5 minutes ago, fate, luck, & divine intervention interceded on Ben’s behalf. He was not particularly religious, but that didn’t prevent him from saying a few Allahu Akbar’s & Thank You Jesus’s.

5 minutes ago, Ms. Hill was soothingly telling Ben that she used to love him via his Best of NeoSoul playlist. Traffic had ground to a halt on his drive home from the data center. Sitting under the overpass (fate?) in his tri-brid, he had at best another 35 minutes to make the 5 miles to his exit. Home was Neva, Ben Jr., Jae, & Imani.

5 minutes ago, the auto-tint on the windshield transitioned to max in less than a nano. It wasn’t enough to keep Ben from screaming What The F^%? as he slammed his arm across his face. Then the pressure wave hit. A Ford truck was ahead of him. A big rig was in front of the Ford (luck?). The rig took a direct hit & was tossed into the left lanes like a HotWheel. And then came the heat.

It was over in 5 minutes. Somehow Ben had survived (divine intervention?). Now…how to get home?