Taking Andy
#1 of First Short Story
Just seeing if I am an enjoyable writer
The light changes from green to red; he doesn't take notice in it because he is staring at his phone texting unimportant words. A loud scream is met with a loud screech as the oncoming car tries to stop. BANG! He fades away, hanging upside down; his seatbelt was the only thing holding him up as his body goes limp...if only he listened...if only... It was one of those bright and warm Saturday mornings; I raced down the stairs trying to beat my big brother to breakfast so I could get the crispiest bacon and the biggest pancakes. As I rounded the corner, I nearly tripped over my own foot. I see my brother sitting at the table with the biggest grin on his face. Andy had short black hair with the same brown eyes I had; he was a bit tanner than me. I sat down across from him and began to pick through what was on the table, looking for some crispy bacon. Andy laughed, "You're going to have to wake up a lot earlier to beat me Little Bit." I really hated it when he called me that. I rolled my eyes and began to eat my no-so-crispy bacon and my not-so-big pancakes. After breakfast, Andy and I cleaned off the table; our parents had already left for work so we had no choice. Andy tried to get all of the dishes in one trip. I pretended to bump in to him but he quickly regained balance and laughed at my attempt; I laughed along with him "How is it you have so much balance and I trip over my own two feet?" I asked. "I am simply better." Andy replied with a big smile. Once we got everything cleaned off, we walked into the living room trying to decide what today's plans would hold. One Saturday out of the month, we spend the day together. But I had no idea what today was going to hold. As if Andy were reading my mind he said "I think we should go to the mall first." I nodded in agreement and we went our separate ways to get ready. "Come on Andy!" I had been yelling at him for a good 5 minutes before I finally got a reply. "I'm coming Little Bit! Go ahead and go to the car!" I groaned and started to walk outside "Fine! But hurry! You're worse that a girl!" I laughed at my own joke as I walked out the door. Outside was bright, warm with a very slight summer breeze; it was a perfect Saturday to spend with my brother. I climbed into the passenger side of the car and waited for Andy to come out. I was lost in my own thoughts when I was startled with a loud smack on my window. Of course Andy was hysterically laughing. "You should have seen your face! It was priceless!" I laughed a long with him and motioned for him to get in the car. Finally, he walked around and climbed behind the wheel, and we headed toward the mall, which was about a thirty minute drive from my house. I glanced over at Andy who wasn't looking at the road, but his phone. I didn't hesitate for a moment before I snatched his phone away. I began yelling "What do you think you are doing?! You should be paying attention to the road not your stupid phone! It can wait." Andy was shocked by the way I reacted. "Calm down Little Bit. I have been driving these roads long enough to text while I'm driving." He was trying to calm me down, not understanding why I was so upset. "No, you're ignorant if you believe that! The roads maybe the same but the people driving them aren't....I'm sorry Andy...you're not ignorant. I just don't want to see you get hurt. I can't lose my big brother, and I'd have no one to beat at ski ball!" Andy smiled "don't worry Little Bit, I am not going anywhere. I promise." Once we arrived at the mall, I gave Andy his phone back. Instinctively we went to our favorite part of the mall, the game room. We teamed up to battle aliens and robots and went against each other in air hockey and ski ball. Whenever we finally ran out of quarters, we decided it was time to move on to a different part of the mall. Since I was satisfied that I had won most of the games, I spoke triumphantly "How about you treat this amazing winner to some food?" Andy shook his head and laughed "I totally let you win." I rolled my eyes and went to the food court anyway. Andy ended up treating me to lunch, even though he 'let me win'. After a couple of short hours we decided it was time to head home and spend the rest of our day watching Tom Hanks movies and eating plenty of junk food. The traffic was practically gone with a few stragglers getting nowhere in no particular hurry. Andy had looked at his phone again, not noticing the light change from green to red. I quickly glanced at Andy, about to yell at him for running the red light when I see a car heading straight for the driver's side. She was talking with her friend and hadn't noticed us until only seconds after I noticed her. Her car screeched as she tried to stop. I screamed for Andy to do something. But it was too late, her car crashed into the driver's side of the car; the impact was so hard that our car flipped numerous times and landed upside down. He was hanging limply, before I could see if he was ok everything went black. I awoke to a rhythmic beeping noise, and for a brief moment I forgot where I was. Then the memories came rushing back. I realized the beeping noise was my heart monitor; I opened my eyes to see I had casts on my legs and wires attached all over my body. I looked up to see strangers standing above me. A woman in pink nurse scrubs spoke to me first "How are you feeling sweetie?" "I'm as fine as I can be. My body is achy and my head hurts...Where is Andy?" The nurse looked away from me and left the room. Shortly after, my mother walked in to my hospital room. She smiled sweetly at me and sat in the chair beside my bed. "Are you ok? Do you remember what happened?" I nodded; I remembered every detail. I remember seeing Andy hang limply upside down and the shattered glass that surrounded the car. "Where is Andy?" my mother looked towards the doctors that were still looking at the machines, and then looked back at me. "Andy passed away, he was stable when you two arrived at the hospital, but after an hour he crashed...he wanted me to give you this though." She handed me a folded piece of paper, "I wrote it, but the words are straight from Andy." I could barely speak, as I read the note aloud "Hey Little Bit, turns out you were right. I really should have listened to you and I am sorry I didn't..." Tears started to fall, and I could hardly breathe now but I continued reading "I don't think I'm going to make it much longer...I love you Little Bit...be safe out there." I began to cry harder; this couldn't be real. I was just with him. He promised he wouldn't leave. Now he is gone, no more Special Saturdays or races to breakfast it was all gone because of a text message. If only he would have listened...