Chapter 1 - Flashback

A honk was heard and her instability was instantly shaken from the foundation and, suddenly, her numbness died directly as her now clear vision displayed a frantically honking truck advancing fast her way.  She quickly composed herself and chased her current vulnerable state. She grabbed the steering wheel and firmly turned it to the right, the vehicle going down the slope. Scared, she tried the brake, but the car continued to go down, passing and missing trees. As she noticed where it was going, she madly tried to unbuckle her seatbelt to jump out of the car. It did not work, but she kept trying the brake while unbuckling her seatbelt. Still nothing.

The car was shaking Tamara from side to side, hurting her head, while her notebook, phone, home key pencils and her bag were flying everywhere inside the car. Those objects left small cuts on her face. Then, fast as lightning, in a split second, the car crashed into a tree stopping it from plunging into the violent river. The windows broke at the impact, sending pieces of glass everywhere. Although she was scared and her neck hurt a little bit, Tamara was peaceful. She did not mind dying because she knew she had been forgiven. But thinking of the two lives she was carrying, she instantly composed herself and as she was trying to unbuckle her seat belt again, the tree ceased to bear the weight of the car so it fell right into the river along with the diving car. Horrified, Tamara opened the car door in order to get herself out in case she would unfasten the seatbelt. She frantically pulled the belt as water was gushing into the car rapidly.

She wondered how she was going to escape that mishap when she did not even know how to swim. Immediately, she started thinking of how she was supposed to move her legs and arms to float at the surface. As she was picturing herself drowning, she kept pressing the button and pulling on her seatbelt while the water reached her neck level. Tamara took a deep breath and desperately pulled the belt, screaming for help. Beads of blood rolled down her face into the water, sprinkling it and weaving an unusual painting. After multiple and furious attempts, the seatbelt unbuckled and Tamara was free. She grabbed the roof of the car and pushed herself up at the surface. She was not that far from the land, but she still sank despite her urgent movements to float. While sinking back into the water, Tamara fearfully managed to swim a little and grab the root of a tree which she followed back to the surface. She held on the root very tightly, gasping for air. Her minor lacerations continued to bleed and the adrenaline level began to decrease slowly. She started feeling pain while headache struck her. The tiring time of surviving continued to unfold as fatigue enveloped Tamara. She felt unable to stand up so she tried to crawl along the slope. Digging her nails into the ground, she began crawling on her side to protect the unborn babies, but the need to sleep was so overwhelming. In spite of her dizzy and confused state, Tamara went on, dragging herself up on the slope. She thought that if she made it to the road, she would be saved.

Thinking that the Lord saved her from that accident, He would surely take care of the rest. She smiled again. She was forgiven! She was free! Forgiven and free!

Soon, her doubled vision became hazy and slowly narrowed, too, but she was still happy. It kept tightening until her vision was covered by a dim curtain that eventually engulfed her. Fatherly murmurs echoed and whirled around her:

 "Because you love me, I will rescue you; I will protect you, for you acknowledge my name,"(Ps 91:14)