A Life Without Wings

Chapter six
The Accident

The once restful old dirt road that led from Hoot's mercantile is about to have a rude awakening, as Mr. Hoot's old 1938 Studebaker truck has hit the road lickety-split. His face has obvious signs of stress as he pulls in front of Abigail's house screaming from the open window, " Abby! Quick there has been an accident on the highway and we need your help!" She jumps into his truck as they head toward the highway. She says, What has happened?" He looks at her, with a face full of sweat and says, "I was working at the store when I received a call from the sheriff saying there was an accident near the highway. He asks me to find any help I can until the ambulance got there because they were thirty minutes away in Junction city taking a woman to the hospital to deliver a baby. He then said if you're on speaking terms with God you need to start praying with all of your soul." Abigail began to pray to God like she had never prayed, since the death of her husband. "Dear Lord I come to you on behalf of those in a terrible accident. We do not know who they are or if they have already taken their walk to heaven, but we ask you for guidance and even divine intervention on behalf of your son Jesus Christ."
They arrive at the scene of the accident and a large group of people has already gathered on the side of the road and looking over the side of the hill. A wood barrier is broken and it appears as a vehicle had gone over the side of the hill. They get out of the truck and slowly walk up to the edge of the road. A wrecker is pulling up and old car that has a mangled image. The front window of the car has been broken open and a man lays across the window opening unconscious. The Wrecker continues to retract the cable in very slowly as the damaged car inches its way up the side of the mountain. Mr. Hoot realizes it is no other than Ezra laying across the broken window but says nothing to Abigail. She stands on her tiptoes and sees a man lying across the broken window. She asks, "who do you think the poor man is?" Mr. Hoot realizes how devastated she and the boys will be once they realize it is no other than Ezra Green. He says, " I really can't make his face out from here, so I would hate to presume." The Wrecker continues to reel the truck in, that was until someone yells, "Stop! The man is slipping down the hood of the car." The wrecker stops immediately when they notice the back axle of the car is caught on a tree that was growing out of the side of the hill. The driver of the wrecker says,"we need someone to climb down the cable and rescue him from the car." Mr. Hoot being a retired soldier volunteers to climb down the cable and rescue the young man. They place a secure harness around him as he begins to scale the hill with confidence. In a few minutes, he arrives at the car and removes his harness so he can place it around the young man. The car starts moving ever so slightly until the tree holding the car breaks away from the earth. Mr. Hoot screams, Pull the cable and quick!" The Wrecker retracts the cable just as the car gives way due to the pull of gravity. Mr. Hoot starts running up the length of the car with little success. His final step was on the front bumper of the car as he and the car fell to their deaths in the valley below while all of the people couldn't do anything else to save him. The young man is pulled to the surface as the ambulance arrived to attend to his injuries. Abigail stands there in horror as she watched a wonderful man and friend fall to his death. Her face was filled with tears, but just about that time the medical attendant runs to her and says, "come with me the man says he knows you? If your name is Abigail Green?" She looks from a distance and realized it is no other Ezra Green. She runs quickly to the ambulance and sees the man with whom she was kissing earlier that day clinging to life on the gurney. He looks up at her with that smile that God had given unto him on the day he was born and said, "Abigail I want you to know that you always had my heart from the first day I meet you at Hoot's General Store and whatever happens it was meant to happen." She leans over and gives him one final kiss before they cart him away to the hospital. The lights to the ambulance are flashing while sirens are blaring as they race away to the hospital. She jumps into Hoot's Studebaker and follows the ambulance to the hospital. She is driving while at the same time praying to God that he will not die. She screams, "Oh' dear God I don't think I can take any more of this crazy life, please help me!" Sitting in the seat beside her is the ghostly appearance of Clifford as he touched her hand and a calmness comes across her spirit like she had stepped into a heavenly realm. She looks up at the dashboard and notices the speedometer has dropped to 50 miles per hour and no matter how much she pushes the gas pedal it will go no faster. Clifford sits there and says, "OK Peanut you're doing just fine now whistle our favorite spiritual song." She then begins to whistle "Amazing Grace." Though she really doesn't know why? He is rushed into the hospital and after about an hour a nurse comes into the waiting room to notify everyone that Ezra Green didn't make it through the surgery, but if she would like to say her final goodbye it would be best to do it before the doctor comes in and pronounces him dead, and signs the death certificate. She stands there momentarily in a state of shock but walks into his room with the help of God. She looks at him laying there and looking so peaceful in his eternal rest. They had placed two nickels on his eyes to hold them in place, which she thought quite strange in a hospital. She picks up the two nickels, tosses them aside on the counter as they begin to spin in a circular fashion until they stop spinning, but are still standing on their edge, in the same way, Clifford used to do. Clifford's ghostly image jumps up from the chair he was resting on, rubs his hands together producing a whisking sound.
He then says, "Its Showtime!"

The end of Chapter Six