"Whoa." The last words I ever heard that kiddo speak.
The surface of the water was glistening. With oil. Thick, murky, seemingly solid currents forced water to sway and jerk as the moonlight filtered onto the Hudson River. I couldn't breathe. Screeching echoed through my mind in skull-shattering volumes, uncannily imitating the sounds I had synchronized with the tires and myself. As a current dunked me underwater, my arms flailed upwards, snagging something ponderous in the process. I shot my eyes open to only meet with darkness as my pupils burned from the strain and my senses reeled from the overwhelming darkness and heaviness that accompanied it. Stupidly trying to shove air into my lungs, I deeply inhaled, before feeling a searing hand burn and choke my body, drowning myself from the inside. Forcing myself to get it together, I snapped my brain to focus, but only succeeded in working in slow motion as I attempted to kick my legs up to the surface. The heavy object that had snagged and latched itself onto my arm protested with groaning and creaking as it stubbornly tried to drag me down further.
Realizing that I didn't have much more time before I lost consciousness, I pulled my arm out of whatever was encapturing it, sensing but not quite feeling a tremendous tug as my shoulder blade dislodged itself from its socket and rip off my skin as glass cleanly amputated a chunk of flesh from my body. Instantly, a numbness started to overtake my body, the freezing waters coaxing me to give up and reach for the stars I saw when I closed my eyes...
But as I started to drift off blissfully, I felt a warmth radiate to my left. Like a fluttering, uncoordinated moth trying to reach light, I willed myself to move towards the warmth to thaw myself before hypothermia took over. To my pleasure, the closer I moved, the warmer I felt. It was as if a warm bonfire had been set up, with dancing flames enlightening its dark surroundings with crackling heat and comfort. As I drew closer, the mental image I had became more vivid, enticing me to embrace the flames and become one with them. And so I continued forth. Opening my eyes, I disregarded my leaking arm and the dull ache that had settled in my shoulder, swimming forward, forward, forward. I felt the pressure of the water lessen, but disregarded that as well, as if my sole purpose in life at that moment was to reach the source of the heat. As I kept swimming, I noticed a white hue to the flames. And a harsher scarlet. More groans and creaks followed, but the dipping and diving inferno kept me paddling towards it like an eager puppy. Then I heard snaps. And cracks. And then vermilion towers with zig zagging tops tried to spread and seep into their vicinity. The warmth became a little hotter. Then a little more hot. Then uncomfortably hot. Then shockingly hot. Blisteringly hot. Scaldingly hot. Searingly hot...until scorching, feverish flames lashed my skin with every dip as they surged forward, suddenly not so inviting and slow.
Blinking rapidly, I realized after several seconds that I had been approaching not simply a mental image of a cozy bonfire, but in fact a thunderous wave of fire that had erupted from the totaled Benz -- underwater.
Now fighting unconsciousness, I pushed all of my remaining energy into propelling myself upwards and away from the heat which I had moments ago been whole-heartedly striving towards, before finally breaking onto the oily, viscous, and apparently flammable surface. Gulping air into my lungs, I took one last breath before my starred, spotty vision of the eery moonlight reflecting on the river faded...
