by Aziz Bah
It was like any other cloudy morning of going to school. My younger sister, Salma, and I were quietly talking in the car and my older brother, Muctar, was on his phone, as usual. On the way there, I fell fast asleep, until suddenly I woke up to a strange sound, POP!! “What was that?” asked Salma.
“It is probably nothing,” said my mom. I thought it was just the sound from a different car and tried to go back to sleep. We ignored the sound and kept driving to school normally. As we continued our drive to school, a strange smell filled the car.
“It smells like gas,” I said.
“The gas might be leaking, I will check it out,” said my mom. In my mind I was thinking everything was fine and that it was probably nothing. I felt fine because I felt like my mom had everything under control. Boy was I wrong, because what happened next really scared me.
“YOUR CAR IS ON FIRE!!!” a man yelled as he drove by. At this moment, all of us were in shock. Hearing this crazy news, we immediately pulled over and got out the car. After getting out the car, we rushed away from the car to a safe place. When we were away from the fire, we quickly realized that our belongings were still in the car.
Soon after, police cars and fire trucks came to the scene. The firefighters were able to get some of our belongings, but some stuff burned, like my brother’s lunchbox and my mom’s laptop. We stood by, shocked, as the firefighters put out the fire. Thankfully, the police officers were there to help us stay calm. Eventually, the firefighters finished putting out the fire and we called our aunt to take us to school. During that school day, I was still surprised and confused how the car caught on fire.
Looking back, I am so grateful that God allowed us to get out the car alive. We could’ve burned down with the car. The engine could’ve also exploded with us in it. He really protected my family and me that day. It shows that God has a plan for everything. It was probably the craziest thing that ever happened to me. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. This was a day I’ll never forget, but also a day I’ll be grateful for because of God protecting us.
This writing is part of a collection featured in the 2020 Celebrate the Arts Writing Contest, an annual contest hosted by The Arts Council of Westerville, Westerville Public Library and the ThisWeek Westerville News & Public Opinion as one of many events organized by the Arts Council to mark April as “Celebrate the Arts” month in Westerville.
