The Cedarville Review 2020

PROSE | 37 From the passenger seat, my dad coaches me patiently, almost giddily as he watches his first kid in a driver’s seat for the first time. I’m more nervous than he is; isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? His confidence in me wor - ries me instead of encouraging me. Three primary causes of adrenaline: excitement, stress, a threat. Activities that can trigger an adrenaline rush: An interview. A nightmare. Roller coasters. Cliff-jumping. More causes: Witnessing a near-accident. Getting mugged. Fire alarms. Waking up to 7 missed calls from your mother, 11 from your best friend, and 18 from your boyfriend. The tingling drop of your stomach as you call back, squinting in the oblivious sunshine as words like “accident” and “hospital” and “gone” enter your eardrum but fail to process through your brain. A few more: Driving fast. Consuming alcohol. And suddenly I’mon the road. I shakily navigate to the right side of the yellow line, but I feel like I’m about to dive right into the ditch. Dad cheers. I edge forward. “You’re doing it!” he yells. “How does it feel?” It feels great. Edgy. Grown-up. I’m going 20 miles per hour, but it feels like 90. Ways to counteract an adrenaline rush, to calm down: breathe into a paper bag. Do yoga. Get fresh air. Picture a single image: my dog shak- ing herself dry after a bath. Choose and repeat a single word to distract your brain from the buzz: serendipity. Serendipity. Serendipity. 35 mph—Or, TYPES OF ROADS There are three basic types of roads: arterial, collector, and local. Arterial. These are the roads with the high- est speed limits. They have the fewest access points, only through entrance and exit ramps. They features dozens of varieties of interchang- es: full diamond, diamond with slip ramps, full cloverleaf, partial clover, parclo or four-quad, trumpet, directional. They spread over themap like blue veins. Arterial. A slow bleed at a dis- orienting speed. One February morning, I’m driving my broth- er to school. The snow from the night before coats the road in a deadly diamond-bright quilt, spotted with sheets of black ice and tire tracks