What’s a moment in your life that made you feel truly alive?
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When I was 16-17, I often hung out at my friend’s house after school or practice. The house belonged to the parents of two brothers in the friend group, and they were pretty chill about having their sons’ group of up to eight friends crashing there at all hours of the day and night. I say “pretty” because the stepdad would get pretty pissed when we woke him up late at night with whatever shenanigans we were up to downstairs. The worst was when we didn’t know they were home, which happened once and led to an explosive confrontation. While I was scared there, that moment was topped in the following weeks.
Trying to leave the house quietly around 11 P.M., I realized I was parked right next to the parents’ bedroom. The car I was driving, a Suzuki Samurai, was extremely loud and would be sure to wake the stepdad up. Sleepy myself, I thought up the brilliant idea to roll the 4×4 down the hill, thinking I could jump into the driver’s seat and start it at the bottom of the driveway.
The driveway was a steep 20-45 degree drop in some parts, stretching out just over 100 yards or so. I rolled the Samurai out of the rocks, onto the paved driveway, and nudged it over the edge of the hill.
It immediately veered towards the house, right under the parents’ bedroom window.
I sprinted with all my might, in three bounds, and launched into the driver’s seat of the Samurai. I was extremely thankful my dad took them off in the summer in that moment. I jerked the Samurai’s wheel to the right, popped the clutch to start the car, and rolled out in a flash, the car not roaring until I hit the asphalt below.
The next few months I visited, I walked a little more lightly. And parked a little further away from their bedroom.
