Fate or fiction?
November-22-09
5 Years Later
The day is finally here, the day to meet my mate. As I excitedly prepare for my journey ahead, the thought of knocking on the door repetitively approaches my mind. I thought to myself, what will I say, what will he do, and most of all; what will happen between us both at night? Of course I knew the answer, but thinking about it made me even more anxious and desperate to meet him in real life. I packed all of the necessities; food, water, clothes, a toothbrush, and last but not least some rubbers â€" just in case. As I finish packing I always think to myself if I've forgotten anything. I have my keys, my watch, my wallet... ah, my phone, I grab my phone and head out the door. With my mate's number on speed-dial I place the phone the dashboard in front of the steering wheel.
The thought occurs of talking to my mate on the phone while I'm on my way to see him, but I've heard of too many accidents involving phones, so I decide to wait. The car starts and I begin my journey of driving 18 solid hours through day and night. The time was 1:00 am my time, so when I arrive there it should be 5:00 pm. I was so excited to finally be going to see him and was always driving 15 over the speed limit as I drove through a diverse amount of highways and streets. As boring as driving was I tried to remain focused on the road. If I lost my focus at night I could get into a serious car accident. I was only an hour away from the border, and once I passed that, than it was solid driving on the highways. There was no traffic at this time, which is mainly why I decided to leave so early in the morning. It took me a couple minutes to get through the border, and after that the highway was all mine.
There was nobody else on the road except me, so I took the liberty in driving 25 over the limit. I thought to myself I was making good time, but that was soon about to change. At night it's hard to see anything until someone shines their high-beams in your face, like the couple of cars passing me on the adjacent lane. The sight of being the only one on the highway lures me into a false sense of safety. I decide to pick up my phone and text my mate. I waited a couple minutes for his reply and sooner or later I get one. Time starts to fly by as we get into a more thorough conversation (for once). But most of the messages sent were along the lines of; "I'm excited" "I can't wait" etc. As time went by I ended up leaving the highway only to get back onto another one. There was nobody in my lane, but I saw a couple trucks pass by in the oncoming traffic.
The urge to sleep and the constant texting decreased my focus on the road a bit as I started to swerve a little, and ended up scratching my car against the barrier. That shook me up a bit as I started giving more attention to the road. More focused than ever I begin to reply slower and text less. Staring at the same thing for hours began to take its toll on me again. It was like a bad episode of a kid's show that made you want to fall asleep. Slowly I begin to drift off not knowing the danger lurking ahead. I start to swerve a little back and forth all over both lanes. I lean back, now completely drifted off as the hypnotic road had lulled me to sleep. Subconsciously I'm steering the wheel left and right until I suddenly jerk it to the right and flip my car over the barrier and onto the on coming traffic. I wish I had worn my seatbelt to reduce the damage done. I awake to find one hand thrown through the glass of the windshield with my phone resting in it remarkably unscathed. The other hand had glass is gouged into my skin immobilizing it. I hear my phone ring and I tilt the phone in my hand to see who it was. My mate had called and I was unable to answer or call for help due to the glass.
The only thought flowing through me at this time was to let the glass slice through my hands to free them so I could answer the phone. In the mean time I clicked the answer button on the phone as I began to talk to my mate. I thought I would have some time to prepare before I ripped my flesh apart, so I close my eyes and start breathing. I tell my mate to hold on as I start moaning in pain. Strangely as I closed my eyes everything turned bright white. A thought occurred; was I dying? Hesitantly I open my eyes to find a truck heading right for the ramp like windshield of my car. I thought I'd have more time than this. Desperately I try to free my hands. 1... 2... 3... Pull! The glass slices through my flesh like an arrow cutting through the wind. Crying in pain I still realize my other hand needs to be freed. My mate starts yelling concerned across the phone as I quickly explain what I'm doing. I have a limited amount of time before that truck hits me. My mate advises me to get away from the area any way possible. I clench my teeth, close my eyes, and kick the glass away from the car. The truck persistently gaining on me, but limping away with 20 lbs of glass stuck to my hand proved to be a harder task than thought. It was no use, no matter how hard I pulled; the pain and anguish already sunk in me from the first accident that decayed my strength.
All there was to do now was to wait the inevitable death.
The truck grew nearer and it ploughs the car out of the way and the couple feet before it hits me, the last words to leave my mouth were "I love you" to my mate over the phone. The truck than rips the sheet of glass attached to my hand around its tire making circular cuts around my wrist slowly amputating it. My hand falls to the floor as I look in disgust at what's left, but the real pain has yet to come. Seconds later the rear of the truck struck my body turning it into a projectile as it partially snapped my neck leaving me paralyzed. Miraculously my phone managed to stay in my hand. All I could do now was cry and moan as I waited for death before I had any last words to spit out to my mate. Worried and concerned he engraves the best feeling I've ever had into my head before my last breath. His words would forever pierce my heart into the unknown depths that love can arise to. After that I never felt any pain, remorse, or pity that I leave my mate a widow. But a feeling cold enough to numb the pain, and warm enough to amplify the vitality I have left.
Those words I would take with me to the grave as I kept reciting them in my head. My mind enumerating the words: "I'll miss and love you forever" played like a broken record. The last vibration of my heartbeat reached my ears as I slowly but surely casted myself off into death as I gag on my blood from my incarcerated body leaking from my neck. Though I was in tremendous pain, it was my belief that it is not what skewered my life.
It was the last words I'd ever hear that - in an oxymoronic way â€" sanctioned the inevitable. That was the day I knew for sure that my mate was absolute about our relationship. It was crystal clear he cared equally, if not more so, than I did him. The blood that than ran through my heart felt like I was bleeding love. In essence it is my proclamation that our love was the reason for death because I knew my heart skipped a beat as those words left my mate's mouth. Never again would I have questioned our emotional vitality towards each other. It was an absolute truth that became the death of me. But no such sorrow could be felt as I could not return the cordial favour. Had it not have been for my gagging of blood, I would've told him exactly how I felt.
And that was the only true pain flowing through me.