The New Driver

Short Story Day 59 of 365

Photo by fotonerd at Pixabay

At 17 and with permit in hand, Grace Zenc wanted to try driving on the highway for the first time.

She had already been through her Driver’s Education theory and practical classes. Theory was just that, theory. When she went out with the instructor for her practical, they didn’t take any chances because there were two other learners in the car with her sharing the hour-long classes.

Grace also had private tutoring from her dad on country roads on weekends.   

Driving on the highway posed a different set of driving problems and she knew it. Gone were the 25 and 35 mph speed limits and stop signs.

Mr. Zenc wanted to take a trip to a computer store 12 miles away, so the distance was good for Grace to get a taste for highway driving. Yes, they could take the back roads, but Mr. Zenc thought she was ready for highway. She had all the theory down pat and was a conscientious back roads driver, obeying all the laws and double checking intersections,

As she drove onto the entrance ramp, Grace clenched the steering wheel tight. Mr. Zenc saw the change in grip and tried to help her relax. He monitored her speed and she was still 10 mph under the limit, so he encouraged her to step on the pedal a bit.

She kept checking her mirrors and held that steady 10 and 2 grip.

Mr. Zenc said, “Grace, you may not know this but a lot of debris and junk accumulate on the shoulder so you’ll have to be careful not to get too close to the shoulder. You want to try to keep as much to the center of the road as you can. It can be really dangerous if you hit some of that debris.”

Without missing a beat, Grace replied, “Yeah Daddy, but there are cars and trucks going 80 miles an hour on the other side.”