Jasmine's Place Issue No. 19 - September/October 2017 | Page 48

PROTECTION The truck's tailgate and glaring red brake lights drew closer. It was not stopping. There was nothing left to do, but get ready to slam hard into the back of the truckā€¦ I DID NOT PRAY IN THAT I saw the back of the blue 4x4 truck lift slightly as its brakes were suddenly called into action by some unexpected circumstance. I pressed down on my clutch and brake pedals with every ounce of strength I could muster. I believed the effort would be successful. Soon, however, it became clear that impact was inevitable. I remember uttering, "Oh no, oh no," as the truck's tailgate and glaring red brake lights drew closer and closer. "Why is the car not stopping?" I screamed in my mind. Out of the side of my eye I saw my 15-year-old son brace himself in the front passenger seat. Then with nothing left to do, I closed my eyes and got ready to slam hard into the back of that truck. My mind and body prepared for what would come next -- pain. But there was no pain, no jerking forward, no glass flying NANOSECOND Sherrie Coronas through the air, no air bag punch in the face. Instead, there was softness, like feathers in a pillow that swallowed up my whole body. I didn't feel an impact and figured we somehow stopped before we hit the truck. "It must be God's divine intervention," I thought. . With my heart pounding, I opened my eyes to look at my son, Ian. I have never been as relieved as I was to see him sitting 48 JASMINE'S PLACE