As I was driving back to Davis from the Bay Area on a Friday evening, I thought to myself, "Maybe I should wait until Saturday morning to do this..." But I did not. Instead, I got into the car with my two cats and a trunk-full of food which my grandmother bought and started driving on I-880. The sun was in my eyes, I could feel the heat although the air condition was on. The traffic flow was smooth; I did not have to slow down for manics with road-rage who switch lanes every 30 seconds or so. As I reached Richmond, I saw some congestion ahead of me, but it was too late to go back home, so I slowed down and continued driving. There was a point which I had to stop completely, and just at that moment, I heard, "meow, meow, meow..." My cats were complaining about the heat. I turned around, and they looked at me with their large eyes. I said, " We'll be home in an hour." They looked away as if they did not accept my answer. I turned back and continued driving. I observed the incoming traffic, there were teenagers driving, kids in the backseat watching TV, and elderly asleep in the car. I thought, "although they are different, they have something in common - they all have a destination to go to." The traffic got less congested, I returned my eyes to the road.
After crossing the San Rafael Bridge, the traffic became more congested than before. Fearing that I might get stuck in the traffic, I calmed myself by saying, "It's probably the construction, yeah, it's probably that..." However, the traffic became very congested, causing me to stop completely. Cars could not marge into the far right lane, and were having trouble getting of an exit. Trying to find out why I am in this mess, I looked around for clues. I was not the only person; people looked around as well. 15 minutes had passed by and I was at the same exact place where I stopped. Another minute passed by and the cars started moving, but very slowly. About 20 miles later, I saw a cloud of smoke in the sky in west of north west direction. I thought, "That should not be the problem..." Man, was I wrong. After driving 35 miles per hour for 45 minutes, I finally reach the origin of that dark, gray cloud. I found myself slowing down to 10 miles per hour, trying to figure out what really happened. On top of that, I also found myself getting my cell phone out and attempted to take a picture. I failed a couple of times, succeeding after my 5th attempt. At the same time, I found other drivers doing the same thing. Moreover, some ridiculous drivers from the opposite side of traffic actually got out the exit and tried to merge into my side of the traffic. That was one crazy scene. Then I finally found out the cause of the smoke; a car actually exploded and was burning furiously. "What a scene," I thought. "Now, let's go home." I sped up, along with other drivers, and headed to my very own destination.
2 comments:
I really like how you describe your cats and the exploded car—why not give us the picture that you took?? Your post has a fascinating combination of dramatic suspense mixed with the mundane.
You were very descriptive in your post; the way you describe your thoughts and feeling reminds me of all the time I got stuck in a similar situation (yes, I've my share of being in traffic caused by accidents and a few with a car engulfed in flame). I do find it interesting that you, like most drivers, have focus on the exploded car as you passed it; do you remember your cats' reaction as you passed by?
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