just a little colder

the porch light flickered and buzzed, providing little solid light to look around and actually be able to see things. Leah shivered lightly and pulled his jacket tighter around his torso. it was a little bit colder than it had been the night before, his breath visible in small, wispy little clouds. he watched the clouds float upwards, illuminated by the faulty orange glow of the porch light.

of course, it wasnt as cold as it could get. no, silly. Leah could remember the one time it was 10 degrees below zero. a temperature that was/is the go-to for your freezing-butt-off jokes. jesus.

"HEY!! Wake up! LATE LATE LATE!" Leah had heard his mom yell. he had looked at his alarm clock. and he had seen it was five minutes past the bus time. his mom, who was going to be driving him to school, had also accidentally slept in and was running frantically around the house, bundled in puffy coats and scarves. she needed to be getting to work, so she hastily shoved him his own bundle of warm clothes along with a bunch of grapes and ushered him out the door, the lock clicking behind them. they raced to the car, slipping and sliding on the icy ground.

as soon as the two were in the car, the engine roared to life and was racing down the road. anxiety gripped leah's lungs like a clawed hand as he clung for dear life to the arms of the passenger's seat, wheezing out pleas for his mom to drive slower.

she mustve ignored him. she must not have heard him. he must not have spoken loud enough. because the next thing leah knew, they were flying off the side of the road, the car barreling sideways off a sharp turn into a brick wall, then black.

muffled sounds rang in leah's ears. sirens wailing, shouts of the paramedics, bright lights of the hospital, the terrible news, crying of the relatives surrounding him,-

Leah pulled the jacket tighter around himself, blinking away the vision with few cold tears.

it was just a little colder than usual.