The Accident That Changed Me
I have always been the type of person to have a positive outlook on past events that I have endured, the reason being all my life I have had this idea engraved in my head that “Everything happens for a reason.” But this memory in particular is just something that everytime I think back, I just can not seem to understand why such a brutal thing happened to me.
It was a cold winter night, December 11th to be exact. The long awaited weekend was coming to an end and the dread of going back to school was increasing. Julia and I were heading home from an ordinary day of shopping, which was just a typical Sunday for us. The sun was setting, and the inhospitable cold was only getting worse as the night progressed. The streets were icy and filled with fog as Julia proceeded to drive me home with extreme caution. We were about 15 minutes away from home; our surroundings began to be recognizable and our anxiousness completely mellowed down.
Julia, my best friend, and I were just being our normal selves; blasting music, conversing about the following school week that was to come. I remember at this point looking over at her and sharing a quick smile, as I realized a bright beam of light shining across her face. As I looked over at the road ahead of us I noticed two bright lights coming straight towards us. I screamed “JU…” as I shut my eyes. I did not even have the ability to get her name fully out. It all just happened so quick. Lights flashings, sirens blasting, it all happened so fast. It was an accident. No one was supposed to get hurt that night. I can still see it all so vividly. Fear and disbelief filled my mind as I laid there, sandwiched between the blistering cold soft dirt, and the hot, steaming metal of the car. The weight of the car pressed down on my chest with monster force. But it did not hurt, my body was numb. My mind was buzzing with numerous thoughts, “What happened?” was all I could repeatedly say. I could not see him but a few moments after my helpless voice spoke, I got a reply, the voice of a man “It was a drunk driver we are going to get you out of there.” For some odd reason the man's reply back to me made me think the worst. It had seemed as if he had singled me out of the incident and forgot about Julia. Where was she? Using all of my leftover strength, I turned my head to look in Julia’s direction. As I looked over I realized I could not see her face, all I could see was the distended air bag. But there it was her cold, bloody, lifeless hand laying so peacefully on the center console. I reached my hand over and grasped hers with everything left in me… for that would was the last time I was able to hold hers.
