The Voice in the Ditch

I heard a voice once while sliding into a ditch with my five children in the van.

It was raining heavily that day, and the roads were slick. Looking back, I think I probably took the corner too quickly. The van suddenly lost traction, and before I could react, we started sliding off the road.

There was nothing I could do.

The van tipped forward and began sliding down into one of the deepest ditches I had ever seen. My heart dropped as I realized how steep it was. My first instinct was to hit the brakes, but as we continued downward, I knew stopping might only make things worse.

Then, just as we were nearing the bottom, I heard it.

A man's voice.

"STEP ON THE GAS."

The voice was loud, clear, and right next to my right ear.

It wasn't muffled. It wasn't distant. It sounded like someone was sitting right beside me, shouting over the sound of the engine and the rain. I didn't recognize the voice, and I had no idea where it came from.

For a moment, everything froze.

My instincts told me to brake, but something made me listen.

I stepped on the gas.

The van hit the bottom of the ditch, but instead of stopping or getting stuck, we kept moving forward. Somehow, we climbed up the other side and made it back onto the road.

I didn't even stop to think about what had just happened. I kept driving.

A few minutes later, I noticed something was wrong. One of the tires was damaged and wobbling badly, almost like it was about to come completely off. I slowed down and carefully drove to the nearest store, where my husband was working on an exterior painting job.

Thankfully, because of the rain, he had already finished for the day.

He was able to look at the van and get the tire back onto the hub. If he hadn't been there, I don't know what I would have done.

That night, after everyone was safe at home, I kept thinking about that voice.

If I had followed my first instinct and hit the brakes, I don't know if we would have made it out of that ditch. The van was carrying my five children, and the outcome could have been very different.

I still don't know whose voice I heard that day.

But I know one thing.

I will always be grateful for whoever told me:

"Step on the gas."