 Winter break had ended. I was returning to the University of Wisconsin where I was a graduate student studying dance and kinesiology. I’d bought a used Oldsmobile from a friend of my parents and was accompanied by a guy I hardly knew, a graduate student who needed a ride back to the university and was willing to share driving and the cost of gas. We’d started from my parents’ home in New York City and were now on the border between Illinois and Wisconsin. We’d been driving for hours and were tired but neither of us wanted to spend money to rent a hotel room. It was pitch black. No moon. My turn to get behind the wheel. I took a sip of coffee from a thermos and began driving. Just as I crossed into Wisconsin I hit an unseen patch of black ice. The car swerved into the oncoming lane. Time seemed to slow down. I felt as if I’d entered another time zone. How I did it, I don’t know, but I managed to maneuver around the approaching cars without hitting any. The traffic was heavy and I couldn’t steer the car back into my lane. I felt as if I were in a shooting gallery with objects continually coming at me with no way to stop them. Then, just as suddenly as I’d swerved into the left lane, still avoiding cars coming at me, the car swerved back into the right lane, but with such force it spun 360 degrees, landing on a grassy spot next to the highway, turning over on its side. “Are you okay?” I asked my passenger when the car had stopped. “I will be if you turn off the ignition and take your goddammed guitar off of me.” I did. The only way out was the door on my side of the car. It was so heavy it took both of us to push it open. I was shaking uncontrollably and couldn’t figure out where the ground was. He climbed over me, carefully let himself down and then helped me get out. The ice was so slick we both fell. Hard. No blood from the accident, only from our falling. A tow truck righted the car and, unbelievably, I was able to drive it to Madison, jaw clenched all the way. Have you experienced time slowing down? If so, what was that like?
2 Comments
2/2/2024 07:23:01 am
I first became aware of time slowing down when competing in martial arts. I experienced the opponent's moves as if in slow motion and had time to counter and respond. As I became aware of the time slowing phenomenon I realized it happened at times of intense concentration, perhaps writing, or in a profound conversation, or when facilitating a group in conflict.
Marlene Simon
2/2/2024 10:17:59 am
A "When Harry Met Sally" story gone wrong! I was so anxious reading this even though I believed it would all be OK as you are here now. I have been trying to access a similar slowing down of time, but the first thing that popped into my mind was an incident that happened in LA in the late '80's. I was going to take a road trip with my friends who owned Al Gelato. As I was walking into the cafe, time seemed to stand still as I passed through the threshold,and a voice came into my head and said something like "don't go, you'll have an accident." I told my friend Clare and she immediately cancelled the trip. Leave a Reply. |
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Nancy King is a widely published author and a professor emerita at the University of Delaware, where she has taught theater, drama, playwriting, creative writing, and multidisciplinary studies with an emphasis on world literature. She has published seven previous works of nonfiction and five novels. Her new memoir, Breaking the Silence, explores the power of stories in healing from trauma and abuse. Her career has emphasized the use of her own experience in being silenced to encourage students to find their voices and to express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with authenticity, as a way to add meaning to their lives.
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