Memories

Chapter 1

Pop music is the kind of music I like to jam out to, especially in the car.  On September 17th, 2016, I was heading home from school while listening to OneRepublic's new song 'Kids'.

"I refuse to look back thinking days were better

Just because they're younger days

I don't know what's 'round the corner

Way I feel right now I swear we'll never change

Back when we were kids

Swore we would never die

You and me were kids

Swear that we'll never die"

And there I was on the road, driving safely, while carelessly being myself, singing at the top of my lungs. The light was green but I didn't remember to check the intersection and out of the corner of my eyes, I see a car driving right at me. The last thing I remember were big white lights.

And suddenly I have awoken, days later, in a hospital bed, that's not as comfortable as they appear to be. With no memory of what just happened... Great.  Also, I pretty much feel like I'm stuck in a coma because every way I try to turn my now, weak body, I feel pain.  As I tried to turn my head, from the corner of my eyes I could see a nurse about to walk in to check up on me, but I didn't feel like doing some tests so I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.  As my eyes were closed a flashback had come back to me.

Flashback: July 24th, 2016 -My birthday!

Waking up to the smell of freshly made waffles on your birthday is one of the best things in the world.  As I stretched and stepped out of my bed I walked over to my window and saw the mailman delivering mail and yes it's still a thing here in Atlantic City. Usually, I'm not one to get really excited about receiving mail but today's a special day and my dad always sends me something on my birthday ever since he had left us...At least it shows he still cares!  So I ran downstairs all the way to the door and picked up the mail that was on the floor from our mail slot. Suddenly a big smile had appeared on my face as I walked into the kitchen holding a package with my name on it.  My mom had wished me happy birthday but I wasn't paying attention, I was too busy being curious about what's inside the package.  So I put it down on the table and started unwrapping it quickly but still being careful not to break the inside. My mom and sister came and sat beside me watching me unwrap the mysterious gift. The package never said who it was from, just an address listed at the top and a postal code.

It's a journal, brown leather with lots of empty pages, except for one.

"Dear April, this is a gift for you, use it well. Fill it with your precious memories that you have throughout your life. Happy eighteenth birthday! Love always, Dad."

My mom and sister stopped paying attention after I wouldn't answer them the first time which is probably a good thing since they aren't Dad's biggest fan at the moment. As I start getting up from my chair at the dining table where my mom had set up breakfast for me she comes out from the kitchen and says:

"Where are you going? You haven't even eaten!", in a confused way.

"I'm not that hungry at the moment, don't worry I'll come down and eat later", as I replied walking up the stairs, "It looks delicious though".

And I had disappeared into my room for the rest of the morning. I had started to fill up the pages as my hand couldn't stop writing and thoughts kept coming. And that's the story of how I started my new favorite hobby, writing, and I owe it all to my dad.

The flashback ended and I had fallen into deep sleep. During that time something went wrong. Doctors had rushed in because one of my monitors started going off. My lungs gave up on me.

Doctor Chang whispered to my ear:

"No baby cmon don't let go, stay with me."

They had connected me to a medical ventilator, that moves breathable air in and out of my lungs.

And suddenly, with a rush of air flowing through my body, I had quickly awakened.  As nurses exited my room leaving me to rest, I looked around and saw the new machine thinking:

"Looks like I won't be going home anytime soon."