Believe It or Not, This Really Happened to Me, by Ricky

In the spring of 1969, I was in the Air Force and stationed at Hurlburt Field near Ft. Walton Beach in the western panhandle of Florida.  One day I was alone driving north along a road which was basically the top of a mile long levy which was dividing a swamp to the west from farm land on the east.  The road/levy was approximately 10-feet above the level of the swamp to my right.

I saw, about ½ mile ahead of me and traveling in the same direction, two boys riding on one bicycle rather unsteadily.  I was driving at the speed limit of 55mph.  In the distance way beyond the boys, I could see a school bus driving south coming towards us.

Suddenly, I heard a voice in my head telling me to “slow down”.  I was surprised because I know what my thoughts sound like and this “voice” was not mine.  When I did not respond as directed due to my surprise, the “voice” spoke again saying for forcibly, “Slow down! Those boys are going to fall in front of you.”  I immediately took my foot off the gas pedal and the car began to slow.

Sure enough, when I was about 40 yards away, the bicycle hit some kind of object near the edge of the road and the boys fell off the bike right in front of me.  As luck would have it, the school bus also arrived going the speed limit.  I was now going slowly enough that I was able to stop in plenty of time.  If I had not received the warning or heeded it, I would have had three choices.  Run over the fallen boys, swerve to the left and hit the school bus head on, or swerve to the right going off the levy into the swamp.

I got out and made sure the boys were okay.  I then had one boy ride in my car while the other one rode his bicycle to the end of the levy where the boys would turn onto a side street to their destination.  I followed behind the bicycle so no other car would hit him, if he fell again.  At the end of the levy, both boys thanked me and rode off to their destination.

I have not heard any “voices” since that time on the levy.

© 6 October 2014

About the Author  

 I was born in June of 1948 in Los Angeles, living first in Lawndale and then in Redondo Beach.  Just prior to turning 8 years old in 1956, I was sent to live with my grandparents on their farm in Isanti County, Minnesota for two years during which time my parents divorced.

When united with my mother and stepfather two years later in 1958, I lived first at Emerald Bay and then at South Lake Tahoe, California, graduating from South Tahoe High School in 1966.  After three tours of duty with the Air Force, I moved to Denver, Colorado where I lived with my wife and four children until her passing away from complications of breast cancer four days after the 9-11-2001 terrorist attack.

I came out as a gay man in the summer of 2010.   I find writing these memories to be therapeutic.

My story blog is, TheTahoeBoy.Blogspot.com.