About a Drop-out
On
that Friday afternoon I drove my car on the highway out of the city. A
lot of others did the same so there was really much traffic but it
worked fluently. After a few miles I noticed the break-lights of the
cars in front of me. The traffic stood still and so I had to stop my
car. I looked around. In front of me cars how far my sight could reach.
Left of me cars and behind me the number of cars got more and more. I
looked out of the window on the right side and saw the nature. And
although I had driven that highway several times I had never seen the
beauty of the landscape beside the highway before.
I
saw the fields and the meadows and a small forest and a brook winding
its path through the scene. Far away I noticed a village; I could see
the tower of the village-church. And I saw a small street towards the
village where a single car was driving seemingly slowly. Suddenly I
felt locked in and a desire of being part of that scene in the
landscape instead of being part of the scene on the highway and in a
crowd of cars grew up.
I
hadn’t thought about what I did when I turned the steering wheel to the
right and drove my car towards the slope. I heard some horns while my
car was rolling down the slope. I reached the bottom of the slope and
felt the car setting up. The car rolled out on a meadow. I opened the
window and sighed relieved.
Finally
I reached the small street I had seen from the highway. I felt the air
on my face and leaned back. The noise of the traffic on the highway got
lower and the sound of the nature was going audibly. The feeling of
freedom replaced the feeling of locked in. I enjoyed moving again and I
was looking forward where this path would lead me.
Copyright © Ingrid Prohaska