The Bucket List (Write Affair Finalist)

Chapter 1: Let me set the scene for you.

 ~ Chapter 1: Let me set the scene for you. ~

 "Every man dies - Not every man really lives." - William Ross.

"The only people who fear death are those with regrets." - Author Unknown.

                                                    *

        When I woke up this morning, I had the feeling this day wasn’t going to be a random one. I didn’t even know why. I got out of bed and tried to fix my hair. I put on some music and went downstairs while dancing and jumping around since I was in a pretty good mood. I was just about to eat breakfast when I saw a moving van outside.

I didn’t even know someone was going to move in the house next to ours. I mean I knew someone would eventually, but I never thought it would be him. Damon Hollins. It had been more than five years since I had last seen him but when I looked outside, I knew it was him. Damon and I used to be best friends before the Thing happened, five years ago. I was fifteen. Let me set the scene for you.

It was during summer, it was hot and everyone just wanted to get the hell out of Norwood. So a bunch of friends, Damon and I planned a sort of road trip to Los Angeles. Sarah had a cousin who lived there and he had agreed to let us borrow the house for two weeks. It even had a pool. Convincing our parents to let us go was pretty hard but eventually we did and we took off, excited as hell.

It was the first time for everyone that we were going on vacation without our families and it was kind of like adventure so we were really thrilled to go. We had an awesome time there, discovered many things, went to parties where Sarah’s cousins could get us invited and met a bunch of nice people. That was the good part of the trip. The one we all wish had stayed in our memory. But, it didn’t. Something else took its place.

Eventually, we all had to go home. Two of us were sixteen so we were able to take cars to go home. We took two different cars. Damon, Kara and me were in the first one and Sarah, Mila, Andrew, Jake and Alex in the other. It wasn’t split equally because some of us were going in Norwood (car one, so mine), and the others in the city next to it. We took off at night, even though our parents had made us promise we would drive during the day.

Somehow, fate decided to come in between our happiness. A drunk driver was coming our way and, I don’t know if you can call it luck, but it didn’t hit us. I wouldn’t be writing this story otherwise. But luck wasn’t really on our side actually. The truck finished his way crashing into the second car. I saw it roll in the air then fall back, completely destroyed. This image never left my mind. Kara hit the breaks really hard and we all stayed frozen, completely shocked. We didn’t know what had happened. Somehow, Damon took his spirits back and ran out of the car, shouting. It triggered in my mind too and Kara and I ran out, crying and screaming in the same time.

It was surreal, like being in a nightmare. We couldn’t really see anything except for one of the headlights of the second car that was still on. We tried to pull them out but it was stuck. Kara called 911 but she had trouble speaking, while seeing our friends in the car, destroyed. Everything after that is just a blur. The police and the ambulances came and took everyone to the hospital. But there wasn’t anything to do. The five of them died from their injuries a little after the crash.

The days after that, Damon, Kara and I had trouble speaking and seeing each other. It reminded us of the crash and we all finished in tears at some point. So we just talked when we had too. I lost all my friends this summer, even if two of them were still alive. Kara moved out of town, haunted by all the memories and pretty soon, my family and I did the same. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Damon.