The biggest fear of Joel’s life was being alone, and for the first time in his life he was alone. He was cold, hungry and fatigued. The road he walked on was straight and he felt like it never ended. He suddenly saw a flash of lightning and seconds later, heard the violent crack of thunder. He looked up, and the rain started to pour on his face, but he kept on walking. His hair was soaked. He started to shiver. He hadn’t seen a pair of headlights in miles and the next town was more than five miles away. He had begun to lose hope; a flash of light struck him, electricity flew through his flesh and violently threw him to the ground. Joel opened his eyes and looked at his hands; they had burn marks all over them. He laid his head back down and shut his eyes. This is the second time in the last hour that he should have been dead.
2 Hours Before

Joel Cardiff was extremely bored; the cross country car trip from New York to Washington wasn’t his idea of fun on the last week of summer vacation. Joel’s father just accepted a new job the week before at a major technology company in Washington. The Cardiff’s life just took a one hundred and eighty degree turn. They had lived in New York their whole lives. Joel was an only child who was adopted at birth. He doesn’t know anything about his birthparents and neither did his foster parents. They just found him sitting on their doorstep one day and took him as a gift from God. They took him in and raised him as if he was their own child. Now Joel was 16 and going into his Junior year of high school. They had just passed into Colorado and the weather had taken a turn for the worst. The roads were slick as ice as the rain poured down. The Cardiff’s car lost control on the slippery road and flew into the side barrier. It flipped onto its top and rolled 300 feet down the cliff of the pass they were driving on at the time. Joel woke up, and smelt gasoline. It was pitch black out he couldn’t see anything. He yelled “Mom! Dad!” no answer. He tried to stand up but he felt a sharp pain through his right shoulder, he looked at it and saw a bar of metal puncturing his it; he ripped it out with a scream. He crawled out of the car, and didn’t want to look back. He knew his parent’s fate. He ran.



“Hey, kid! Can you hear me?! Wake up!!” Joel regained consciousness and gasped for breath. “Thank God he’s alive!” said the man.

"Who are you?" asked Joel

“My name is Jack, I saw you lying on the road and I came to help."


“I’m fine thanks though," Joel says as he gets up and begins to walk.

"No you’re not you look like you have just been struck by lightning or something!”

“I promise you I'm fine! Could you please take me to the next town though?”

“If you’re sure you are ok.”

"I am."

Joel and Jack drove to the next town which was Aspen, Colorado. Joel fell asleep right as they started to drive. Joel placed all his faith in this man Jack, which he knew nothing about and that would come back to cost him later.