My short stories

The Broken

"Everyone has a story... some become more broken than others from it..." ~Rose4eva789

~~~

It's been 3 years since the incident that haunted Opal ever since. She and her best friend June were returning home for the Christmas holidays from uni. They were meant to be celebrating together with both their families.

While on the motorway home, June decided to change the music as she wasn't into the kind that was on at the time. Whilst trying to change the radio stations, Opal was trying to slow down her car due to being warned earlier that there would be ice on their motorway.

"You don't really think there's a load of ice out now, do you? That guy looked like what he talked about. Garbage!" June exclaimed.

Opal just rolled her eyes. She knew June would say something like that. After all, she's lived a rich and famous life since being a baby. Everything not to her liking would be, to her as garbage.

She loved her best friend but sometimes thought she was too full of herself. As she did now, thinking it was a good idea to distract Opal, causing her to not realise there was some ice ahead. It was too late. The car swerved and the car drove off the motorway into the forest below.

2 hours passed before Opal opened her eyes to see her car wrecked against a tree. She rubbed her neck as she tried to sit up. There was blood on the steering wheel... her head must've been cut. She didn't want to see the damage and instead looked over to her best friend.

June was bleeding, and the blood didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon. Opal tapped her shoulder, whispering June's name. Nothing. She checked for a pulse. Nothing. Panicking, she tried to find her purse for her phone to call home. Great... Her phone was out of battery. Were we gonna be stuck here now?

As if answering her worries, a siren was audible in the distance, getting closer and closer, and stopping on the motorway near them. She could hear some voices, but they were fading. No.... we're over here... she thought before she blacked out.

A week later she woke up in a hospital. Her parents were by her side along with a nurse and doctor. The doctor spoke first, "How are you feeling, Miss Holmes?"

"Like my head will burst?" Opal replied.

The doctor chuckled and said, "Do you remember anything that happened?"

Opal thought for a moment. She did remember. The crash, the car, and June. She asked, "Where's June?"

The doctor blinked then sighed, "If you mean Junifer Lorance, I'm afraid she didn't make it."

No... it can't be...

The doctor continued, "She was extremely damaged, lost a huge amount of blood before the ambulance found you, and not a single pulse. We knew from just finding her that she was already gone."

It can't be...

The nurse spoke then, "Listen dear, I know you may be thinking this, but none of what has happened is any of your fault. Your car had slipped on some black ice. It isn't your fault you didn't see it."

But it is... as she wasn't watching the road while June had been talking to her...

The doctor then said, "We'll give you some privacy now to speak to your parents. After a few minutes, we'll return to let you know to rest. After all, you're not going to be able to leave until we are certain all damage is healed."

Then both nurse and doctor left, leaving Opal with her parents. Her mother came first to hug her, crying softly and saying "Don't ever do that again my little sweetheart, we thought we lost you..."

Her father came to the other side of her bed and stroked her hair, saying "You really are as strong as your father" chucking at his small joke to lighten the mood.

Opal was happy of course she could see her parents. But couldn't shake off the guilt of potentially killing her own best friend. What will June's parents think? she worried.

Turned out... not so well...
The day she was released, her parents took her straight home. That day, June's parents also visited. It...didn't go very well. They began accusing her of killing their child, then accused her parents for giving birth to bad luck.

Opal's father became extremely angry with their attitude and began accusing them back for not being thankful enough that they were the ones who took care of June when they worked day and night. Then shooed them out of the house, accusing them for being trouble themselves.

They eventually left. But the accusations had only made Opal feel worse about the incident. She gave up her studies and would lock herself in her room all day, only coming out to eat.
Her parents were getting worried, but nothing they could do would rid the young lady of the guilt that haunted her mind.

That was 3 years ago. Ever since then, her parents gradually coaxed her into coming out of her room. Her mother gave up her job to take care of her. Her father worked a few longer shifts to make up for her mother's hours. Opal never spoke unless spoken to, and never was able to smile again no matter what her parents did.
Until she met an old friend.

Aren had been through many difficulties, much pain, much sorrow. He lived on the streets after his parents died. He became an addict and began selling drugs for money.
Then he met Opal.

He knew her from college, then uni came and he stayed behind to get straight to work. As it turned out, no one wanted him if he didn't have a degree qualification unless it was a corner shop. And even then, his pay was low as he had no experience. One mistake got him sacked, and he was left to find another job.
This continued for a year before he gave up. He stayed at home, sulking most of the time. His parents were worried but also disappointed he didn't realise he had this coming if he didn't go to uni.
To cheer him up on his 20th birthday, they went to a restaurant. However, a fire had started in the kitchen and not everyone survived. The staff in the kitchen who were responsible were sued, but who would return his parents to him?

The two met along an empty street one day. Opal's parents she should try to get back to walking again, the air would calm her troubled mind. But all she ever thought about was the incident. And Aren, well, we've already established he lives on the streets now.

"You look like you fell from the top of a tower and by chance landed in a full bin," Opal said, trying to lighten the mood.
Aren chuckled, and replied, "You look like you lost everything you worked for, including your soul,"
Opal smiled a small smile, and both ended up catching up on what had happened to them.

They were talking for quite a while and ended up watching the sunset. Aren broke the silence first, "I did warn you about hanging with that girl,"
Opal wondered why he would say such a thing, but didn't answer.
Aren sighed, "I meant that. I knew you'd get into trouble with people like her. Kids who grew up spoiled think the world evolve around them. Then karma hits."
Opal, in shock, asked, "How can you say that?!"
Aren simply replied, "Because it's the truth."
Opal looked away, and when Aren realised, he placed his hands on hers and said, "It's not worth 100's of gold blocks to blame yourself over something that would never have happened if others would just be more sensitive about the people around them. But people like her don't care, while the rest of us do."

Opal looked at him, knowing deep down what he said was true. She rested her head on his shoulder as both continued to watch the sunset until the last speck of light.
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Wow...
Longest short story I think I've written. 😅

This was actually inspired by another story I read recently called Faithful by Alice Hoffman, about a girl whose life gets turned upside-down due to a road accident that leaves her best friend in a coma, and herself overwhelmed by guilt and finding her way to overcome it.
If you ever get the chance, I definitely recommend you to read it.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it, the characters are mine but like I said the story was inspired by another.

Hope you're all having a pleasant day/night.
Lady Rose out~🌹