Copyright © Larry Johnson 2026
It was one of those occasions when the alarm had not the effect for which it was invented. Lincoln Ivory was relying on it critically that morning. It is an oddity of the mind that when we really need to remember to do something important, we oft forget to do it. So it was on this occasion for Lincoln; as he had forgotten to set the clock alarm. A meeting of all managers at his company, Sure Finance Group, was scheduled first thing that day and he needed to be there on time. He had been under some pressure lately regarding his performance, currently acting with heightened diligence to ensure there were no further shortcomings in the discharge of his duties. Lincoln had reached the conclusion that the responsibilities accompanied with his employment were possibly beyond his emotional capability. There was no doubt in his mind that he possessed the intelligence, but his ability to manage the anxiety, caused by the pressure encountered, was questionable. Nonetheless the reality was that he had a wife and two children, Alice, Tommy, and Jane respectively, to support. Lincoln was searching for alternative employment, but the job market had limited opportunities and any change in this regard wasn’t going to occur quickly.
‘Dam’, exclaimed Lincoln, ‘I’ll be running late now – better get a move on’.
Subsequent to his outcry, Alice awoke, jumping immediately to ready breakfast.
‘I won’t have time for that Alice. I’m so late now I’ll have to skip it. Would you be able to rouse Tommy and Jane?’
‘Okay’, replied Alice.
Tommy and Jane were both school age, ten and eight respectively. When parents are in a state heightened of tension, it is not unusual for the contagion to spread to the children. Such was the case this morning.
‘Will we be late for school Mum? We haven’t had breakfast yet’, stated Tommy.
‘Mum, I don’t want to go to school today. I’m not feeling well’, exclaimed Jane.
‘Jane, what is the matter?’, asked Alice vexedly.
‘I don’t know. I just don’t feel like going’, moaned Jane.
‘You have to go and that’s the end of it’, asserted Alice.
While Alice organized the children amidst some level of chaos, Lincoln’s anxiety was rising to a level of aggravation. He couldn’t find his keys but then realized they were on the family room bookstand, where he didn’t normally leave them. A hurried shave required minor first aid care. The clock wasn’t helping as it kept marching too quickly for him to make up the time to enable punctuality at the meeting.
‘I just hope the traffic is kind this morning’, he thought.
‘Which car are you taking?’, asked Alice.
‘I’ll take hatchback if you would like the sedan’, replied Lincoln.
‘Okay’, responded Alice.
Finally, Lincoln was ready to depart for work. After wishing Alice a good day and telling Tommy and Jane to be good at school, he headed for the car.
‘Bye-bye daddy’, cried Tommy and Jane.
‘Be careful now Lincoln’, Alice called out.
‘I will’, responded Lincoln.
The drive to work was not a short one for Lincoln; approximately forty kilometres. There seemed to be a bit of traffic, but so far it wasn’t too bad. Nonetheless, Lincoln remained anxious. He couldn’t afford to lose this job: not with a mortgage, school fees, and other expenses. Alice and he had worked so hard for their achievements.
‘I hope forgetting to put that alarm on doesn’t jeopardize things more than they already are’, he thought.
It is not unprecedented that when you need things to work your way, the opposite occurs. After not ten minutes driving the traffic had built up considerably and there was no quicker lane on this road. Anxious to extricate himself from the build-up, Lincoln mulled over alternative routes he might take to circumvent the traffic.
‘There’s a turn-off on the left just up ahead, I think. I’m sure it leads to another freeway entry further on. It doesn’t look like this way will get me there on time. There must be an accident up ahead. Yes, I’ll take that route’ thought Lincoln.
Lincoln did take that left turn and it was indeed a little more devoid of traffic. Another look at his watch saw his agitation build though; with the consequence that his foot became heavier on the accelerator pedal. He noticed the speedometer reading ten kilometres over the limit. Although tempted to maintain this speed, Lincoln thought better of it and eased back on the pedal. However, this became a developing pattern, and Lincoln had to consistently keep tempering his haste. He was trying hard to obey the law, but his job may be at stake; and he found it more difficult to dispossess himself of this restiveness.
‘What am I going to do if I lose this job?’, thought Lincoln. ‘What will become of my family? It’s not as though jobs are just hanging on the tree waiting to be picked’.
Thoughts kept whirling through Lincoln’s head. Negative thoughts all of them. The anxiety seemed to feed upon itself, intensifying accordingly. He had experienced this feeling all too well in the past and if it wasn’t reigned in, would soon enough become embedded. Logical thought becomes impossible and the mind begins to reel. ‘Take hold of yourself man’, he impelled. ‘Why am I like this? Why can’t I break free from this mental deficit? Concentrate on the road for goodness’ sake; you’ll end up making things worse’. Lincoln had indeed struggled with this condition for the greater part of his life. Psychologists had made some progress but ultimately, he knew it was his will that would need to conquer the mountain. Medication had been tried, but the drugs provided just caused somnolence and lethargy; made it more difficult for him to operate and for others to tolerate. It seemed an anomalous circumstance that he had been able to achieve what he had; but he appeared out of his depth often enough. Indeed, Lincoln was of the view that he had over-achieved in a sense. He was intelligent enough, he believed, but his emotional control often left wanting.
While all these thoughts giddied his mind, the traffic congestion once more caused delay. He realised now that a late arrival was inevitable, so only minimization of the damage was now possible. Coming to a stop, he observed the long queue ahead; of vehicles waiting at the traffic lights that facilitated access to the freeway. The cavalcade of vehicles was so long that he had to wait interminably for an opportunity to merge into the right turn lane. The lights appeared to be favouring the traffic travelling in other directions. As the procession of cars inched toward the lights, Lincoln began to swelter, not through heat, but through shear tension. To make matters worse a cacophony of car horns had begun, which raised his mental state to one bordering on havoc.
‘Can’t they organize more efficient priority with these lights?’, he vocalised. ‘I’ll never get there in reasonable time now. What is a man supposed to do? And why do these drivers take so long to pull away from the lights when they turn green? Do they need a written invitation? Come on people, sometime today would be nice.’
Finally, Lincoln was able to enter the freeway. He had for some time thought that freeways could be described as an exercise of utter madness. Tens of cars and trucks flying along at high speeds; all driving at close quarters. There was a time, he pondered, when it was unlawful to travel so close to the other, but modern times appear to have erased the courtesy – or regard for regulations. With the existing anxiety of the morning, he felt less confident in navigating his way through the madness; but he had to get there within reasonable time at the very minimum. He feared though that already he would be embarrassingly late. Lincoln kept looking at his watch, glancing at the speedometer, looking left and right, checking the rear vision mirror.
Although there was little doubt that his late entrance was inevitable, Lincoln still believed he could limit the chagrin of his seniors if he could encounter a fast passage along the freeway. A feverish and frantic mind had left him once again mentally exhausted. Still, he had to make the effort. Everything depended on him now from a financial perspective. Alice had been working at the local café until recently. However, due to financial constraints the owner recently closed the business. It had been a part-time position but had provided a financial buffer for them. ‘How could I have forgotten to set that alarm? It may be the ruin of us if I lose this job’, he thought once more. Lincoln observed the dashboard clock. ‘I’ll have to pick up the pace; times getting on, a little over the speed limit won’t hurt’, he decided, with disregard that his frame of mind was not conducive to critical decision making.
Lincoln affirmed his determination and acted upon it accordingly. He began changing lanes, accelerating, braking then accelerating again. His face was a lather of perspiration as he assumed the desperation of a racing car driver – minus the ability. Finally, stuck behind a driver that was travelling too slow for his liking, Lincoln smacked the blinker switch down to swing into the right passing lane. He had checked the rear vision and side mirrors, but the swiftness with which it was done left him oblivious to a truck bearing down from behind and in the lane in which he wanted to merge. At high speed, the truck cannoned into the rear of the driver’s side of Lincoln’s vehicle, spinning it in such a fashion that it ended up being dragged along the road at right angles to the truck. Amid the noise of screeching brakes from the truck and other vehicles, the hatchback was twisted around and jettisoned down the grassy embankment that formed the median strip. The car flipped over on to its roof and landed at the base of the verge.
Amidst the turmoil, a witness to the event immediately phoned for emergency services. Bystanders gathered about the vehicle calling out to Lincoln. No response came forthwith. Some attempted to find a way into the vehicle to rescue him, without success, as the accident had caved in the roof of the hatchback. Emergency services arrived promptly, but to the witnesses it felt like an eternity. Again, Lincoln did not respond to the voices from those attempting to assist.
‘He could just be unconscious’, one bystander stated.
The task of rescuing Lincoln from the vehicle was one that could not be completed with haste; but when executed revealed the tragic evidence that the driver, Lincoln, was deceased. The shock and horror for the witnesses were manifest; for rescue staff, feelings of sadness all too familiar.
The narrator need not delve into the reactions of Alice, Tommy, and Jane. A loving wife reacted as one would expect, the children differently and with symptoms of trauma analogous to their level of maturity. The funeral was reverent and the homily delivered with poignancy. Family and friends gathered around Alice and the children. Stories were exchanged about Lincoln and how he was loved, memories recalled and expounded upon with fondness. It was bearable for them during the wake, as talking about someone can sometimes, in a small but insufficient way, render the feeling that they are still around. The memories may bring some sense of their presence. It is after the crowd have departed that the dread descends once more. So it was for Alice, Tommy, and Jane. When the guests departed, Tommy and Jane went to their room and alternated between tears and nothingness. Alice reposed to the lounge chair where Lincoln and she had watched television, talked, and laughed: but not to tonight and not anymore. The reminiscences brought tears and distress. Alice pondered over the reflections and cliches of family and friends. That she still would have the memories, and as time heals things would settle down. Perhaps they will Alice thought; but not tonight. Only more tears.
