6:00 AM – Three hours and fifteen minutes before the test. After being on the waiting list for months, the day of Saoirse’s driving test finally arrived. She’d been frantic about the kitchen going over every morsel of driving theory knowledge she could remember. ‘Clutch makes the car go. Bang it into first, get the bite, set the gas, and ease off of it, then you’re motoring. And the signs, oh god I’ve to remember the signs!’ She lit a cigarette to take the edge off.
7:52 AM – One hour and twenty-three minutes before the test. ‘Into first, do all your checks, signal, bite, gas, easy does it. And when they ask me about roundabouts it’s keep left when going left or straight and keep right when going right, signaling all the way. C’mon Saoirse, no cut-outs, no speeding, no forgetting to signal, all’s gonna be just right.’ Three more cigarettes stubbed in the ashtray.
8:27 AM – Forty-eight minutes before the test. ‘Clutch, look, signal, gas, go. And remember your hand signals and where all the bits-and-bobs under the bonnet are. Right, house keys? Check. Car keys? Check. Driver’s ed log book? Check. Driver’s license? Check. Better get a move on to beat the school traffic.’
9:15 AM – The pre-test exam begins. The tester, a rather plump fella, is standing in front of the car, taking notes of its condition, while Saoirse sits nerve-wrecked in the driver’s seat. ‘Just keep it cool, and when he asks to pull off, it’s gear, gas, go!’ She autonomously blew through the steps and in an instant, the car leapt forward and bonneted the tester, sending him flying over the windshield. An instant fail for Saoirse.
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Giuseppe Gillespie Writing 
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