Nine Lives and Counting

An End and A Beginning

Lucy turned her head to see a car speeding through a red light towards her. Her mind went numb as she froze in the middle of the road. She could see the look of panic on the elderly driver's face as he frantically stood on the brakes. Lucy's green eyes widened as she realised that the car couldn't stop. She could see every detail of the large car — from the slightly dinted red hood to the yellow star hanging above the dashboard. The heat of the engine warmed her thighs as the squealing of the tires rung her ears. She stood in shock as the man took his hands off the steering wheel to cover his head, before the front of the car smashed below her ribs, knocking her backwards.

Lucy fell onto the asphalt, her head hitting the road with a startling crack. Spots seemed to appear in front of her eyes as she looked up at the cloudless blue sky. She retched sideways, the sky was blocked out by the underside of the car. Pain, so much pain, exploding in her stomach as the car's left wheel made its way over her. She could feel something break in her chest. The tyre burned her skin and out of the corner of her eye, Lucy could see a red liquid flow out of her neck and into her long brown hair. It felt vaguely sticky. Blood, she realised as a metallic taste filled her mouth and the fumes of the exhaust pipe penetrated her nose.

Bright light flooded her eyes as the car kept speeding forward. Lucy felt as if she was spinning, but she was still lying on the tarmac. Voices filled her ears. "Oh god...someone call nine-one-one...we need an ambulance...a car accident at Browning Street, Mistire..." The world seemed to be swimming in water—a mix of orange from the flames of the burning car, grey from the buildings, and blue from the sky. Lucy's eyelids felt heavy. As she closed them, she realised that she was probably going to die. Blood was still soaking through her yellow shirt and she was beginning to gasp for air.

In. Out. In. Out.

What have I done? Lucy thought. Will my family be okay? My friends? Emma? She's only ten, four years younger than me. That's too young for her to have her older sister die. I, I, I, I...

It felt like she was floating, her breathing became slower and heavier. The sound of sirens and panicked voices faded from her ears and she drifted into unconsciousness.

. . .

Lucy woke up on the side of a dirt road. Which was quite odd, considering that last time she'd checked her lungs were deflating and her broken ribs were sticking into her heart. When her eyes last closed, it seemed fairly obvious to her that they wouldn't open again.

Contrary to her expectations, she woke up in a place she didn't know in the presence of a person she did not recognise. If she woke up, she would have expected to wake up in a hospital surrounded by life support equipment, but the surrounding trees had no medical purpose and the road certainly wasn't a hospital.

"Hello?" a voice said. "Can you hear me?"

Lucy gradually propped herself up on her elbows. Her head was pounding, and she felt an odd ache around her chest. Carefully she shifted her weight onto her butt, wincing as the gravel dug into her pink skin until she was sitting with her legs crossed. Her efforts weren't helped by the fact that she was slightly over the average weight for a person her age.

"Hi?" she replied nervously. "Not meaning to be rude, but who exactly are you?" she said.

"This is going to be a long, strange story," the stranger said, as brushed his dishevelled hair back from his face.

Lucy looked up at the man who was perched on a fallen tree branch like a bird. He only looked to be about twenty, but he had strong laugh lines running through his golden-brown skin, like an elderly person would have.

Lucy's eyes drifted to the dappled light shining through the forest beside the road. She most definitely didn't recognise the place. "I imagine it would be," she said faintly.