On dates I always liked to drive my dad’s old Shelby. The way it looked and sounded gave me confidence to let loose and enjoy myself. It helped me to get over my insecurities. There was another reason I enjoyed it though. I preferred driving it on dates because I could take it along the winding stretch of valley view drive. The thrill of taking it around the corners, shifting and down shifting, at the end of a successful was always memorable, but as we would get out of the trees I could put it into fifth and if I did it just right my hand would graze her knee. There’s nothing like forced but seemingly accidental contact on a first date to gage interest. I could read her as she felt my hand slip gently by her knee. I felt Claire shudder ever so slightly as she felt the contact. As I felt her move I thought briefly that she must be pulling away, but then I noticed her weight shift toward me. I knew in that moment it was a welcomed touch. She thought it was an accident but wanted to show me that she was okay with it regardless.

I down shifted to take us around one last turn. Then I threw it back into fifth, but this time as I let out the clutch i allowed my hand to slowly slip off the stick and come to rest gently on her knee. I could see her smile out of the corner of my eye. She has the most amazing smile. Not wanting to miss it, I glanced over at her. I felt a smile slowly creep over my mouth. In that moment there was a purity to our joy that I often look back on.

Being replaced by a look of panic, I saw the smile fade from her face. I looked back at the road and saw a woman walking alongside the road. I wish I would have swerved but I was frozen. I couldn’t react. I felt the car lurch as her body hit the bumper and felt it again as she crashed into the windshield. I saw the blinking lights of the car she was walking back toward. She must have broken down. I pulled to a stop, but I couldn’t bring myself to get out of the car. I could hear Claire crying, but I just stared unblinkingly at the car ahead of me.

It felt like ages that we sat like that. I was awakened from my trance by the sound of a hand pounding on the window. I looked for the one who startled me but they were not to be found. This was enough to get me moving and I slowly crept toward the woman. As I approached, I saw her hand which looked as if it was reaching out for something. I noticed her fingers slightly closed with her pointer stretched out a little more than the others in a way which reminded me of Michelangelo’s Adam. I was captivated by this one had and struck my the absence of anyone else on the scene. I wondered to myself, where was the person who had startled me? Was there ever anyone there? I thought these as I walked what seemed like miles to the body. I was gaining the courage as I walked, hoping by the time I got there I would be able to look at the rest of her, when it happened. A hand startled me once more. It wasn’t the one who startled me first, and it wasn’t Claire following me from behind. It was the hand by which I had been captivated. It moved. She was alive, at least for now.