The Light In The Darkness

                There’s not a day that goes by I don’t think about the night I died.  I have been hiding in the shadows for years, safe from the judgment of the world; but when I turn eighteen that will all be over.  I was only 6 years old when the accident happened.  My mother and father decided it was about time to take a family vacation, so along with them; myself, and my older brother all headed to Big Sur to spend five fun filled days camping….YAA!!!

                We were half way there when a freak storm started to form ahead, unlike anything my parents had ever seen before.  Lightning bolted through the sky and the thunder raddled the very ground we were driving on.  My brother pulled me close to him because I was so afraid of lightning.  A retched down poor of torrential rain and hail started screaming towards the earth, and my father started to lose control of the car.  We were high up in the mountains on a two lane high way, when the car started to hydroplane.  There was a sharp turn ahead, but when dad hit his breaks the car went totally out of control, sliding sideways towards the embankment.  Suddenly we were flying through the air toward the rushing river below.  A 500 foot drop of sheer terror took what seemed like an eternity, the car bounced off the mountains on the way down.  My brother held me close, tight to him; while my mother screamed for God to save us.  Finally we hit the rushing water below with such a jolt that I went flying out of the back window.

                There was darkness all around me, the water kept trying to pull me under and my breaths were fewer and fewer.  The last thing I remember was watching my family fall over the 100 foot water fall in front of me, then something snatched me out of the water.  I woke up in the hospital 2 months later, not really sure if anything I had been through was real or just a dream.   The doctor came in and gave me the news of my family, “I’m sorry honey, but no one but you made it through the wreck alive.”  I wept for hours on the nurses shoulders, I had no body.

                In the hospital was the first sign I had that something was different about me.  The doctors said it would take at least 6 months to heal and I healed in 3 days.  I felt stronger, smarter, but I didn’t care; without my family, I was alone.  It was time to check out and I thought I had no place to go, until one of the nurses that cared for me came in with a change of clothes and sat down beside me.  Her name was Kimwae and she spoken with a unique accent.  She told me that she had been here since the night I was brought in and every day since, and if I wanted to I could come stay with her.  I felt instantly, somehow, connected to her so I said yes.

                It took 7 hours to get to Kimwae’s house, it was out in the middle of nowhere.  Her house was a strange place, it had ambulates hanging in every door and window, and it seemed very dark.  I really didn’t care though, I was so miserable without my family.  She carried me in the house and sat me down on the couch.  “I promise you, nothing will happen to you here.  I will always be here for you from now on.  I know what you are going through right now is painful and you feel like you will never smile again, but I promise it will get better.” She promised me this and held me until I cried myself to sleep.

                I woke up the next morning in a huge bedroom made for a princess.  There was a life size doll house in the corner, two toy boxes full of toys and a closet and dresser full of clothes that were my size.  I called out “Hello? Is anybody here?”  Kimwae walked in the room with a tray full of my favorite foods.  White chocolate pancakes with strawberry sauce, bacon, and scrambled eggs with a glass of grape juice.  “I hope you’re hungry, we need to build up your strength.” She said to me while she sat down on the bed beside me.  Everything looked so good, and I felt like I hadn’t eaten in forever so I tried the eggs and beacon.  I refused the pancakes because my mother used to make those for me and I know that no one could make them as good as mommy did.