My dad always brings cool cars home for the weekend. Through a program at his work,
his company lets employees take cars home whenever they have to drive far away for work to another office across the state, or a tech lab in Detroit. My dad always tried to get nice cars so he could have a little fun with the car and show it off.

When I was 12 years old, my dad bagged a bright orange convertible Chevy Camaro that had less than 3000 miles on it. He got to keep it for the weekend so he took it up to my grandparent’s house, about 45 minutes away from my house. My grandparents live on a small private lake with a lot of wildlife and fascinating nature. It’s a quiet community and everyone knows everyone.

I fished whenever I went up there. It was calming and I would never be frustrated if I didn’t catch a fish. Still to this day, when I go there, I mostly just fish. Most of the reason I fish is just to think. The silence of the water speaks to me. My mind organizes itself and it takes the time it needs to get thoughts situated.

A day passed and it was time to go home. I could go home with my dad in the fast Camaro or with my mom in a 2008 Chevy Traverse. My sister already called the front passenger seat in the Camaro so if I were to go with my dad in the Camaro, I would have to sit in the back. It's difficult to play my Nintendo DS in the back seat of the Camaro because with the top down, the glare from the sun would make it nearly impossible to see the screen. For this simple reason, I decided to ride home with my mom in the dull Traverse.

As we drove off, my dad and my sister had left in the Camaro two minutes before we left. Five minutes into the trip, my mom got a call from my dad, they had hit a deer with the Camaro. My dad was going 50 m.p.h. when he hit the deer. We arrived at the collision site and thankfully, everyone was safe. The car was on the side of the country road, beat up.

My mom and I pulled off to the side of the road, behind the Camaro. The airbags were deployed and had saved my dad and my sister. The front of the Camaro was destroyed, the windshield was obliterated into a million pieces, and the car couldn’t be moved off the side of the road. I didn’t know what to think of it, I was in shock. There was nothing I could do but take it all in.  As we inspected the car for damage, I saw that the seat behind the passenger seat had two massive gashes on the head rest. I would have been sitting in that seat if I rode in the Camaro. Two deer hooves could've smashed into my head, but they didn’t. My life could've easily been taken that day if it wasn’t for the simple decision of riding in the Traverse. It's strange to me that this could  have been the cause of my death. Something so simple could have ended it all so soon, but it didn’t, because I decided to ride in the Traverse. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on at that moment. I was disoriented and my 12 year old brain didn’t need the thought of dying. 

“Do you wanna go see the deer, John?” Mom asks. I snap out of the loop I was in and my mind goes off of what I was originally thinking.

“Sure.” I replied.

The cops and tow truck showed up, situated everything, and our family was all on our way home. The silence was deafening, my whole family was quiet, and no one had anything to say about what just happened. I was stuck in my mind, I didn’t move. I was as still as a statue. I was so lost, I felt like I was lost at sea. What happened still lingered in my mind. How could the world be so cruel to let an innocent 12 year old die so young? As a human, I was searching for reasons. Looking back, I realize that things simply happen. The universe wasn’t trying to tell me something, it was just something that happened. Simple things like deciding not to sit in the back seat can oddly save your life.  Usually instances like this get passed by and no one ever notices that you could've had a life altering incident. However, in my case, I could see the life altering incident . You shouldn’t live your life in fear that death could be right around the corner with every decision you make. People should go on with their life not living in fear. If you live your life in fear of death, you limit yourself of what you can be. Your life is great and living in fear is limits your potential.