After leaving the restaurant, I snuck a small red and white striped mint into my pocket. I tried to keep it out of view from my mother; she always had an irrational fear that I would choke on them, but I thought was old enough now to know how to keep a mint in my mouth.

I had never tasted one of these before, and I had always wondered what it was like. I crawled into the back seat of the car and popped one in my mouth. The savory taste intsantly hit me. I swished the mint around in my mouth to get the most out of the flavors. I buckled into my car seat, giddy with excitement, as we took off.

My mind was spinning faster as than the wheels on the car as I tried to decipher this new taste. Then, at a stoplight, With the snap of a finger, the mint was gone; the taste was gone. I perked up as I was in shock of what just happened. The mint was lodged in my esophagus. I tried and tried and tried, but I couldn't breath. Panic struck as tried to grasp any air I could. No matter how hard I tried,‍ I couldn't breathe‍. I had thought I had taken my last breath in that car. Suddenly, what seemed like the hand of God grabbed me and pulled me out of the car. I couldn't think. The world seemed like a blur. I was whipped around like a rag doll as continuous blows were applied to my stomach, but the mint just wouldn't leave my Throat. These couple of seconds felt like an eternity. Suddenly, a gasp of air entered my body just after the mint. Mint. The disgusting mint that tried to kill me stared at me from the ground. As I took three or four more breaths, the world stopped spinning. People got out of their cars with worried looks on their faces. As I turned around, the one face I'll never forget was my mom standing there with tears streaming down her face. She had just saved my life. From that moment on, I knew I'd touch one of those mints again.