Alicia cruised at 100kmph up the country highway in her ‘94 Ford Laser called Bella. She stifled a yawn. ‘Only 10 minutes away. She turned up the music, making a mental note to have coffee when she got to Mum and Dad's.

She started on the inside of a long sweeping bend. ‘Not long to the turnoff’.

Alicia jerked as a bright yellow car flashed past going the other way.

‘Where did that come from? Did I just fall asleep?’

 Bella was close to the center line. Alicia pulled the wheel left. Bella lurched towards the shoulder. ‘The hell!’ She corrected to the right. No response. The passenger-side tires hit the dirt.

‘Dammit!’ Alicia spun the steering wheel, sending Bella into fishtail towards the wrong side of the road.

‘DAMMIT!’ she slammed on the brake. Tires screeched and locked. Bella began to slide. A telegraph pole on top of the dirt embankment filled Alicias’ view in the windscreen. She put her hands over her head, braced for impact.

‘I can’t stop. This is it’. She closed her eyes.

Her world was filled with the deafening noise of metal hitting the dirt. The front guard dug into the embankment, spinning Bella sideways. There was a loud band as something hit the car. She knew it wasn’t the pole as the car continued to spin. The wheels dug into the grass. Her world began to tip as the car went from spinning on its wheels to rolling on its side. Alicia opened her eyes.

A flash of sky, a plume of red dust, the road itself, very green grass. Terrified, she closed her eyes again. The car continued to roll, Alicia silent and helpless in the violent momentum. As it slowed, Bella gently rolled onto the passenger side and gave an anticlimactic thump as it landed on its roof.

Alicia opened her eyes. Her seatbelt stopped her from falling onto the roof. An angry ‘tick-tick came from above her. Alicia took a breath ‘I can breathe, I’m alive'.

Relief was replaced an image of fire consuming her car ‘I have to move’

Alicias’ focus went to her legs. There was no pain. 

‘Shouldn’t there be pain? Am I paralyzed?’ Reason kicked in. ‘Just wriggle your toes’.

Inside her shoes, she could feel her toes wriggle.

“Ah haha!” she pulled her foot free of the pedals and promptly banged her shin on the dash.

“Hmpf!” she grunted ‘Yep, pain receptors are fine’.

Alicia turned the engine off. Seemed like the logical thing to do. She craned her head and took notice of the inside of her car. Her eyes struggled to adjust to the disorientating landscape.

 ‘I didn’t realize how much crap I had in here’ but there it all was, spilled onto the roof. Most of it junk from moving house. Spare clothes, a clothes iron, duct tape, a lot of energy drink cans, but also a knife, a hammer, and a multi-tool. She tried to reach them but all of it was out of reach. The car was still ticking like a bomb. She could feel blood pooling and pound in her skull.

‘I need to get out of this seatbelt or I’m going to die’.

Alicia reached for the seatbelt latch. It wouldn’t unlock.

‘Need to get my bodyweight off the latch’

Grunting, she pushed off the roof with one arm and tried to press the latch with the other. Pain shot through her right shoulder.

‘Had to be my dodgy shoulder’ Desperate she pushed through the pain and fumbled with the release button. It’s not enough. Her arm gave out and she’s slumped back into the seatbelt.

Looking down she realized there was no way of easing the fall onto her head if it did release. ‘Probably why they call it a safety feature’ came the unhelpful thought.

She looked out the window. Feet. Several pairs of feet, in fact, were are on the road. ‘Why are they walking so slow!’

“HELP!” she screamed, banging on the window and honking a frantic tempo on the horn. The feet broke into a run.

Desperation and panic became stronger as Alicia’s breathing became labored. She pulled the latch on the door. It didn’t budge. A man, older than her, came to her window.

“Are you ok?” he asked. 

 “Get me out!” she yelled at him.

“It’s stuck in the dirt, I’m going to have to bend the door” he grabbed the handle.

“Don’t hurt my car!” she screamed at him.

He let go of the handle like it was a branding iron. Alicia took a deep breath, struck by how silly what she said was. She'd just rolled it down the highway.

He tried the back door as it was clear of the ground. It gave a dull thunk.

It was locked.

“Can you reach it?” he asked pointing at the lock on top of the door.

“I think so” she reached around. Her fingertips grasped the little knob and pulled it up… or down? ‘Being upside down is not good for my brain’

The door opened and he crawled into the back seat...back roof. “Hi, I’m Joe. What’s your name darling?” He looked through the debris and found two jumpers.

“Alicia”

“Well Alicia, I’m going to put these underneath you then we’re going to get you out. Push yourself up, I’ll undo your buckle”

Alicia nodded and pushed with both hands and clamped her knees on the steering wheel. The latch clicked as it released. Alicia untangled herself from the seatbelt and steering wheel, dizzy as she righted herself and the blood rushed out of her head.

“C’mon,” said Joe as he crawled out of the car. Alicia scrambled after him, car keys in hand.

Standing upright outside the car, Alicia was overwhelmed by the fresh air, the bright light, and solid ground.

Shaky and nauseous she bent over and braced her hands on her legs. 

“DAMMIT!” she screamed. She turned and looked at Bella on her roof.

“DAMMIT!” she screamed again. 

Alicia felt arms wrap around her as the strangers hugged her. “Are you okay? What happened? Were you the only one in the car?”

“Yeah I think I’m ok… there was no one else… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” she stammered, the tears started to flow.

“We called 000, there’s an ambulance coming,” the blonde woman told her. 

“Can I please use your phone to call my parents?” Alicia asked.

One of them handed her a phone. Alicia punched in the home number. Dread hit her ‘Why do I feel like I’m going to get in trouble?’ It began to ring.

“Hello?” It was Dad.

“Hey Dad…”

“What’s wrong?” she must sound bad.

“I’ve had an accident, can you please come get me?” her voice shaky and thick.

He cursed “Are you okay? Where are you?” 

“I’m not hurt, I don’t think. An ambulance is coming. I’m on the highway, the bend before the turn off” Alicia managed to tell him.

“We’re on our way. We love you”

“Love you too Dad” the call disconnected.

Alicia looked up the road at the embankment and at the path of scars and ripped-up grass.

Joe came up beside her “Unbelievable” he said to her.

Alicia said nothing. She saw a sapling with its bark torn off next to the telegraph pole. They were quite close together. “I missed that pole and hit that sapling” she pointed at the wounded tree.

“Damn, lucky,” he said “Hey, was there anything you needed out of the car?”

“Just my bag” Alicia headed back towards Bella and scrambled back into the back door. Her handbag and phone were on the roof underneath the front passenger seat. She saw her cigarettes poking out of the rubbish near the back passenger window. She grabbed them and scrambled out.

Out of the car Alicia stared at the packet, then cursed and shoved them deep in her handbag. Joe gave her a curious look “I haven’t smoked in 20 years but I reckon I would after that” he gestured towards Bella. “Oh I would love a smoke right now,” she said as a silver sedan pulled up. “But my parents don’t know I smoke” Joe gave her a smile “Ah, mums the word” and he gave her a wink. Mum and Dad jumped out of the car and enveloped her in a hug.

Soon a firetruck full of firefighters arrived. Finding Alicia not trapped and nothing on fire, they waited for the Police to arrive. The ambulance arrived soon after.

“You have incredible luck, a couple of scratches and bruises and a large number of ruptured capillaries in your face and neck. Quite the unique spotty complexion you have now. No signs of internal bleeding, concussion, or anything being broken. We could give you a lift to the hospital if you’re concerned, but we think you’re okay to make it there on your own” Josie the Paramedic said.

Alicia looked at her parents “I’d rather not go if I don’t have to. I feel ok, honestly”. In truth, she felt battered. She just wanted to go home.

 “Where are the police?” Alicia‘s Mum asked Josie.

“They don’t want to attract the media circus so they’re not running lights or sirens”. Alicia groaned, it was 50km for them to come from town.

“They shouldn’t be much longer” her Dad reassured her.

Five minutes later the police arrived. They bombarded Alicia with questions and took her breath sample. They were perplexed by her description of the accident but moved on checking Bella for defects. Finding none, they gave the Firefighters the all-clear. 

They righted the little car with little effort. Alicias’ loose belongings inside the car made a kaleidoscope of sound as it tipped back onto its four wheels. They then popped open the bonnet and sprayed foam on the engine for fuel leaks.

As they started to pack up, one of the Firefighters stopped and gave Bella a curious look “You know” he said “I’ll bet it starts”

 “No way” another scoffed.

Alicia agreed, it seemed impossible that Bella would start after such a violent incident. Though looking at the car now - the passenger side mirror was crushed, the windscreen was a spider web of cracks but the seal was intact. Other than the odd tuft of grass in unusual places and scuff marks here and there the car looked okay…ish.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” Alicia said as she handed the keys to the optimistic Firefighter.

He brushed the debris from the seat and sat down. He turned the key. Bella tried to kick over. Alicia’s spirits fell. He tried again.

Bella roared into life.

“Ahaha! Told you” said the Firefighter thumping the steering wheel in triumph.

Alicia smiled in disbelief. “She lives”

They drove Bella onto the flatbed of the tow truck. The Emergency Services and strangers moved on. Exhausted, Alicia closed her eyes as she sat in the back seat of her parent's car as they drove her home.

***One month later ***

 Alicia pulled up outside a house and blared the horn. A plump brunette fumbled with her house keys. “C’mon I want coffee!” Alicia called out.

Erica stuck her tongue out at her as she hopped in the front seat. “How are you, honey?” Erica froze as she saw the huge sticker on the dash.

Erica pointed at the sticker “This way up’?” 

Alicia smiled “Yeah, a friendly reminder from Dad”

Erica laughed “That’s gold, I’m sorry honey”

 “All good, I’ve earnt it”

Erica patted the dash “It’s good to see Bella running again. Find out why she went hinky on you?”

Alicia nodded “We have a theory. When dad checked my tire pressure, the front was 9 PSI and the back was 11. Supposed to be 32. Dad thinks that when I tried to correct my steering the rim turned, but the tire didn’t. I got quite the lecture about car maintenance”.

“I can imagine. Did you tell them that you thought you fell asleep?” Erica asked.

Alicia hesitated “No, I was tired but I’m not sure if I did or not. Just know that road so well you know? Did I fall asleep, or was it autopilot?” she shrugged.

Erica nodded “Yeah, but just because you think you can drive it in your sleep doesn’t mean you should try eh?” Erica joked.

Alicia gave her a mock punch to the arm, as she merged into traffic “Noted smart alec”.