My heart sank just like the front wheels when I saw how the car was tilting forward. “Great,” I heard Eunsung mutter. Just as she began to take off her seatbelt, the back half of the car plopped onto the sinking ground as well, and she screamed in surprise.

“We’ll have to get out and push,” I decided, but she was already climbing outside of the window. “Wait, wait, wait. Look, I’ll help you.”

“Don’t touch me,” she said sharply though she was clearly struggling to haul herself onto the roof of the car.

“Why are you so mad?” I demanded to know as I beat her to the top first.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she sarcastically answered and slammed her bag onto the roof. “This?”

“Look, turning onto this road was not my idea,” I said defensively.

“You’re blaming me?” Eunsung shouted. She finally clambered on and stood up to face me.

“Yeah, you’re a terrible navigator!”

“You’re a terrible driver!”

“Hey, I’m a great driver.”

“Right.”

I looked around and noticed how we were marooned. “Eunsung, we’re gonna have to jump.”

“I’m not jumping,” she said firmly.

“Well, you got a better idea?” I challenged.

She spotted a large branch to her left sticking out to us over the surface of the mud that seemed large enough for us to use. She pointed at it. “Use the branch as a bridge.”

I looked at it. “It does not look stable.”

“It looks fine!”

“All right.” I got onto car’s hood and carefully made my way across to the passenger’s window.  Stepping on the windowsill, I outstretched a leg to the branch. “Here goes. All right.”

“It’s sinking and making noises,” she told him when I took too long to search for a firm foothold. “Go faster.”

“O-okay!” I finally climbed on top of the branch just as the car was making sinking deeper. She groaned. “Ugh, this is my grandma’s car!”

“I understand that,” I snapped. “Just give me your hand.”

I gripped her hand and pulled her onto the branch, but she was having a hard time balance upright on the branch that was shaking under her and my combined weight. She shrieked when she felt myself tremble.

At that moment, I slipped, and because I was holding Euns