#88: Peace

When Grace registers in her mind that the car is moving down the hill, with only her son in it, she doesn't blame Tiggy, nor Peter for not having her on a leash, nor the mechanic who didn't believe her that the gearshift was loose. She blames herself for allowing her emotions to get the better of her when she fell in love with a house with a view.

As the car edges up as it clears the garden bed, she should have foreseen such a circumstance, a time when her car would traverse the wild weeds and vain attempts at a vegetable garden, a time when her son's life would be at stake.

From the corner of her eye, she sees Peter running after the car. Grace knows she too should run, but knows it'll just be for show. There is no viable way of stopping the car. Rory will just have to endure what fate has in store for him.

Grace turns around, sees Matilda huddled in tears, to examine the house, the true cause of everyone's panic. She wonders if life in her dream house will ever be the same. Will she be able to stand on the deck and see the rolling waves and still get that sense of inner peace?

A squelching noise spins her around. The car seems to have lost some speed halfway down the hill. Recent rains have pooled in the false flat and Peter is almost at the door. She doesn't believe her husband has it in him to James Bond the door open, let alone slam on the breaks.

Matilda screams encouragement.

Peter pulls open the back door and Grace wants to scream at him, telling him that the brakes are in the front. But the words are stuck in the pit of her stomach.

She watches as Peter somehow pulls Rory's screaming body free. He slows down, clutching their son in his arm. Tiggy flees the open door, and the car travels the speed of light into the hedge at the bottom of the hill before crashing into the enormous eucalyptus tree.

The leaves rattle at the disturbance before settling down.

By the time Peter returns up the hill, he's tickling Rory out of his shock. Matilda is hugging her and, except for the fact she will be car-less, life will return to normal and she'll look out from her deck, knowing that this sense of peace is only a moment away from being taken from her.