After the final bell rings I walk as fast I can to my little green car and as soon as I sit down weights are lifted off my shoulders. In a way, it is like I can finally breathe again. Some may believe that I have not taken a breath all day but I will doubt that with all my being. This moment that I have just described has to be my favorite moment of every weekday, it is the moment my brain finally gets to rest.
Before I know it the four-lane swallows my car and highway hypnosis takes over. Sometimes I talk to myself about the day that just passed or sing because I am finally free. Today I tell myself, “Sheetz for dinner will not make you thinner.” Another side of me then shouts “Fried foods and sweet things make a happier you.” This is a battle that is hard to win.
Then I see an abandoned car on the side of the road and then I begin to imagine how sad it must be. Part of me wonders if its owner is on his way with help but I highly doubt it. It is a rarity if I do not see a homeless car along the way home. One of the cars in front of me then swerves into a hillside, ejects one middle-aged man, and then blows up. I slow down to a stop and witness it all. Covered in blood the man crawls up to my car while screaming “Help! Help me!” Since he resembles a zombie my blood freezes cold while lacking any idea of how to help this man. With a brainless stare, he starts sarcastically shouting “Well are you going to help me or not?! I’m dying over here!” Slowly I reach for my phone and then call 9-1-1. “9-1-1 what is your emergency?” says that operator.
With fright in my voice I slothfully say “A man has just gotten ejected from his car. He is alive but he is covered in blood. We are at the Cherry Camp exit.”
“An ambulance is on their way,” spoke the operator.
“Umm, a fire truck also needed; his car has blown up.”
“Okay, I will send them both.”
“Thank you”
Suddenly the ambulance arrives, loses control, and explodes down the road against the same hillside. Unfortunately the driver becomes impounded into the hillside and dies. After nearly ten minutes passing, the fire truck arrives. Since he is in such a hurry he does not see the injured man’s legs and runs right over them. Good thing the man cannot feel a thing because he is already paralyzed in the first place. Then I start to freak because none of this can be true.
The sounding of an average car horn shakes me out of my translation. Then I realize I am almost home and I visualize the whole situation. It is amazing where your brain can take you and how fast it can take you there. Still at this very moment I am astonished with this tragic event. Normally, I ponder how many different ways I could die while driving but this is a whole new extreme.