“Well, that was as painful as usual,” I thought as I drove through Kansas on my way home from my parent’s house In southern Oklahoma.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my family a lot, I just usually feel like I’m a failure when I’m around them. Who am I kidding? I feel that way all the time actually. Every time I see my family it gets worse though. Here I am, In my late thirties with no wife or kids, heck I don’t even have a girlfriend. I’m a loser and I know it.

Coming in around six foot seven, a muscular physic, wide shoulders, and a somewhat handsome if rugged face you would think I could easily find a girlfriend. That would be wrong. My friends say I look like a mountain man or a Viking with my long dark red hair and beard. I actually like how I look and try to hit the gym at least 3 times a week, but for some reason, women seem to be scared of me. Most people that know me, compare me to a teddy bear, but to people that don’t know me, I’m just scary. That makes it hard to meet someone.

With that out of the way, I have to admit that sometimes I hate long drives. On one hand, I love the back roads that can be peaceful and I can be myself, but on the other, I have way too much time to think.

The Black Hills area of South Dakota is where I call home these days. I used to travel a lot for work so when I found a job close to an area I love, I couldn’t pass it up. I was able to save up and am currently having my dream house built. Why is it then, that I am so depressed? I really can’t say It’s because of any one thing.

I’ve always wanted a family of my own. That’s part of it. I know I’m not good with kids and I believe it would be hard for me to be a father. I’m anti-social, very anti-social, and Introverted to a major degree. it would probably be best If I didn’t have that kind of pressure. That doesn’t mean I still don’t want a family of my own.

My job as a heavy equipment operator is a good one. I may work long hours, but I like to be outside and it pays well, has decent benefits, and gives me a sense of accomplishment when the day is over. You would think not having too many bills and being able to enjoy not only work but hobbies as well would make anyone happy. I know it should, I know I should be grateful for what I have. I’m Blessed with an awesome family who I love and loves me, I have a good job I like and hobbies I enjoy. Why can’t I just be happy?

Unfortunately, that’s my thought process on this long drive home. What makes it worse is the fact that a blizzard is starting and the snow is coming in at a shallow angle. I usually love driving In snow, I know I’m weird, don’t judge. It usually brings me peace while my friends and family get stressed. There is just something about the beauty of the snow falling and dancing either in the diffused sunlight or the headlights. To me, it’s just beautiful and mesmerizing.

I say usually because right now I’m in my hopped-up Camaro, not my pickup. This car is built for the track. Upgraded suspension, brakes, drive train, and roll cage. Technically, It’s not street-legal anymore, what with having not only a roll cage but a custom-built tube chassis. I still register it though. Combine that with around a thousand horsepower and a blower? Ya, this is gonna suck. At least I’m not running slicks and have a good set of winter tires on.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I guess it might not be too bad. At least this way I will have something to focus on Instead of getting lost in depressing thoughts. The only reason I drove my car in the first place is the weather was supposed to be clear. That’s also the reason I left my parent’s place earlier than I was going to. This storm came in fast. Building up quicker than expected. The weather forecasters were surprised about it actually. It seems no one predicted a snowstorm this early In the fall. Especially on the plains of eastern Colorado and Western Kansas.

As the sun started to dip behind the horizon, or at least that’s what I figured was happening as it was getting dark quick, the snow started coming down faster. At least the wind wasn’t too bad.

I started slowing to a decent speed. It was still warm enough that the snow wasn’t sticking to the road yet, but the temperature was falling quickly. This was going to be a long drive. I still had a little over five hours left at Interstate speeds, so with the snow, it was probably going to be double that. Maybe I should just find a hotel in the next town before the roads start closing and they fill up.

As I was contemplating what to do, I tuned the radio I hardly ever use to find some kind of weather report. I wanted to know how far north the storm was just in case I could maybe drive out of it. As usual, the radio had nothing useful. Just some pop country stations and eighties music. No weather or anything else. Feeling like I didn’t have much of a choice, I started looking for a place to pull over so I could look at my phone. I always hated those people who drove around with their eyes glued to their phones. No one is in that kind of hurry that you could put your life or someone else’s at risk.

While looking for somewhere to pull over, a bright flash lit up the surrounding area. It was so bright that it blinded me for a second and made my eyes tear up. As I started to brake so I wouldn’t go into the ditch, the snow started to swirl around and picked up speed. I could hear a roar coming closer and getting louder. It was getting loud enough my ears started hurting. Still halfway blinded from the exceptionally bright light and going def from the loud roar I could only wonder if somehow a giant tornado didn’t form around me.

Coming to a stop in the middle of the road, I was trying to look around to figure out what the heck was going on. The light was intense, the noise was brutal and the snow was starting to blow away from me in the fierce wind that was being generated from somewhere.

What was going on? My mind was a complete blank. The craziest part though? For some reason, I wasn’t panicking yet. I was calm and almost relaxed. The light, though bright and painful, was somehow comforting. The noise was just painful though so I covered my ears to try and minimize the discomfort.

Looking around while squinting, I caught sight of something falling down toward me at high speed. No way. Nope. There is no way. That’s a meteorite, isn’t it? Crap crap crap. This is gonna hurt. I gotta get out of here.

Time to start panicking I suppose…

As I put my car into gear, I dumped the clutch and floored it. Come on ponies, I know you won’t let me down. As I shifted into second I realized that today just wasn’t going to be my day. I didn’t get to think much further as something crashed into my hood and everything went white.