An Unexpected Winter Storm
by Nicole Wilder
When I left Florida, the sun was shining, the flowers were
blooming, and the water was warm. But I knew it was time for me
to leave and head home to Michigan. I missed being home. All
I could think of was getting there as fast as I could. It had been
six months since I had seen my family. I chose to get my degree
in Florida for fun and sun, though sometimes all I wanted to do
was to go home. People flocked to Florida during spring break to
escape the cold. I was fleeing Florida in place of the cold.
So two days ago, I packed up my things and headed home. I
knew in Michigan driving could sometimes be a risky proposition
at the beginning of April, but I chose to go anyway. I had an
extra week off, and two weeks would give me plenty of time to see
everyone. I just hoped the weather would hold out long enough for
me to get there.
Once inside Ohio with only had a few hours left to drive, the
wind grew stronger as nasty dark clouds rolled in and the temperature
dropped rapidly. The outside temperature gauge read twentyfive
degrees. The wind blew so hard it was difficult to control my
car, and I worried it would get too bad to get home as quickly as I
had planned.
Then snow began to fall.
At first it was small, steady flakes which quickly grew into
heavy, thick flakes. As the wind grew faster, it was harder to see
and it wasn't long before the roads were snow covered, making it
hard to see where my lane was. I was the only car around. If anything
happened, I was on my own.
Slowly I drove down the freeway, thinking soon I would have
to get off the interstate to the safety of a hotel. But I couldn't quite
convince myself I needed to. I flipped on the radio to find any
weather report I could. Nothing seemed to indicate it would get
really bad. I thought if I could just get out from under the dark
clouds, the weather would be better. I kept flipping from station to
station to see if there were any weather updates, instead finding a
late broadcast of an earlier weekend car race. I didn't know why
they were rebroadcasting it, and I didn't care. I paused to see where
my favorite driver Kyle Mitchem was, hoping he didn't crash out.
I got my love for racing from my family, especially my dad.
Kyle was fairly new to the racing scene. No one in my family liked
him but me. He was pretty hot-headed, but a real go-getter-he
knew what he wanted and went after it. There seemed to a sweet
