feel like you are in a bubble of darkness, the chevrons on the roads edge being your guide. White flecks against the blackness otherwise being all you can see of the world around you. Had you been making this part of your journey during the day you would be see a magnificent view of the canyon, the snow covered forest below up against the harsh mountain faces, the river at the bottom flowing still even in this cold weather, ice packs reflecting against the shoreline, but all that is invisible now in the darkness.
As you round a corner you suddenly spot a mountain deer in front of you, you break hard not thinking. The wheels on your car lose traction almost immediately, you begin to panic. The deer stares into your head lights as you car slides toward it. If you had your head about you may have remembered the right thing to do but your body has tensed up and your right foot presses ever harder on the break, your car starts to rotate while it slides effortlessly over the icy road, you watch as the car narrowly swings past the deer. The back of your car connects with the rock wall on the side of the road and your car starts spinning. You would have probably screamed except that the in the fright you have forgotten to breathe and instead you hold your breath as your car turns round and round, you have completely lost your orientation. There is a heavy crunch as the car crashes into an unseen barrier, you are thrown against the door of your car as it comes to a halt.
You are winded by the impact. In the darkness to the left you can see the eyes of the deer still looking at you as if it wanted you to see it. It then jumps effortlessly over the barrier and is gone. After some seconds of panic you manage to get your breathe back, you are shaking and there is a dull ache in your side where you hit the door. Your engine has stalled but the lights are still on and the wipers are whipping back and forward. The drivers side door is hard up against the concrete barrier and the car is facing backwards. You aren't sure what the damage to the car might be, you could climb out the passenger side and take a look, or perhaps you could just try restarting the car in see if it will go. The snow is quickly gathering on the bonnet.
What do you do?
