The car roared as the key turned. 

“Woah,” Grandpa called. 

I replied, “I am ready to start, right?” 

“Wrong,” he answered. First, you need to understand how the car works and how to shift.”

My hands gripped the string wheel harder. My body was ready to drive. My face was red with anger. Slowly the red drained from my face. Gently my hand loosened from the steering wheel. He showed me all of the basics. He taught me how the clutch works and how to shift, and after some practice, while staying still, we were ready to go. 

The first time I came around the loop, I had stalled the car twice. Grandpa told me to stop and practice shifting. We practiced shifting while not moving after. After some practice, I understood the car and the clutch. 

Slowly there was an improvement in my shifting and my driving. By the fourth time around, the high school parking lot, I was able to start going and shifting faster. 

Grandpa said, “You're doing great.”

The car was roaring. The shifter was moving fast. First gear, then second, third I was up to the fourth gear.

 I was coming down a straight road and was getting ready to take a turn. My foot pressed the brakes to slow down, but nothing happened.  I thought that was weird. I just passed my turn and would take the next turn instead. So I sped up and went to third gear.

BOOM! The brake pedal went all the way to the floor. The car was going so fast that I didn't know what to do. The road was quickly coming to an end. Quickly I started to think. What can I do to slow the car down?

  Rapidly I started to downshift to try to slow the car down. I shifted to third, then second, then first. But still, the car was going too fast. I panicked inside; my heart was beating as fast as a Formula 1 car on a straight-a-way.

 My voice seemed quiet over the roaring engine, “ Grandpa, the brakes aren't working.” 

The pedal went all the way down to the floor. I couldn't stop. There was no way of stopping before the road ended. My hands were sweating. I was holding the wheel so tight. I was going to crash.

He yelled, “ Stay calm.”

Grandpa’s wheels were turning.  He was thinking, how can we stop this car? The engine was roaring. I could tell my grandpa knew there was nothing. I looked to my left; there was nothing. I looked to my right there was nothing. I had missed all the turns. I was going too fast. We were going to crash. 

There was nothing I could do. The car was in first gear. The car slowed down gradually but wouldn't stop in time. I looked again. Was there anything in the car that could stop it quickly? Then, at the last second, I saw the emergency brake. I yanked it as hard as I could. 

The car quickly came to an abrupt stop as all of my body was yanked forward. Then quickly, I turned the car off. Grandpa rushed out of the car. 

He yelled, “Pull the engine lever.” 

I opened the lever as Grandpa wrenched the engine cover open. I was so nervous! Did I just brake my grandpa's new car? I got out of the car; I knew that I was going to get it now. I just broke Grandpa’s new car. He was going to get so mad. 

The first thing Grandpa said was, “Are you ok?”