For a moment she just stood there, dumbfounded, as a whoosh of heat blasted past her and a geyser of debris shot skyward. A split second later, car parts rattled down on the road and the area surrounding it, although none reached as far as where she stood frozen in the tall grass perhaps thirty feet away. The blaze completely engulfed the RAV4, lighting up the night like a giant bonfire. Black smoke billowed toward the sky. The smell of burning hit her, bringing back instant hideous memories of another burning car. . . . “Mark!” she screamed, as the past was wiped out by a rush of brand-new horror. “Mark!” He had been in that car. Moving like she had never believed she would be able to move again, she raced toward it, adrenaline giving her dicey legs a strength and purpose that carried her back through the grass toward the car faster than she had run away from it. Heart thundering, pulse pounding, gasping with emotion, she watched the flames devouring the vehicle and knew already that there was nothing she could do, no help she could give.
