Time enough

         Lightning arced across the black sky, briefly illuminating the forest road and long peals of thunder shook the Suburban as it wended it's way through the night. Torrents of rain pounded the vehicle and made it difficult for the driver to stay on the slick road and off of the verge. The road wound through the forest, barely glimpsed but for the flashes, and one working headlight.

"Do you have any idea where we are"? Jason`s mother whispered.

"I think we're lost" Jason heard his father confess.

"Maybe we should head back to the motel we passed awhile ago, it's after midnight and we are all beyond tired" Jason's mother suggested. She glanced back at Jason with an expression that revealed an apprehension her voice failed to conceal and a smile forced to convey confidence.

Jason returned the smile and turned his attention to the storm just as another flash of lightning lit the sky, and a loud thunderclap made him jump in his seat. Kira, Jason`s sister started to cry in the seat next to him.

"Jason dear, can you help your sister, please? You know how a storm upsets her". His mother asked.

"Sure mom". Jason replied and began stroking her hair and flashing her playfully with a small flashlight, he'd been awarded for a camping badge by his boy scout troop two weeks earlier . His sister became calmer almost immediately.

Jason turned back to his mother and was rewarded with an appreciative smile. Jason smiled back as another loud clap of thunder and accompanying lightning illuminated the forest road and the tree was revealed lying in the path of the Suburban. Jason saw it only a moment before his father and was unable to avoid impacting the massive trunk.

Jason's father desperately wrenched the wheel in hopes of minimizing the impact, but to no avail. The rain and the mud made the roadway, slick as ice. The Suburban hit the fallen tree. The right front fender dug into the tree, causing the vehicle to spin. Off the roadway the Suburban went and began to roll over.

It seemed to Jason that time had slowed. The vehicle tumbled down an embankment and didn't seem to ever stop. He heard Kira screaming and muffled grunt each time the truck turned over. Jason lost consciousness.

          The truck came to rest upside down in a swollen stream, that had morphed into a raging torrent, because of the storm.

rushing water began filling the cabin with frigid water and the Suburban began to sink into the muddy stream bed.

         Jason awoke to find the water rushing in. He could tell that the vehicle was on it's roof from the awkward way he hung from his secured seat belt. There was something obscuring his vision. His hands were in water, so he attempted to wash from his eyes the offending substance. Jason rubbed the water on his face until it seemed that his eyes were clear, but the lack of any illumination kept him from discovering the source. He shook his head as a wave of nausea threatened to overtake him. As it passed he was suddenly aware that nothing could be heard except for the rushing water that was steadily rising about him. Looking around the cabin seemed a futile exercise because of the lack of light.

          "Mom"! he called. No response. "Mom" he called again. Still nothing. He reached over and felt for Kira's baby seat. There it is. Jason felt for his sister and she was still buckled in it, but not moving or crying out. Jason started to panic.

         "Dad, are you there"! He screamed. He started sobbing and suddenly remembered his flashlight. He'd tucked it into his pocket as soon as Kira settled down. He found it still in his pocket and pulled it out. He depressed the switch and the glare momentarily blinded him. His eyes adjusted slowly and a impossible sight faced him. Water was still rushing in and it was apparent that the truck was sinking further down into the murk. He shone the light from his flashlight around the cabin when he saw the water was inches from his sisters unconscious form and blood covered her face. Panic was once again threatened to overtake him.

         Jason turned the light toward where his mother was still buckled to the front seat and was horrified to find that the water had risen and her head was under the water and she was not moving.

         "Mom" Jason screamed.

         He started struggling with the harness the held him in place. The buckle refused to release him, so he tried to wiggle out, but the lap belt wouldn't give. Jason knew he had to get to his Mother and get her above the water line. He still had no idea how long he'd lay unconscious, but hoped it was only moments and he could help his mom before it was to late.

         "Dad, help me dad"! he called. Still no reply. Where is dad, Jason wondered as he struggled with the buckle. Jason looked over at his sister again and was horrified to see that the water was touching the top of Kira's head. He started sobbing again, feeling an enormous futility to affect the changes necessary to help him mom or his little sister.



         David, Jason's father, was lying face down on the shoulder of a muddy road and a raging storm was rocking his body with torrents of rain and a fierce wind. A loud thunder clap brought him fully awake, or as awake as possible, given that it seemed the thunder originated in his own brain. He pushed himself to a sitting position and shook his head, trying to clear the fog that penetrated and surrounded his thoughts.

         What happened? He shook his head again and a wave of nausea racked him and a searing pain lanced through his head. He rubbed his head and blood came away on his hand.

         Slowly, what had befallen his family fought its way through the fog. The tree in the road. His inability to avoid hitting it.

         He got to his feet and unsteadily began a search for his family. The suburban was no where in sight. The panic superseded the nausea and fueled the frantic search.

         David stumbled to the fallen tree and found the damage done when the suburban struck the obstruction. He climbed over to that side and it dawned on him that when the vehicle struck the tree, he was thrown over the tree and on to the shoulder opposite where the suburban must have come to rest.

         Shielding his eyes from the rain, he strained to see down the embankment. A light was moving, and it seemed another light shone up into the trees for a short distance.

         David clambered down the embankment and slid down to land in the water surrounding the truck.

         "No" he gasped as he realized the vehicle was upside down and the water was rushing into the cabin.

         'Dad, help me dad"! A panicked voice called. Jason, David realized.

         David pounded on the door and called back. "Jason, i'm here. Are you ok"?



         "Dad"? Jason called, a sense of relief momentarily gripping him. I'm ok, but mom needs you, she's under the water and i'm trapped in my belt. She doesn't answer me. Help her"!

         Jason felt his father banging on the door and heard him callout "Jason, shield your eyes, i have to break the window".

         "Ok, go ahead". Jason replied and covered his eyes with his arms.

         Bang, bang, Jason's father hit the window and on the third hit, the glass shattered and showered Jason with little squares of glass.