Gift From Another Place A Life-Changing Gift From another place - Caution Ahead

We arrived at the trail. The safety training consisted of asking your age and signing the waiver form—they were not responsible for injuries or death. Kevin knew I loved driving, so he took to the passenger’s seat and buckled up. I buckled up too and started off slowly. We were the third four-wheeler in the lineup.

Surprisingly, the lead guide took off like a rocket. I’d never driven a four-wheeler before—not to mention the muddy road. I literally had to speed to keep up. My silent thought was: “I’m going too fast.” It was a windy, back wood road with no guardrails. I wasn’t sure what lurked over the edge of the road. Unfortunately, I would soon find out.

On the narrow path, visibility was dense. Only one four-wheeler could go through at a time, and I was falling behind. I put my fears to rest and hit the gas. We rode for a few minutes before approaching a dirt-covered bridge.

I sped up even more but didn’t notice a large flat rock until it was too late! It was as if a powerful force had picked up the four-wheeler and tossed it, and there were no guardrails to stop us. We went over the side of a mountain—headfirst and tumbling.

The shock of it all must have frozen our vocal cords, except for the intermittent grunts of terror as we held on tight. After the third tumble, the Kart landed on a single tree—as if it had been placed there to catch us, stop our fall.

Panic struck, and with tunnel vision, I yell for Keith. For a few moments, I didn’t see him sitting by me and thought he’d fallen out, surely to his death. I was so relieved when I heard him stirring beside me. As my vision cleared, I could see the tree directly in front of me. The Kart had landed on my side; I was close to the ground, but Keith was still in danger. His side was over a bottomless drop-off. It was then when he turned to me and quietly say: “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what,” I said.”

“Don’t you hear the water running? If I hadn’t heard Max tell you that on the phone, I would’ve believed it.”

When Gi and I were on the phone, I’d used the speakerphone but hadn’t paid attention to him listening. There it was, the sound of running water. Then, I thought about how we’d tumbled exactly three times.

I looked down at my bruised leg and knee. More importantly, the smell of gasoline grew stronger. I told Keith we had to get out the Kart. The only way to go was on my side; I couldn’t see the ground, only bushes. Again, I thought about Gi; she had said I’d be alright. That gave me hope. We unfastened our safety harnesses and climbed out on my side, holding on to the Kart. The embankment was steep and muddy, but we kept going. By now, the tour guide who had been behind us had pulled over, yelling down to us.

He climbed down with a tourist, and they helped us climb up to the road. Other tourists were standing on the hill above us.