Road

I was driving in West Virginia a year ago. I was driving at night, in a truck that only had a tape player. It was dark and I was listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was smoking a cigarette. I had left right after I had taken a shower, my hair was still wet. 

I kept driving as it got darker. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I know all I had to do was make a U-turn and I'd be able to make it back home. "Home," being where I was staying while I was working for the summer. About 30 minutes into the drive I decided I wanted to buy vodka. 

It was Sunday and I didn't know even if I found vodka I wouldn't be able to buy it. 

The road was narrow and there weren't any street lights. I looked for a place to make a U-Turn. I went off the road on the right side to make sure I could make it in one go. Unfortunately the shoulder was softer than I had anticipated and the truck became stuck. 

I was literally stuck in a ditch, somewhere in West Virginia, I had no cell phone reception and it was dark. 

I waited for God. 

A police officer came by instead, he said, "You on Oxy? You drunk?"

I shook my head no. He called a tow truck that got me out of the ditch. 

He checked my license and said, "You're a long way from home, you came all this way to get stuck in a ditch?"

"I've never been stuck in a ditch before."

"Don't pull over, stay on the road ok?"

I said yes, got back in the truck and went back home. 

In those minutes before the police officer had arrived I was scared, unsure, confused. And then after the initial worry I became very calm, I knew everything would be okay. I knew I would be okay. 

I smoked a cigarette on the drive back home, I stayed on the road and I didn't get stuck again.