Little Betty

The Accident

    It was just another boring Monday morning in Colorado Springs, yet it was one of this years iciest so far. Mom tried to drive me to school, but I told her I would be fine walking. Either way, she made me bundle up and walked me down the first block. I told her I wasn't a nine year old little boy anymore, but she didn't care.

"Samuel, as long as you're my son, I'll continue to take care of you and make sure you're safe. Even if you think you can handle everything by yourself since you're now a senior, it doesn't matter. Kidnappers don't care what your age is." she scolded me as we had walked out the front door.

    I was going to tell her that her being with me wouldn't matter either. She's too tiny to do anything. She never even carries a cellphone, so she wouldn't be able to call the police. If anything, I'd be the one trying to keep her safe from abductors. Of course I didn't tell her any of this. I simply nodded and continued walking.

    We had parted ways, her to the newspaper stand, and I towards school. The roads next to the sidewalks I took were pretty busy, but not today. Especially not with black ice covering about 70 percent of them. Still, there were some people driving cautiously. That's why I was confused at first when I saw the speeding, gray Toyota Camry. I quickly saw that it had hit a patch of black ice, and it started spinning out of control towards the intersection. Their light was red, but they couldn't stop. The oncoming traffic, although only a few, didn't see the spinning hunk of metal.

    In what seemed like 5 seconds, the Camry spun into the other cars. The speed they were going had only increased with the slide. A blue Prius collided first with the Camry and was dragged back towards an oncoming 16 wheeler. The back half of the Camry got caught under the front tires of the enormous diesel. With a deafening crunch of metal, the back of the Camry was completely obliterated. The Prius was out of the destruction path with it's hood crumpled back like paper. The 16 wheeler had managed to halt itself and the driver was hopping out of the cab and running towards the wreck.

    After the shock of what had just occurred before me, I found my way over to the Camry. The truck driver was already there trying to pull open the driver's door. He instructed me to go back to his truck and grab the crow bar he had stowed away between the seats. I was on the step of the truck before he could finish. I grasped hold of the bar and quickly returned. He swiped it out of my hands and jammed it into the door jamb. He was a very muscular guy, so I wasn't surprised when he popped the door open so swiftly.

    In the driver's seat was a balding, middle-aged man. A horizontal gash was planted right in the center of his forehead. He had blood splattered all over the right side of his face and the back of his head. I was confused at the direction of the blood, until I looked at the remainder of the backseat. There was blood and chunks covering almost every inch of the crushed metal and upholstery. The worst part was the small arm I saw sticking out of the metallic heap. It looked to be the size of a small child's. I also spotted clumps of long, black hair hanging off of the seat.

    After the trucker pulled the man out, he followed my horrified gaze and puked at the sight of it. The woman who was driving the Prius had already called 911 and was assessing the damage to her car. The trucker made sure she was alright. Minus a bad case of whiplash, she was just fine. The balding man was sitting on the sidewalk with his head in his hands. Suddenly, he whipped his head up, his eyes turned into saucers, and he tumbled back over to what was left of his Camry. One look in the back seat and he turned around cursing and clutching the sides of his head.

    I was a little surprised at his reaction. I thought he'd break down crying or stumble back stricken with terror. Instead he was acting out in anger. Before he could pick up anything and throw it at us, the police, firefighters, and ambulances arrived. They quickly, yet carefully subdued the raging man and hauled him over to one of the ambulances. A few police glanced into the back of the Camry and instantly turned green. They called over a couple of paramedics and they looked just as sick as the officers.