The Crash

I sat up, jerked by the impending impact of the vehicle we were in and the one that was in front of us.

Somehow, before I knew it I was over my friend in the front passenger seat. Hovering. I was too late, but I was there anyway.

There were screams. Did they happen before or after we hit? No idea.I looked down and had no idea how I got there. Up front. Over my friend. Arms a shield. Protecting - she teased me later on, in the days we could tease one another about this.

A contact lens disappeared. I found my glasses in the mess. Safe in their case. Somehow I tore the other contact out, threw it aside so I could see again.

I felt pain, but wasn't sure where it was coming from.

The driver? A mess. I could barely see her eyes. I reassured her. Small whispers between us. I think I held her hand for a moment.

People started crawling into the van from the back door. Two of us, the least affected, were helping them. Handing them bags? We crawled out, and someone carried our friends out of there. One was holding her face.

"My nose. I think I broke my nose."

"You're OK. It's going to be OK," I told her.

"A mirror. Can I have a mirror? I need to see."

"You don't need to see. There's nothing to see." I sat beside her. "It's okay. You're going to be okay."

"Ang, I need a mirror." I shook my head. I had no idea if her nose was broken, but she didn't need to see her face right now.

Cars passing by. People stopping. Suddenly seeing a car of our friends approach. The chills. The shivering. The fear. The look on their faces. Their eyes as they approached. Smiling at them. Reassuring? Something ...

Sirens blaring. Paramedics there, suddenly. Waving them down.

Directing them. Bringing them to friends with more hurt, more pain. Visible pain.

I can still see it today.

Paramedics moving quickly. Someone approaches. He is really cute. Damn, that hurts. He's still really cute. A few laughs. An ambulance ride. My first. It's interesting in there.

I get to the hospital and find out I actually need stitches. My ankle is cut so deep and bleeding pretty badly. I never saw it. I never knew.

Imagine you are meeting someone for the first time. You want to tell them about yourself. Instead of reciting a laundry list of what you do or where you're from, please give us a scene from your life that best illustrates your true self. This is an exercise in showing, not telling. You need to show us why this particular moment defines you, or why you want someone to know this truth about you. Be descriptive without bogging us down in extraneous details. Word limit is 600. This is to help you self-edit and to make it easier for us to read you.

I am not especially thrilled with this post. I like it, I feel that it shows a huge part of who I am, who I have always been, and at the same time it's giving you insight to an incident in my life that shaped some parts of me, as well, but at the same time I feel unsettled. Maybe it's the topic I chose? Maybe it's the way I flashed back? I feel as though it is missing something. Critiques and feedback are welcome. I only ask that you do so respectfully with this piece, as it is something I have never written about before for the public eye to see. Thank you.

Tweet