And Then It Hits You

1201

December 1st

Ernesto opened his eyes.

He was upside-down in their family van, with his parents up at the front and his sister Estelle next to him, also upside-down.

"Mama? Papa?" He croaked out, but there was only silence.

He struggled to take his belt off, and after squirming out of his tight seat belt, he falls on his face on the ceiling of the car.

He shrieks, "Ow!" but then immediately silences himself, thinking the others were just sleeping. Obviously, he knew that they weren't actually sleeping, but the 8-year-old had to keep himself calm in this situation.

He climbs quietly to Estelle, who was in the seat next to him.

"Estelle? Estie, wake up," he whispers. "Estelle Moreno, please, mi hermana menor."

The younger sister starts to stir, slowly shaking her head while slightly stretching her tiny arms and legs as if she just woke up. Ernesto sighed, relieved, that at least his younger sister was alive right now.

"Ernie?" Estelle whispered. "Where's Mama and Papa?"

Ernesto looks at the front seats, where both parents were still upside-down in their seats, with the seat belts being their only restraint from falling on their heads. He then looks at his 4-year-old sister and says,

"They're just sleeping for now, we were having a bat camp-out, remember? Hanging upside down just like bats do, except we're doing it inside of a car. We were going to surprise, uh, Abuela, right?"

Estelle giggles and looks at his brother, who was already looking at her.

"You're funny Ernie! We are BATS! EEE! EEE!" She exclaims as she continues to giggle. Ernie gives a slight smile at his happy-go-lucky sister, but that smile is quickly erased from his face when he hears sirens in the distance. He looks away at the distance to see if the source of the sirens were visible, but they weren't at the moment.

Ernesto turns back at Estelle and reaches for her car seat's seat belts. Since they weren't attached to the car, it was easier to free her than it was to free himself. He turns his back on her, signaling her to get on top of him for a piggy-back ride. She crawls on top of Ernesto and he crawls them both out.

Once they came out of the car, they could hear the sirens much better. It was nearer than it was earlier, but still not visible to Ernesto and Estelle's vision. They were looking off into the distance to once again look for the source of the sirens, but both turned their necks quickly when they heard a creak from behind them.

It was the van.

Ernesto lets Estelle down and takes off his thick jacket, who then wraps it around Estelle. As the jacket lost touch with his body, he started shivering from the cold bitter wind.

Even while the snow was still falling heavily and the wind was blowing harshly around him, Ernesto finds a rock near them and scoops up Estelle and carries her to the rock.

"Estelle, you will sit here with my comfortable jacket while I see what Mama and Papa are dreaming about, alright?"

Estelle cutely nods and he pats her tiny head. Her short dark curls were soft even in the freezing temperature. Ernesto smiles once again looking at his sister touching the snow that was on the rock she was sitting on.

"Don't leave the rock, or I will have to, uh, TICKLE YOU!" Ernesto gently threatens by giving a slight poke in her ribs, making her giggle.

"Okay Ernie, Okay!" Estelle giggles.

Ernesto gives a last look at his sister and then runs as fast as he could to the family van.

"Mama? Wake up, please. Wake up! Please," he pleads to his mother, who was hanging upside-down in the passenger seat. "Please, Mama-"

Ernesto climbs inside the car again and this time gets near Papa.

"Papa, Wake up! Estelle is waiting for a tickle session! Papa, please-"

But there was no response from both.

Ernesto feels tears in the back of his eyes. No they can't be...

They can't be...

Dead.

Muerto?

Can they?

"PAPA!" he screams this time. He turns toward Mama and screams, "MAMA!"

"MAMA! PAPA! WAKE UP! PLEASE! MAMA, PAPA, PLEASE! I LOVE YOU, PLEASE-"

He starts sobbing and tries wiping the tears that were streaming down his cheeks, but they wouldn't stop falling.

"Mama, Papa, please wake up," He says for the last time, sobbing.

The car starts to creak, leaning forward.

"No, no, no. NO! MAMA! PAPA! WAKE UP! PLEASE!"

Ernesto tugs on Mama's seat belt, but it wouldn't budge. He tries on Papa's seat belt halfheartedly, knowing that it would give no result. He starts screaming at the top of his lungs, knowing what will most likely happen next.

"HELP!" He screams desperately. "PLEASE! ANYONE! PLEASE HELP MAMA AND PAPA!"

The car continues to creak as it leans even farther forwards.

Ernesto quickly crawls out of the car, but then crawls back in to give both Mama and Papa a kiss on their cheeks.

"Te amo, mi Mama," he whispers as he plants a kiss on Mama's cheeks.

"Te amo, mi Papa," he whispers as he plants a kiss on Papa's cheeks.

Ernesto wipes his tears, gives a last long look at his parents, and then crawls out of the car for the last time.

Once he is out, he sprints to Estelle, who was still happily playing with the snow that had piled around her.

"Estelle, look! There are beautiful birds flying out there in the dark clouds, among those dark woods. Soon, Mama and Papa will join them. They will be beautiful birds flying out in the coldest and hottest of weathers, flying out in the playful breeze and the bitter whoosh of the wind, flying out between blooming and colorful seasons. They will fly high above us graciously."

Estelle looks at Ernesto curiously, but with still the childish happy gleam in her eyes. She does not understand, but Ernesto is secretly hoping that she will one day, when she is older.

The car creaks and leans forward, then starts to tip over the edge of the cliff that was just in front of the family van.

Ernesto looks down at his sister to see what he was doing, but quickly looks back up when there is a crash.

The van was nowhere to be seen.

"Mama?" Estelle asked. "Papa?"

Ernesto starts sobbing as Estelle points at where the van just was. The sirens were still audible, but much louder now, as the vehicles were parking just behind them on the road.

Ernesto looks down at his sister and kisses her head. He feels tears still streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably. He closes his eyes as he feels Estelle starting to tremble.

And then it hits 8-year-old Ernesto Moreno.

Death doesn't knock on the door.