A close call

A few years ago when Jonno was still alive (actually almost 20 years ago) we had a very close call with death.

While visiting a friend who lived not too far from the Dandenong mountains just outside of Melbourne, we went for a drive up to an observatory on the top of the mountains. We stayed up there and watched the sun set, then drove back down with our friend giving directions from the back seat, where he was sandwiched between his girlfriend and another girl friend, i.e. a friend who was a girl.

It was kind of like rally driving, and with our friend accurately calling out the direction and angle of each approaching turn Jonno started driving faster and faster, relying on our friend's memory and knowledge of a windy, hilly road that he'd driven many times before.

At the bottom of the hill our road met the main road, and we were required by law to yield to any traffic on this road. Just as our friend was mentioning this to Jonno we hit the bottom of the hill. Jonno glanced sideways and saw the head lights of a car right beside him. I'm not sure how fast we were going, but it was certainly faster than was safe for that road at that time of night.

Jonno hit the brakes sending the car into a skid, which he controlled perfectly. The car slid sideways and I'm sure we freaked out the people in the other car, as Jonno's maneuver had our headlights pointing right at them. Our friend in the back was practically deafened by the screams from the two girls either side of him as Jonno slid his car to a stop, finishing up right in front of a small kiosk. We were so close to the kiosk that I was unable to open my door without hitting the wall of the kiosk.

I don't remember being scared, I didn't even think I was about to die. Thoughts of death or the impending collision with another car never even entered my mind. This was just a year or two after I'd almost killed myself in a high-speed collision with a massive tree that left my car destroyed, so you'd think I would have been freaked out at another close call, but I wasn't.

Did you ever think you were destined for something greater than what you've yet accomplished? Thoughts like these can be dangerous. They can give you a false sense of security, making you think that while you're not quite immortal, you can't die yet because you haven't accomplished whatever it is you're here to do.