Release - Short stories and poetry

The Crash

The steering wheel felt cold and hard underneath my hand, like a stone that had been sitting in a freezer for years. I could see the headlights, they were stinging my eyes, burning a hole through my skull, scorching my brain. The car in front of me screeched, skidding and sliding as it tried to avoid the on-coming car. My foot reacted without my brain telling it to, pressing hard on the breaks. In a dream-like slowness, the car in front of me collided with the other, sending an ear splitting nails against a chalkboard sound vibrating through my whole body. The car that had previously been in front of me, was now twirling and spinning in mid-air like a baton, hitting the ground with a sickening crash.

Next to me, I witnessed the other car, flying past, spinning in circles, before flying into the watery ditch. My arms were like wood, stiff and unmoveable, my hands were as white as marshmallows, and eyes as wide as saucers. The car that had been hit, was now submerged in water, upside down.

I slowly took my foot off the break, gliding my car over the broken glass and sharp metal pieces, parking on the side of the road. Another car pulled up in front of me, the girl inside immediately opened her door, her phone held close to her ear. Shock still radiated through my body, the only thing I could hear was the beating of my own frantic, haywire heart. Within moments, police surrounded the area, blocking me from driving away, many of them, rushing to the two cars that had been involved in the collision.

A young man, maybe in his twenties, strolled briskly over to my car and tapped on the window. My eyes gazed at him, and for a moment, I forgot what he wanted me to do, I couldn't remember anything, not the crash, not my name, just that I was there. In seconds, however, I shook my head and moved my hand slowly to the button, holding it so my window rolled down.

A warm summer breeze caressed my face, blowing my hair back just the slightest, the smell of gas and death floated up my nostrils, sending a shiver down my spine.

" Ma'am, are you alright? " His voice sounded so far away, like he was an ant and I was a giant.

I looked at him again, and shook my head in a side to side motion, like I was three years old again. Reality was starting to wander back in to my mind, overflowing, leaking at a quicker pace each second. The crash, the lights, the dreadful noises, overpowered my senses. The guy asked me another question, but I couldn't hear him, not at all. The sound of the police cars pulling in, struck me like lightning, and in those very moments, the moments after I witnessed something that changed my life forever, all I could do was cry.