Breaker One-Nine Breaker One-Nine, you got yer ears on?
It was a dark night, and the weather was just as dark, save the occasional flash of lightning or the lights of an oncoming rig. Our hero's visibility was limited to a rapid glimpse of the road as the wipers tried in vain to disperse the waters that fell from the heavens in a torrential downpour.
By this time our hero had been traveling for hours, road fatigue quickly setting in. The roads were like a slippery serpent winding through the black night of the North Carolina mountainsides.
It appeared that Our hero rode alone for the most part, and on occasion the blink of an eye found him nodding off, only to snap to and correct his direction.
Within hours what had been a routine drive through the mountains had taken a turn for the worse. The car slid every few moments, large semis barreled past in both directions, turbo diesels revving up and down, jake braking when necessary. The road narrowed to two lanes due to construction, and within moments our hero was trapped, sandwiched between two rigs, both jostling for position.
This left our hero trapped and blinded, rain coating the front windshield, the lights from the tractor trailer beaming through the rear view mirror.
The curves of the mountain highway became even more dangerous now, the back end of the car trying to slide with every turn. There were only a few options.
Hydroplane to the west. This would lead to either a horrible demise by plummeting of the side of the mountain, or a head on collision with a half asleep trucker.
Hydroplane to the east. This would have led to slamming into the side of the mountain followed by getting t-boned by the trucker that was halfway up our hero's tailpipe.
But then there was a glimmer of hope... And for the moment all was calm. The road widened. The rain stopped. The Semi barreled past our hero, turbo diesel screaming with the rage of acceleration. There was a light at the end of the tunnel...
And then the rain came again. But it was nice to have the brief reprieve from the rain. Also nice to not have the blinding light behind our hero.
"Welcome to Tennessee" exclaimed the sign.
It would be daytime soon and the first leg of the journey was almost over. Next stop Cookeville.
