Earth Bound (#Wattys2016 entry)

37

An asian man and his brunette wife step out of the hospital carrying a small bundle wrapped in a warm, woollen blanket. The couple step into a car and gets ready to drive away to their home. Both of them are excited about the life they are going to have, now with a new-born baby. As the mother steps into the passenger seat holding her child to face her, he gurgles and reaches out a hand. Her long hair blows in the soft wind as she gently puts her hand into the child's grip, so he can feel his mother's finger. He grasps it tightly, pulling it closer to himself, just as his father slowly pulls the car away from the parking lot and drives smoothly through the dark night, the quiet road stretched far into the cool, peaceful town a few kilometres away from the hospital.

The only light that guides the driver is the car's beaming head lights, illuminating a few metres of road stretched in front of the car. When the car drives into a highway, the road becomes wider with about three lanes for each direction of traffic. As it grows later and later in the night, it starts to drizzle a little. The considerably burly father flips a switch on the dashboard to turn on the windscreen wipers, which emit a soothing, rhythmic tick that lulls the baby to sleep. But then, a huge bolt of lightning reaches the ground in the distance, and when the thunderclap comes a second later, the baby cries at the sound of the startling sound. The rain gets heavier and visibility gets even lower.

As her son's wails get louder, the mom gently pats the baby and pulls him closer to her face as she silently comforts him. He calms down at the sight of his amiable mother's face and the heavy rain slightly - very slightly - lessens.

All of a sudden, a brighter beam of yellow slices through the rain and speeds through the road, heading for the newly-parents' car. It all happens too fast. The father slams on the brakes with all his might, jerking the car to a sudden stop, but the other one doesn't cooperate. The other car, a rusty brown one, continues at full speed, heading for a head-on collision. The last moments of the couple was in total shock and devastation, as they both shared a glance in an instance, a huge look of worry and desperation in their faces. There was no way out from this impending death.

***

When the bodies of the two couples were found, the policeman was shocked to see the scene: the bloodstained lady grasping the husband's with one hand, the other wrapped tightly in an embrace around her body. The policemen lifted her arm to see a small baby boy, with a long streak of blood across his face and blanket, sniffling and crying so softly. It was a miracle he survived.