The road was a vast sea of potential dangers
All ready to tear me, the car, and my uncle sitting in the passenger seat to bits of jerky.
Count to four....inhale.
Count to four....exhale.
Each deep breath delivered a bit of courage to my heart and clarity to my vision.

All these years of being in the passenger seat,
Not being in a single crash,
Not in a single altercation,
Not in any trouble with a police officer,
Now society puts me behind the wheel
To decide the fate of me and others around me.

"There's no need to be scared." Says the voice in my head.
"If anything happens, you will be fine."
I shift from park, into drive.
My foot shakes as it slowly pushes on the gas pedal, propelling the car forward.

Every sound is heightened in my ears.
Fear turns into pure focus.
Then focus turns into a strange feeling.
As if the road is a beautiful mistress with whom I'm dancing with.
I'm doing it,
And dumbfounded that I'm doing it well.

Now every time I sit behind the wheel, the car is no longer my potential killer.
The car is now my very own tamed, mechanical beast, who does what I command.

No matter how much I drive,
No matter where I'm driving to,
And who I'm driving with,
I will always have that little bit of fear left in the back of my mind.

On that day I found what my fear was.
Fear doesn't have teeth,
Fear doesn't have a voice.
Fear has a engine,
Fear has  windshields,
And fear has headlights.