Sniffles...

Flying up the street, with amazing speed, rolled a black Chevrolet Impala!  This big black machine roared with the power of thunder as it smoked the skies with its burning wheels.  Then our thoughts of surprise changed from amazement, to sheer horror and fear!  The car, in all its glory, turned onto the sidewalk and closed in on us!

“Varooooom,! “Varooooom,!  Was what we heard as the car darted our way.  Our bikes fell to the curb, We froze!  And I was certain that we were about to die!

“OH! MY GOD!”  I thought, “This is it!”  We were caught on the curb next to a large metal piping that laid alongside the fencing and kept people from falling off the bridge and onto the railroad tracks and the car was dead ahead!... Impact... seemed immanent!

Somehow, and someway, Ernie and I seemed to connect with the same thought and the same mind, at the same time... This one last thought made the difference between life and death for the two of us. That thought was jump! Jump boy Jump!

We left the ground together and jumped up on the piping and held on to the fence as the car roared by, missing us by inches!  There we were, holding on for our lives.  The car slammed on its brakes as it twisted back onto the road.  It was as though I were trapped!  Yeah, trapped in a nightmare!  But was this a dream?  Was this really happening?  The engine blasted as the wheels spun white smoke and the car sought another chance, another chance to hit its target!

Watching the car coming gave me one thought ...It was time to haul our butts!  Down we jumped, to make our break.  The car drove back onto the sidewalk once more, determined not to miss us again.

In desperation, we ran.  We ran to the beginning of the fence at the bridge and climbed up and over it as the car raced by like a raging bull!...  We climbed down a wall toward to the railroad tracks, and jumped off of it and tumbled to the ground.  We did a few rolls, but like jackrabbits we sprung up and kicked into gear.

Running along the railroad tracks as fast as we could, we ran under the 6^th street bridge, and then continued running to the 5^th street bridge, which brought us closer to my house.

“Somebody’s trying to kill us!” Ernie said.

“Keep running!” I shouted, and run we did.  We ran up through trees and bushes to try and stay alive.

“Ernie screamed. “I don’t want to die!”

“I know,” I said. We ran faster and harder than we ever did before to save ourselves.

“C’mon! We can make it,” I said. “We’re almost home.”

Good old Ernie! Yeah, Ernie... He was a good friend.  He never stayed away too long, if he did, then something had to be wrong.  He was about fourteen years old, a hard working hustler who knew how to earn a quick buck, and he had a taste for funky music.

Coming up to the 4^th Street Bridge, we rested for a few moments behind some tree’s and some bushes.  This is where we would make an exit from the railroad tracks.

“Who could that be?  I said to Ernie.

“I don’t know?  Ernie replied.

He said he thought he saw a woman driving with a fiendish smile as she roared by!  The sun was beaming off the windshield and I could only see hands moving back and forth on the steering wheel.  So, puzzled and afraid, we waited.  We were determined to make it home...  We waited, and we watched...

When the time seemed right after resting for a while, cautiously, we then came out of hiding¼ We were now at west fourth street.  We went through a hole in the fence and crept out slowly, looking for the right moment to make our break!  Silence... The coast was clear... Now was the time... We made our move!... We dashed out like lightning bolts to cross the street.

I felt as though we were being hunted... But now, for the moment, things were looking pretty quiet.  It seeme