My first Miracle

When does a person become aware of his own mortality? Probably the first time he or she is confronted with the subject of death in a more personal way. With me this happened at the age of about five.

My friend of the same age, Elmar, and I had decided to move over from our settlement to the large meadow. When we reached the village road in between, I stopped because I saw a car approaching from the left. First blink of an eye!
    To my great surprise and dismay I saw my friend enter the road. Second blink!  And then everything went very fast. When Elmar noticed the vehicle approaching at high speed, he ran off. Exactly where the car was headed in the meantime. The collision seemed inevitable. Third blink!
    In the greatest emergency I shouted: "ELMARRR!!!", whereupon he stopped abruptly and turned. Again to where the driver tried to pass.
    Elmar escaped death by a hair's breadth - and this can be taken figuratively. The driver "escaped" with screeching tires and really putting his foot down again.

For a few seconds Elmar and I stood there heavily shocked. Then we separated wordlessly and went home. We had both looked death in the eye for a moment. We understood how quickly everything could be over. At the same time at least I intuitively understood that something - perhaps a higher power - had protected Elmar.
    Because actually it had been completely excluded that he had come out of this thing intact and undamaged. It had definitely been a miracle!

Mi primer milagro

¿Cuándo se da cuenta una persona de su propia mortalidad? Probablemente la primera vez que se enfrenta al tema de la muerte de una manera más personal. Conmigo esto sucedió a la edad de unos cinco años.

Mi amigo de la misma edad, Elmar, y yo habíamos decidido mudarnos de nuestro asentamiento a la gran pradera. Cuando llegamos a la carretera del pueblo en medio, me detuve porque vi un coche que se acercaba por la izquierda. ¡Primer parpadeo!
    Para mi gran sorpresa y consternación vi a mi amigo entrar en el camino. Segundo parpadeo!  Y entonces todo sucedió muy rápido. Cuando Elmar se dio cuenta de que el vehículo se acercaba a gran velocidad, huyó. Exactamente hacia dónde se dirigía el coche mientras tanto. La colisión parecía inevitable. ¡Tercer parpadeo!
    Grité: "ELMARRR!!!" y se detuvo y se giró bruscamente. De nuevo al lugar por donde el conductor trató de pasar.
    Elmar escapó de la muerte por la anchura de un pelo - y se puede tomar eso en sentido figurado -. El conductor "escapó" con los neumáticos chirriantes y volvió a pisar a fondo el acelerador.