The Ice Storm

Meanwhile… on the other side of campus.

Jen was enjoying the warmth of the car as Sally was busy chipping away at all the snow and ice that had accumulated.

Jen marveled at how adept and comfortable Sally was with everything automotive. Had Sally not been present, she wouldn’t have been able to get into the frozen car.

The only sound, other than the storm and engine, was that of a set of motors in the distance.

One sounded like a very steady growl and the other sounded unsure and all over the spectrum of power. Jen assumed that the steady growl was from a very powerful snow machine and the other was from someone who had gotten stuck in the icy snow.

As Sally wrapped up, Jen was getting nervous about her prospects of getting home.

“Brrr… this weather is seriously intense!” Sally shivered as she got into the passenger seat.

“You think we can make it?” Jen nervously asked.

“I don’t know. The ice is bad. We can always walk to my dorm” Sally shivered.

The thought of facing the howling wind and driving ice and snow didn’t sit well with Jen. Curious thing… Jen thought… Sally was not eagerly trying to get behind the wheel.

“Here goes nothing” Jen tried to sound confident.

Slipping into gear, Jen attempted to go. The car seemed held in place.

Jen tried again. The motor strained. But nothing happened.

“What am I doing wrong?” wondered Jen.

Sally sat there, slightly pale, shivering, and quiet.

Jen tried again, this time more forcefully. The car strained. Something popped. Jen let off and looked nervously over to Sally.

“Did I break something?” Jen wondered.

“Dunno…” trailed Sally who was now turning up the fan on the heat.

Jen tried again. The car seemed to want to go, but was being held in place by an unknown force. Jen nervously teased a little more power from the car before stopping.

“I think we’re badly stuck. What do I do?” Jen asked Sally.

“I didn’t hear or feel any tire spinning, so, you’re not yet stuck” Sally quietly offered.

“How do you know? I’m giving it a bunch of gas and nothing is happening” Jen protested.

“That’s how I know you’re not stuck. You’re not spinning tires, you’ve got enough traction, I think” Sally answered hoping that Jen would not ask her to go check.

“Are you sure…?” Jen worried.

Sally just nodded briskly.

Jen slipped the car into Park. She gave a few short quick revs. Then, slowly, carefully slipped into reverse. Paused a moment, the slipped to neutral and paused. Then… slipped into drive.

Sally giggled and readjusted herself into her seat to enjoy the show of nervousness. Sally had never seen this from Jen before.

“Don’t laugh at me. I hate being stuck” Jen warned playfully.

Jen tried again to go forward. The motor started to load up as Jen slowly added more pressure to the pedal. The strain became more apparent.

“I can’t do this. I’m not like you. I can’t floor my car” a dejected Jen exhaled as she released the pedal. “I’m too stuck!”

“OK then. I guess we’re walking home now” Sally inhaled strongly as she gathered her backpack to step out.

“Wait… wait… I can’t leave my car here to freeze” Jen nearly shouted.

“How’s that different from leaving it at my dorm?” Sally wondered curiously.

“OK. Fine.” Jen conceded.

Placing her foot on the gas more firmly than she had done, the car rocked forward before traction was lost and a loud “ZZzzzzz” erupted below the car, startling Jen.

“What was that?” Jen asked with panic hanging at the back of her throat.

“Now… you might be stuck” Sally chuckled.

“Really?” Jen shrank into her seat. This felt awful.

Trying again, the tires spun with less pressure on the gas than before.

Stuck.

“I can’t be stuck. No. I can’t be stuck” Jen said to no one in particular as she began to frantically take short jabs at the gas pedal.

Each jab rocked the car and cause the tires to spin a little. There was a vicious growl to the spin. As if the tires were scrapping gravel, asphalt, and ice. A crunchy visceral vibration ripped through the car with every tire spin.

“Your dad gave you great tires, they’re clawing aggressively at this” Sally enthusiastically announced.

“What does that mean?” Jen paused from her near panic induced frantic pedal dance.

“Means, there’s a good chance you can get us out of here” Sally informed with a note of joy seeping into her voice.

Jen, feeling renewed confidence, resumed tapping sharply yet lightly on the gas pedal as the car began rocking in place.

In the background, the sound of the steady growling engine stopped and the other revving motor stopped shortly thereafter.

Jen paused. Looked about.

“You nervous Troy might see you stuck?” teased Sally.

“Shut up!” Jen fired back with a glare.

“You’ve got the hots for Troy!” chanted Sally teasingly.

“Stop it! You’re embarrassing me” Jen sounded out in her flustered voice.

“Then, do what you must do girl and let’s go” Sally antagonized a bit more.

Jen, feeling flushed and frustrated, stabbed harder at the pedal. The rocking resumed. But the amount of pedal was not sufficient enough or sustained enough for the car to claw itself free.

Sally watched. She had heard stories of timid drivers. Jen had told her she was timid. Seeing it was something very different. It evoked a sense of pity wrapped in endearment. You felt sorry but in a good way. The feeling of wanting to cheer Jen on.

“You know, you need a lot more power than that” Sally advised.

“No I don’t. I have to keep the car in control. I’m not crazy” Jen cautioned.

“We’ll never get out this way… the ice is coming down too fast” Sally explained.

Jen, aware of the falling ice and the worsening situation was fighting a pit of anxiety in her tummy.