Welcome back for our February installments!
Have you ever had a special time on the clock? You know, that number that always seems to be staring back at you when you happen to check the time, almost like it's supposed to mean something? For this writer, it seems that the time is 3:45.
Enjoy a suspenseful ride in this seventh-grade short story.
3:45 PM
Clap! The pitter-patter of the rain splashed
against the car window as the music from my headphones brightened my mind. I
guess tuning out the world was my specialty as a teenager. My brother seemed to
be pounding on the keys of his whatever-he-was-playing, and I could care less
about what he was doing. And my parents were mumbling about boring stuff, as
they always are.
I
checked the time on the car monitor, and it read 3:45pm. “3:45” I pondered. I sort
of just stared at the time until it got blurry. And I didn’t even bother
blurring back. It felt so good, relaxing my eyes. It made the world so much easier
to tune out. Then I saw something peculiar, frightening. There were two huge
bulbs of light, screaming right for the car.
I
was franticly shrieking, pointing at the lights. They were getting brighter by
the second. I managed to sputter out two words. “Dad, Car!” His eyes darted
ahead and he swerved the car sharply. The screaming was unbearable, and I squeezed
my eyes shut like the scared, cowardly girl I was.
I
braced my arm on my brother’s chest as the jolt sent me flying. I couldn’t see
a speck, but it felt as if thousands, millions of little shards were breaking around
me. Thud! Pain shot through me as if a thunderbolt were striking my chest. I could
hear the glass shards scraping, jingling on the concrete. And that was the only
sound I could hear, but there was something else. I tried to turn around, but
pain was pulsing through my veins. I stopped looking when I realized the
screaming was me. I was screaming in worry and agony. I started to take deep
breaths so that I could use my energy to turn my head aside. However, when I
strained my head to look, all I could see was grey and red blurring my vision.
The
rain dolloped my eyelashes as if to wipe the red away from my scraped face. As
my vision cleared, all I could see were disembodied parts of scrap metal and thick,
needled shards of glass. The scent of rubber was wafting in my nose. My long,
golden hair was all strewn about. I couldn’t see anyone; no one was in sight.
All was silent except for the pulsing in my skull. My chest became empty, and
it almost felt like I couldn’t breathe, like a ball coming up my throat. This is hopeless. The stinging in my
eyes throbbed as streams of warm water swiped down my cheek, bringing ash with
it. I knew this was it. This was it.
Nothing could be done to help me. No family in sight, and no hope in my heart.
I
gave one last piercing scream to take away all the pain, to take away the awful
memories, to wipe my slate clean. I didn’t even get to say good-bye, and I
wanted to die right there. It would’ve been so simple to give up, to never have
to think of a worry again. I could play in the golden light, smile until it
hurt, and see old friends. But the feeling in my guts told me that I had to
hold on. I needed to hold on to my life with my bare hands. I could almost feel
my fingers losing grip, becoming slippery and my vision was becoming hazy. But
I knew I couldn’t fall. I couldn’t let go. A heart is a burden that you can’t
let go of; it’s too valuable to be lost. All of a sudden, I felt a rush of
blood, paralyzing everything. Terror and blackness overcame me.
I
woke up to the sound of beeping in my ear, a weird- thick smell of medicine,
and latex gloves. The fluorescent lights blinded me, and I shut my eyes tight.
As my eyes adjusted, I realized that I wasn’t here before. I have never been
here before. I was lying on the cold cement, holding on for my family,
screaming the pain away. But no; now I’m here. “Where is my mom, My Dad?! WHERE
IS MY FAMILY?!” I cried. Doctors and nurses of all kinds came rushing over to
me with worried looks on their tired faces. They were pressing buttons, writing
down stuff. I didn’t want to know what they were doing, or where I was. I just
wanted to know where my family was.
From
what I could collect from the nurses and doctors blabbering, I felt like a cold,
angered, force was sliding against my stomach. “Yes this is the girl from the
crash, age 14… no other victims found on site . . . get more medicine now!” I swear
I felt that force slip right into the pit of my stomach. NO, NO, NO! I started to
wail hopelessly, but no tears would come out. I wanted to sulk in the corner where
no one could find me, to hide in the closet so I could get away. I wanted to
get aside from everything. I never wanted to see a thing again.
When
the doctors cleared out, I slowly got out of the springy bed and peeked out of
the door frame. Looked left, looked right. None
are in sight. I slipped out of the door frame and sprinted through the cold
hallway. I sprinted faster than I ever had before. There was a deep pulsing in my calf that felt like it was ripping
my leg apart. But I kept running anyway. Not only from the doctors, but the
dark, confusing past that laid behind me. I kept thinking, I gotta get out of this nightmare of a place. All the hospital was
rushing past me in a blur of blue and white. My bare feet were making a
slapping noise against the cool tile. No one could’ve stopped me. The world
took my family away in an instant, and I wanted to be gone in a snap. The
throbbing in my eyes came back to me. But I couldn’t cry, not then. I needed to
find my family, where ever they were.
The
parking lot was huge and all I could see were vans and cars, dotted along the
vast space. I ran anyway, the white coated doctors trailing
behind. The sky almost looked just as hurt as me, for it was raining drops and
tears, making everyone else hurt with it. My eyes spotted a cross walk, an
escape from this cruel place.
I could see my pale feet against the stripes as I
stumbled flat on my face.
I
wished to sink into the yellow and let them blanket me. I wanted to disappear,
just as my family did. I wanted to go home, and to go now. No one knew a thing
about me. No one knew what I’m like, or what I had just lost, or what I was
about to go through. So I thought that I might as well go join my family,
wherever they were. I closed my eyes to the point where I could see only black
and faded, blotched, colors. And I thought back to where I last saw my family.
It was when I saw that time, 3:45pm. All the thoughts from that moment swirled
through my head with colorful slashes in the dark.
Nothing
is happening;
I’m
so bored!
I
want to get out of this stupid car.
Well, I guess got my wish. I never knew how precious time
was, until you lose it, until it matters no more.
I
blurred my vision on the passing cars, imagining that I was blurring out to
that time, 3:45, what a beautiful time. I could almost feel the air of the warm
car, wrapping me in comfort. But I could only hear the tires roaring past the
tip of my ear. I screamed and let it echo in my head until all turned white,
blurry white.
The
jolt of the car caused me to snap my eyes back to reality.
What?
My body was still in the seat. The car was on
the road. It’s like it never happened. Because
it didn’t happen I thought. It was so
real. It had to be, but no, we are on the road. My dad avoided that car; he
swerved away from it. My music was still blasting in my ears as if it were
saying that everything was fine. Nothing was going to hurt me, and nothing ever
will. I gave a big sigh of relief because I knew that the nightmare of my
imagination was over; my stupid imagination. I looked back at the car monitor,
and it read 3:45, that precious time. My precious time.
by Gigi F.
Grade 7
