A Trip Through Darkness

The night was cold and howling wind surrounded the oaken bridge. A car screeched around the sharp curve, the headlights glaring inti my eyes. Reasoning completely left me; I knew not what to do. I stood there on the groaning bridge, staring at the speeding car; the only thoughts were of my past and my future, replayed with Beta scan quickness. The headlights and screeching grew into an enormous roar of tension. Tension only broken with a dull thud on the hood of the car. Glass shattered. Brakes burned hot. Blood spewed from my gaping wounds, spraying the windshield with O positive. The Alpha and Omega - a look at life so quickly taken from me. I saw the face of horror - the horror of a confused drunk realizing what he had done.

The lonely clicks of shoes on terrazzo awaken me from thoughts disconnected with my surroundings. I checked aspects as best I could through semi shut eyes. The drip, drip, drip, caught a slight glimmer of familiarity, slowly shifting my eyes to I.V. bottle beside me. I felt no pain, no cold, no warmth, just numbness from the inside out. Just as my senses were slowly awakening, darkness fell again.

The only thing rememberable was a voice of a stranger calling to me, a doctor I think. Pain shot through my body in a blindly light flash. His countenance changed from a warm welcome back to one of desperate concern. And darkness fell again......

........clattering of metal instruments awakened me from my groggy state. Something black descended toward my face. It covered my mouth and nose, I wanted to scream. A low hiss emanates from within it. I needed air, or fear I'll suffocate. I take a small, hesitant breath, then darkness....

I awaken to see familiar shapes..... familiar smells......familiar sounds......I sense the soft fabric covering over me. I try desperately to move, to sit up! I'm home! Adrenaline rushes through my veins! Oh glorious day!

My parents! My mind screams at me, the thought sends a jolt through me. Confusion. No sense of time. No clear memories. Jumbled images. Disembodied voices. A scream of anguish boils up inside and catapults into the room.

Door opens. No squeak. Must have oiled it while I was gone. Startled, Ma looks in. Shock changes to joy. Seems an eternity before reaching me. She reaches me and squeezes me tight. Don't break my bones, Ma.



From 1982, High School English Assignment