“Hilda! Come on, let’s go! Don’t you wanna get to the mall before it closes?!”

“Yeah, I’m coming! Don’t leave without me!” Hilda shouted, with a giggle, as she ran to catch up to Crystal. Then she quickly jumped into the passenger's seat and pulled down the seat belt. “What’s the big hurry?” she inquired, once she caught her breath.

“Oh I’m sorry, it’s just that I only have around 2 hours to shop today. I have to pick Kirby up at school at 2:00.”

“Oh, well in that case, step on it!”

Crystal drove faster and faster. “To catch up with traffic,” is what she told the cop who pulled her over, but gave her a ticket anyway.

Once they got to the mall, they both hurried inside, for the escalator’s relief, the endless colors, and to put an end to the wind’s mad blow on their all-important hairstyles.

“Oh wow, check out these gorgeous designer bags and leather purses!”

“I will as soon as I tear myself away from these luxurious cashmere sweaters!”  Hilda swooned; running a pale pink sweater across her cheek, like she was in Heaven.

“Hey Hilda…..stop rubbing that sweater all over your face! You’ll get make up all over it,” Crystal said softly, in an attempt to not draw attention.

“Oh yeah,” she replied in a whisper; gently laying it down on the counter. “Hey, I’m glad you mentioned make-up. Remind me before we leave to pick up some eyeshadow and blush from Macy’s or Bloomingdales. They both have the really good kind I always buy,” she quickly added.

“Okay, I will….. if you remind me to hit that store with those designer jeans I like so much and I’m also interested in some new dangly gold earrings.”

“Oh, I will, IF you remind me after that to check out those silk scarves out there in the center of the mall,” replied Hilda; jokingly. Then right at that very moment, the two looked at each other and burst out laughing. “Like we even need reminding,” they said at the same time, as they locked arms and hurried to their first retail conquest of the day.

“You spent more than I did this time,” Crystal remarked.

“Oh no, I think I won that race,” Hilda replied with a chuckle.

“Well we can compare receipts when we get home,” Crystal suggested; half-heartedly.

They quickly jumped into Crystal’s car and sped away, still in fun-mode, until something happened to change the mood of the drive home…...

“You’d better slow down!” Hilda shouted at the sight of a police car.

“Damn! I think he saw me! Oh shit he’s turning on his lights and siren!” Crystal shouted in despair.

The officer pulled her over and reprimanded her for speeding.

“I’m so sorry officer, I’m only rushing so I won’t be late picking up my son from school,” she pleaded; trying to appear attractive in an innocent sort of way.

“I’ll be right back. You wait here,” he ordered.

“Oh, my God, Danny is gonna kill me. He just got over my last speeding ticket fiasco and now it’s happening again……And every time this happens he reminds me of the time I got into an accident trying to get to Kirby’s school. I hope the cop isn’t gonna find out!” she screeched; beginning to panic.

“Take it easy. Use your charm and womanly wiles and you’ll have him eating out of your hand,” Hilda told her, in a misguided attempt to soothe her. Just then they both saw the officer coming back and he had her ticket in his hand.

“Well I just had an interesting conversation with another officer who informed me that you have some unpaid speeding and parking tickets, and just last month you had a fender bender, as you raced home to get there in time for your kids’ bus,” he tried to remind her kindly, but firmly.

“Oh officer! I’m so sorry. And you’re right…..I do have to change my behavior and I will, I promise…... Couldn’t you please just let this go this time though? I did learn my lesson,” Crystal pleaded; trying to get his sympathy and trust.

The officer just sort of shook his head, handed her the ticket and walked back to his car.

“Oh my God Hilda. Danny is gonna be so mad! What the heck I’m I gonna do?”

“Don’t worry! Dan loves you! He’ll understand,” Hilda reminded her reassuringly.

“Yeah, well I’m not so sure he will just forgive me that easily,” Crystal replied, with tears flowing down her cheeks rapidly.

“Well, come on…..Let’s get home and we’ll just have to deal with the consequences,” Hilda replied; trying to sound calm and rational.

Later that evening, Crystal tried to smooth things over with Danny…..

“Please try and understand me when I say, I learned my lesson. I’ll never speed again!”

“Well somehow you sound more angry than convinced, or like you learned any lessons,” he angrily replied; making air-quotes to emphasize his sarcasm. “Besides, I figured you learned your lesson after your fender-bender last month that happened because you were speeding!”

“Will I ever hear the end of that!” she retorted; obviously only pitying herself.

Danny just looked at her in disgust.

She ran out of the living room and flew upstairs to her bedroom. She tearfully washed her face and went to bed and pretended to be asleep, as she heard Dan entering the room.

He got into bed and laid with his back to Crystal.

Crystal continued in her tears and heartache for a few more hours before half, falling into a light and restless sleep.

The next morning, still feeling scared and alone; she didn’t even feel like shopping or even talking to Hilda, so after Danny left for work, she crawled right back into bed and tried to sleep, being completely exhausted, but the phone rang; prompting her to shake herself awake in annoyance and anger.

“Whadaya want Hilda?” she screeched impolitely.

“I was just worried about you guys…..Is everything okay?”

“Yes everything’s okay!”

“Sorry Crystal…..You’ll have to do better than that,” Hilda replied; revealing to Crystal her profound depth of understanding her every emotion.

“I’m sorry okay…..I just don’t wanna talk right now. I’m feeling pretty bad about myself,” she explained.

“I already get it silly…..I’ll talk to you later. I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah….. yeah, that’ll be okay.”

Crystal hung up the phone and stood up. She went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. Then she looked into the mirror at her tear-stained face and puffy eyes and felt like crawling under a rock, but she put on some clothes that were laying on a chair and got into her car. ‘I know I have to stop shopping, but one last time for the road,” she muttered, as she put the key into the ignition. She turned the key with a faint smile; thinking that one last, expensive spree and I’ll be satisfied and never shop frivolously again.’ 

She pulled into the mall parking lot and stared at the stores; trying to decide where to start or rather where to finish her shopping career.

Several hours and 10 shopping bags later, she needed to increase her pace in order to get home in time. Still feeling the exhaustion of fighting with her husband and the upset over getting another ticket, she pushed herself, nonetheless, to continue until the very last minute, that she decided, would give her enough time to get home.

5 bags of goodies later, she finally left the mall and began to speedily head home. Sensing the bus was about to pull up to Kirby’s bus stop, she stepped harder on the accelerator. Now reaching a speed of 90 mph on the main highway, she felt her heart start to pound in fear of what could happen and sensing her car screaming at her to slow down. She decided to change lanes, but failed to see there was another car already in that very spot.

She tried to swerve, but it was too late; her car slammed into the car in the passing lane; knocking it off the road. Crystal’s car started spinning in circles.

As her car began seemingly to spin faster and faster out of control, she couldn’t help but be reminded of her own life and how it was indeed spinning out of control.

“AAAAHHHHHHH…….AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!” SHE SCREAMED, louder than she’d ever screamed in her whole life and saw her life flash before her eyes. She saw herself, her true self. She saw the selfishness, the immaturity, the shopping! And all the tickets in a pile and she called out to the LORD.

“OH HELP ME LORD. I’M ABOUT TO CRASH. PLEASE SAVE ME. I’M SO SORRY ABOUT HOW I’VE BEEN ACTING THESE PAST FEW YEARS! JESUS SAVE ME!”

Right after that, with the praying and the spinning happening simultaneously; the car slowed down and miraculously came to a dead stop. No one else was around and therefore, shockingly, nothing happened, except for the car she ran off the road.

Crystal prayed all the way home and profusely thanked God for His two-way Salvation. She reconciled herself to turning herself in over the car that she made go off the road. She continued in repentance and awe of the Lord’s Salvation of not only her eternal soul, but from wrecking her car and probably even sparing her the fate of divorce, lost children and bankruptcy.

Crystal opened up to her friend about what happened on the highway and they both ended up giving their lives to Christ Jesus. And not long after that, they both ended up giving much of their many clothing items, jewels and other extravagant items to charity and the needy.

A few months later while they were having a rather pleasant outdoor lunch, Crystal looked deeply into Hilda’s eyes. “We’ve come a long way, ya know? We never shop out of compulsion anymore and we both found out how empty life can get, and fast too…..”

“Yeah,” Hilda interjected. “Now instead of trying to find our satisfaction in ourselves, our looks, our house, all that material jazz, we find our satisfaction in Christ.“

“TRUE SATISFACTION CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN HIM……” Crystal replied.

“AMEN!” They both said together.

Scriptural References: Jeremiah 31:25, Hebrews 13:5, 1Timothy 6:6-8, Psalm 17:15, Proverbs 19:23, Isaiah 55:1-2, Psalm 145:16 & John 4:7-15

Linzy is a certified Bible Counsellor, with countless republications on her viewers blogs, Bible Studies, Ezines and the like. Her portfolio includes, non-fiction articles, short stories for all ages, and Christian poetry.