Paul & Gertrude

Chapter 1

Some say I was a hero. Some say I'm the victim. I honestly don't know what to say. I guess I'll say what happened on October 9th.

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"Ok team, ready to go?" Dad poked his head around the door and jingled the car keys. Mum and I looked up from where we were having breakfast. I grinned and shoveled the remaining cornflakes into my mouth.

Mum put her hands on her hips. "Gertrude Tongbang! Learn to eat like a lady, won't you?"

Dad rested his hands on Mum's shoulders. "Give Gertie a chance. Now let's go!"

I smiled and dumped my bowl in the sink, leaving the washing to Mum. Ignoring her calls for me to come back and do the washing myself, I skipped up to my room to get my bag.

"GERTRUDE!" Mum screamed up the stairs. I laughed. "Coming!"

We were going camping for the weekend, as a celebration of Dad's promotion. He worked in a very high profile house development agency, working to try and 'earthquake-proof' houses and make them stronger.

I raced past Mum, making her shriek slightly. Dad was just ahead, but he glanced back and saw me running up. "Oh, it's on!" he laughed, and broke into a sprint. I dodged past him and touched the car door just before his fingers brushed against the bright blue paint.

I slid into the passenger seat. Mum stared at me. "Come on, out. You're in the back."

I stared at her in disbelief. "But I'm always in the front."

"Exactly. It's my turn."

"But Muuuuuuuum....."

"No buts. Out."

I sighed dramatically, and slid out, taking up a seat in the back. Mum took my place. And then we were off. On supposedly a nice normal camping trip.

None of us knew how wrong it would go.

We were about maybe an hour into our trip. On the highway. It was practically deserted, a car only passed once every ten minutes.

I don't know what caused the other car to drift; Maybe the driver wasn't paying attention or maybe they were asleep.

But it drifted, and at exactly the wrong time.

A silver car, going at 110 kilometers per hour, drifted. For what reason and how long I have no idea, but we didn't see until too late.

The car smashed into our blue one, shattering glass and flipping, landing on top of us.

The last registered sound in my ears was Mum's scream.

The silence that came after was almost static. White-hot pain radiated from my body, but I was not in a position to register it. It was almost surreal.

A fire had broken out, and the acidic smell of burning rubber filled my nose. I fumbled for my phone and dialed 000.

"Triple 0, what is your emergency?" The woman sounded slightly bored. I tried to speak, but the shock of the scenario made it hard to focus. "I'm stuck in a car crash."

This got the woman more alert. "OK, sweetheart, we're sending help now. Do you know where you are?"

"No." Honest answer.

"OK, stay on the phone and we'll track your call." There was a short pause. "What's your name sweetie?"

"Gertrude." I thought it was childish, but anything to distract me.

"How old are you, Gertrude?"

"...I think my parents are dead." It came out as a blunt statement. I think my parents are dead. All of a sudden my cheeks were wet with tears, and I was hiccuping and gasping.

"The ambulance is very close, do you hear?" She must have heard the sound of the sirens, which is getting  increasingly louder by the second. The noise is making my head throb.

"..."

I felt sick. My vision was blurring, both with tears and pain. I felt like I wanted to vomit. A dark, almost black, blur was coming from the front, and it was making me panic. What if it was blood?

As they carried me from the wreck on a stretcher, I saw the cars. My heart sank as I looked at where Mum and Dad would have been. No one could have survived that.

It could have been me. It could have been me. If we had been sitting in the position we usually did, it would be me who was dead. I wish it was me.

As they loaded me into the ambulance, I got a last glimpse of the little blue car with the silver car on top. And all of a sudden I was struck with the urgency to know if the other car's occupants were alive.

As much as I was angry at them for drifting, I wanted them to be alive. I wanted whoever was in that car to be living, like me. I needed to know. But I was falling into blackness, into the grip of unconsciousness and pain.

How had such a normal camping trip gone so wrong?