"CRAP!!!" I screamed. "What the flip?" I said and careened off the
highway to the side, cursing under my breath. Cursing everything around;
the car, the road, the contractor who built the road so poorly it now
had craters for pot holes barely three years after they (the
contractors) had caused perennial hold ups on that same route, and of
course the government. I came to a halt and revved my vehicle. Chloe (as
I fondly call my car) answered me in the affirmitive, she seemed to
agree with me about everything. "Uh huh, uh huuuuuuuuh," she cried as I
floored the pedal. There was no strange noise after all, thank God. I
engaged my gear to drive again and set off, I had to get to my
destination, that place called Purr-poseville (something about
lifestyles and cat calls, I don't know), I had a 10 o'clock appointment
for tomorrow morning and no frigging pot hole would slow me down, not
today.
As I climbed the road that seemed to have smoothened out again, I noticed road signs, many of them showing me diversion signs whilst others told me construction was still going on ahead. A diversion meant more time spent, and the sun had just gone past the middle of the sky, on a journey that would ultimately terminate at the back of the mountains over and yonder. There was still light, lots of it, it was still high noon. "Cover much distance," I imagined, "get to the ville and have that meeting with Mr. Damian fEstiny," it was the most important meeting ever, do you have any idea how many companies wanted him as their client?
You can imagine the chills that ran down my spine, exciting chills of anticipation as 'fEstiny Works' was crested on signboards around, the same signboards that told of constructions ahead. I floored my pedal once again, keeping a keen eye on the road ahead. Irrespective of the signs everywhere, I could not see a doggone tractor, not even a single barricade, but there were diversions everywhere, I slowed down to check them out, they were of two types, one with 'fEstiny Works', the other one I didn't really bother since from afar it seemed that these roads terminated in ditches, plus the signs themselves looked ugly, and had crests that had worn off, but I could see an "A" somewhere in them. I didn't even think twice.
The fEstiny diversions though, they wound and wound, round and round, they seemed to run far, but they obviously headed somewhere, there were a lot of cars on that route. Forget them, Purr-pose ville was just ahead, I gunned the engine again.
The signs became even more frequent, I looked around, there was nothing. I checked my time, 2:37pm, snap, I needed to make it in good time, impress Damian. I was on cruise control when I noticed parked tractors along the side, "nice looking monsters," I thought to myself and just barely caught it with the side of my eye, "...eters ahead." What? I hadn't caught that. I turned my head to look at the road again and heard a loud sound. "Aaaaaaaargh," I screamed as my car went up about a meter in the air. I had climbed a speed bump on about a 130km/h. I held on tight to the steering wheel, turning it left and right for reasons unknown to me, I didn't have time to understand that my car wasn't maneuvering left and right because it was in the air. The impact on landing nearly knocked me out as I hit my head against the ceiling, Chloe's metallic squeaks and clangs tore at my very core but I didn't have time to sympathize, there were suddenly potholes everywhere, working tractors, and broken down vehicles littered the sides of the road, some had their owners trying to fix them whilst others had abandoned their vehicles and had hiked, others had turned back. I swerved left and right, avoiding anything that stood at over 10cm high or went down 30cm deep, heck, some of those potholes were six feet deep, I kid you not. It was a sorry sight seeing some vehicles with their drivers in these, but I didn't have time to look.
In my confusion, I pushed the pedal to the metal. The skidding sound of my tires, and the sputtering sound that had developed in Chloe all made my heart want to rip itself out of my chest and into hiding in a safer place.
I had gotten to the most jagged stretch and bounced uncontrollably, my foot still on the pedal.
"What happened?" I asked myself, "where did these things appear from, how come?" All of these flew out of my mind when the barricade came up in my line of sight, "Oh *bleeeeeeep*." I screamed as the barricade drew ever closer. "Hit the brake." I thought I heard someone yell and suddenly it dawned on me, my foot was on the accelerator, and on this road, Chloe was falling apart. I placed the whole of both my feet on the brake and pushed it down. If I could include my hands, I promise you, I would have, but I couldn't. The screech was sickening, my heart was succeding, it had reached my mouth. I let out a yell and closed my eyes, waiting for the crash, and then it came... silence came.
I waited for a few seconds, for the sound of angels, or the screaming of the damned in hell, but all I heard was the whirring of engines, the working of hydraulic pumps, and a yell, "Are you alright, dear? Tell me, is she alright?"
I opened my eyes, I was but three inches away from the barricade. I exhaled heavily, Chloe's continuous exhalation was raspy and rattled. The workers gathered around me, I came out of my car on wobbly feet and looked her over. It was funny how much damage a few seconds had caused my Chloe. I was disappointed in everything and everyone. Someone reached out to check if I was ok but I flinched and yelled at him, hurling curses and blames at him and everyone else.
"Oh shut up." He barked, and his voice was thunderous, I had no option but to do as he said, shut up. "If you had read the signs, you would have followed the diversions or known about the bumps and that we hadn't finished working this stretch yet, but no. Like most of these here, you kids don't read." I was too scared and broke down in tears, it was all over, I wouldn't see Mr. fEstiny, my car was ruined, and it seemed there was nowhere else to go, everywhere I looked was distress and gloom. I was depressed within seconds.
"Mr. fEstiny, I think the car just needs a change of tyres and I think I can get the thyroids and shocks, that should just do it." My head shot up. One of the workers was talking to the guy with the loud voice, that was Damian, oh my God. "Get it fixed and let the lady be on her way, can't have any more of this crap on my road."
"Mr. fEstiny," I shrieked, "Mr. fEstiny, my name is Ada, I have a 10am appointment with you tomorrow." He paused and looked at me, drawing back. He waved his hand and a helicopter came from what seemed to be nowhere. He climbed in. "Get her car fixed and make sure she sees it done, and drum it into her head to watch the signs. Show her the way in which she should go so she doesn't depart from it."
"Mr. fEstiny, but we're here, we can talk business." I yelled over the whirring of the blades, clambering up and patting down my dusty apple bottom jeans, trying to get to him.
"We meet at 10am tomorrow." He said in as normal a voice as possible, but it carried over the blades and tractors and everything else, I heard it in my ears, but I think I heard it in my heart too. His helicopter took off.
"You hear that, Missy? Get up, that's his call, you don't want to miss your date." Those around me hurried me up as they fixed my vehicle and made me watch. I was there, an absent minded spectator, why wouldn't he just see me then?
"Because he keeps his appointments." Someone to my left answered my thoughts and that got my attention, what was going on here?
An hour later, my car was on the road. "But what of the others?" I asked.
"They thought they could do it on their own, so we let them." Another helper replied. I hugged all of them gratefully and apologized for my stupidity. They pointed me on the road to go and warned of further signs and promised I would make it on time if I just obeyed the signs. They didn't need to tell me much, I had determined in my heart to do so. I revved Chloe again "uh huh, uh huuuuuu *cough* uuuuuuuuuh." She was back on track. I set off again, it was way past four now, but of course I wasn't going to do stuff outside the law of the signs anymore.
I stared through my rear view mirror and saw the bumpy road suddenly turn smooth after obeying more signs, and the road ahead was the finest I had ever seen. A few kilometres later and I was on cruise control again. Even though it seemed like long ago, the experience was still fresh.
Mr. fEstiny was sure going to see me, and at 10am, I was on 130km/h again, 'Purr-poseville, 80km ahead. fEstiny Works.' That excitement crept up my spine again, nothing would sto--- whoa! Another sign. I slowed down and veered off the road...
And such it is with many of us, we live life trying to get to the end whilst still standing at the beginning. Many need more than one "accident" to learn a lesson, and many need one, some just seem to avoid them.
Times and seasons like good and bad roads are set before us to guide us through, and in certain times we'll have to do what seems off what we have planned for ourselves. In certain cases, we've just got to be on the bumpy route, but in all these, never should we get our eyes off the road. Keep your eyes on the road and on the signs, and you'll get to your purpose and destiny just at the right time. Wait for it, even if it seems to tarry, it happens, and when it does, you'll wonder, "did I really make this journey?" Did I forget to mention that God holds it all in His hands? Forgive me, He does.
Stay sharp, chin up.
Cheers
From HBC.
As I climbed the road that seemed to have smoothened out again, I noticed road signs, many of them showing me diversion signs whilst others told me construction was still going on ahead. A diversion meant more time spent, and the sun had just gone past the middle of the sky, on a journey that would ultimately terminate at the back of the mountains over and yonder. There was still light, lots of it, it was still high noon. "Cover much distance," I imagined, "get to the ville and have that meeting with Mr. Damian fEstiny," it was the most important meeting ever, do you have any idea how many companies wanted him as their client?
You can imagine the chills that ran down my spine, exciting chills of anticipation as 'fEstiny Works' was crested on signboards around, the same signboards that told of constructions ahead. I floored my pedal once again, keeping a keen eye on the road ahead. Irrespective of the signs everywhere, I could not see a doggone tractor, not even a single barricade, but there were diversions everywhere, I slowed down to check them out, they were of two types, one with 'fEstiny Works', the other one I didn't really bother since from afar it seemed that these roads terminated in ditches, plus the signs themselves looked ugly, and had crests that had worn off, but I could see an "A" somewhere in them. I didn't even think twice.
The fEstiny diversions though, they wound and wound, round and round, they seemed to run far, but they obviously headed somewhere, there were a lot of cars on that route. Forget them, Purr-pose ville was just ahead, I gunned the engine again.
The signs became even more frequent, I looked around, there was nothing. I checked my time, 2:37pm, snap, I needed to make it in good time, impress Damian. I was on cruise control when I noticed parked tractors along the side, "nice looking monsters," I thought to myself and just barely caught it with the side of my eye, "...eters ahead." What? I hadn't caught that. I turned my head to look at the road again and heard a loud sound. "Aaaaaaaargh," I screamed as my car went up about a meter in the air. I had climbed a speed bump on about a 130km/h. I held on tight to the steering wheel, turning it left and right for reasons unknown to me, I didn't have time to understand that my car wasn't maneuvering left and right because it was in the air. The impact on landing nearly knocked me out as I hit my head against the ceiling, Chloe's metallic squeaks and clangs tore at my very core but I didn't have time to sympathize, there were suddenly potholes everywhere, working tractors, and broken down vehicles littered the sides of the road, some had their owners trying to fix them whilst others had abandoned their vehicles and had hiked, others had turned back. I swerved left and right, avoiding anything that stood at over 10cm high or went down 30cm deep, heck, some of those potholes were six feet deep, I kid you not. It was a sorry sight seeing some vehicles with their drivers in these, but I didn't have time to look.
In my confusion, I pushed the pedal to the metal. The skidding sound of my tires, and the sputtering sound that had developed in Chloe all made my heart want to rip itself out of my chest and into hiding in a safer place.
I had gotten to the most jagged stretch and bounced uncontrollably, my foot still on the pedal.
"What happened?" I asked myself, "where did these things appear from, how come?" All of these flew out of my mind when the barricade came up in my line of sight, "Oh *bleeeeeeep*." I screamed as the barricade drew ever closer. "Hit the brake." I thought I heard someone yell and suddenly it dawned on me, my foot was on the accelerator, and on this road, Chloe was falling apart. I placed the whole of both my feet on the brake and pushed it down. If I could include my hands, I promise you, I would have, but I couldn't. The screech was sickening, my heart was succeding, it had reached my mouth. I let out a yell and closed my eyes, waiting for the crash, and then it came... silence came.
I waited for a few seconds, for the sound of angels, or the screaming of the damned in hell, but all I heard was the whirring of engines, the working of hydraulic pumps, and a yell, "Are you alright, dear? Tell me, is she alright?"
I opened my eyes, I was but three inches away from the barricade. I exhaled heavily, Chloe's continuous exhalation was raspy and rattled. The workers gathered around me, I came out of my car on wobbly feet and looked her over. It was funny how much damage a few seconds had caused my Chloe. I was disappointed in everything and everyone. Someone reached out to check if I was ok but I flinched and yelled at him, hurling curses and blames at him and everyone else.
"Oh shut up." He barked, and his voice was thunderous, I had no option but to do as he said, shut up. "If you had read the signs, you would have followed the diversions or known about the bumps and that we hadn't finished working this stretch yet, but no. Like most of these here, you kids don't read." I was too scared and broke down in tears, it was all over, I wouldn't see Mr. fEstiny, my car was ruined, and it seemed there was nowhere else to go, everywhere I looked was distress and gloom. I was depressed within seconds.
"Mr. fEstiny, I think the car just needs a change of tyres and I think I can get the thyroids and shocks, that should just do it." My head shot up. One of the workers was talking to the guy with the loud voice, that was Damian, oh my God. "Get it fixed and let the lady be on her way, can't have any more of this crap on my road."
"Mr. fEstiny," I shrieked, "Mr. fEstiny, my name is Ada, I have a 10am appointment with you tomorrow." He paused and looked at me, drawing back. He waved his hand and a helicopter came from what seemed to be nowhere. He climbed in. "Get her car fixed and make sure she sees it done, and drum it into her head to watch the signs. Show her the way in which she should go so she doesn't depart from it."
"Mr. fEstiny, but we're here, we can talk business." I yelled over the whirring of the blades, clambering up and patting down my dusty apple bottom jeans, trying to get to him.
"We meet at 10am tomorrow." He said in as normal a voice as possible, but it carried over the blades and tractors and everything else, I heard it in my ears, but I think I heard it in my heart too. His helicopter took off.
"You hear that, Missy? Get up, that's his call, you don't want to miss your date." Those around me hurried me up as they fixed my vehicle and made me watch. I was there, an absent minded spectator, why wouldn't he just see me then?
"Because he keeps his appointments." Someone to my left answered my thoughts and that got my attention, what was going on here?
An hour later, my car was on the road. "But what of the others?" I asked.
"They thought they could do it on their own, so we let them." Another helper replied. I hugged all of them gratefully and apologized for my stupidity. They pointed me on the road to go and warned of further signs and promised I would make it on time if I just obeyed the signs. They didn't need to tell me much, I had determined in my heart to do so. I revved Chloe again "uh huh, uh huuuuuu *cough* uuuuuuuuuh." She was back on track. I set off again, it was way past four now, but of course I wasn't going to do stuff outside the law of the signs anymore.
I stared through my rear view mirror and saw the bumpy road suddenly turn smooth after obeying more signs, and the road ahead was the finest I had ever seen. A few kilometres later and I was on cruise control again. Even though it seemed like long ago, the experience was still fresh.
Mr. fEstiny was sure going to see me, and at 10am, I was on 130km/h again, 'Purr-poseville, 80km ahead. fEstiny Works.' That excitement crept up my spine again, nothing would sto--- whoa! Another sign. I slowed down and veered off the road...
And such it is with many of us, we live life trying to get to the end whilst still standing at the beginning. Many need more than one "accident" to learn a lesson, and many need one, some just seem to avoid them.
Times and seasons like good and bad roads are set before us to guide us through, and in certain times we'll have to do what seems off what we have planned for ourselves. In certain cases, we've just got to be on the bumpy route, but in all these, never should we get our eyes off the road. Keep your eyes on the road and on the signs, and you'll get to your purpose and destiny just at the right time. Wait for it, even if it seems to tarry, it happens, and when it does, you'll wonder, "did I really make this journey?" Did I forget to mention that God holds it all in His hands? Forgive me, He does.
Stay sharp, chin up.
Cheers
From HBC.
No comments:
Post a Comment
To enter your comments: Type the comment, select a profile in the "Comment as" drop-down box. U may select "Name/URL" if u want ur name to appear then u can now enter ur name and ignore the URL part. Click Continue and lastly, Click publish. But u can pick "anonymous" if you don't want ur name in the comment or choose "Google Account" if you have a gmail account.