It was a cold, bleak night in a rather sunny April, and my beloved family of five was driving home from my grandmother's house at ten at night. The glorious day was filled with fun, laughter, and joy. We played board games, and I even won a round. We ended it all by eating at my favorite diner. Little did we know, our dear lives would fall apart in mere moments, after the...Event. We were driving along the countryside, on our way home, twenty seemingly long minutes away. But very much can happen in twenty minutes. In twenty minutes, you could become the president of the U.S. In twenty minutes, you could be dying a painful, horrible death. But me, this frightened eleven year old girl, is far from dead and far from being president.
The car drives along the bumpy road to see a kind of broken down, dark tractor in the road. It creeps toward us, shaking and making strange popping noises. My mother honks her horn urgently, and tries to turn out of the way, desperately turning her wheel to the left.
The tractor slams into the front of our car.
Everyone swings forwards, and the car swivels into the side of the road. I'm still alive, thank God. Even if i was alive, had my parents survived the crash?
I struggle to reach the front seats, where my parents resided. To my horrors, the worst fate had to come.
My mom and dad were in the front seats, leaning forward, as if dead. When I had gotten a closer view, both their eyes were wide open. I assumed they were okay, and sighed. But then I felt my mother's heartbeat.
The thing is, there was no heartbeat. Nothing moving inside my father, either.
I shiver, scared and cold. Tears slip from my eyes. I climb out the busted car door, and look at the tractor that ended my parent's lives. It looked as if it had been torn apart. When I peek through the broken glass of the window, I see that there was no person inside.
"Damn you!" I screech into the empty tractor. "Damn you to hell!" I was furious, and scared at the same time. I never use any sort of language like I just used now. But it's besides the point. They didn't even bother to see if we were okay. They just ran, as if they were standing in front of a rope, trying to decide their fate. I bet the asshole assumed he would get into a hell of a trouble if anybody found out what he had done.
I tremble, as I run back to the car. I see my brother and sister, their eyes filled with fear. I sighed with relief.
They were alive.
I heard sirens. I assumed my sister dialed 911, since there was a phone lying beside her leg.
All the trucks and cars arrive. The sirens screamed horrible things to me. I couldn't bear it. It took very much of my will power not to scream and run. Police officers grab me, and force me into a car.
I feel silenced.
You would've thought I lost something from this experience. You are absolutely one-hundred percent right. I did, but even though my terrible loss hurts, I have gained. What have I gained, exactly? I have gained experience. Empathy. I know what this situation is.
Now one dreadful year later, this twelve year old girl goes into her middle school. I have changed, I am more confident, and wise. You think that it would be devastating if the same event that happened a year ago happened to you. You're right. It would. But you just need the bravery and courage to get through it.
