I made the mistake of looking back. We were perched on the edge of a cliff.
My dad had called me. After hours of him being missing, he was finally contacting us.
"Dad??" I lunged forward to pick up the phone. He's calling me, he's finally calling me! I cried.
WOOSH! BOOM! A sudden thud and a crash erupted, reminding me of the past two accidents today jolting me in pain and shock as everything spun out of control. My head was spinning. Before I knew it, my phone flew out of my hand out the window.
"NOOO!" I screamed, trying to catch it, but there was no time for that. The car tilted dangerously, nearly throwing us off the road. I clutched my damaged ear, attempting to stifle the pain that throbbed within.
What in the world? Why did she turn?
My eyes were closed and I couldn't sense the world again. Only agonizing pain. "Oof, I think we hit something." we rolled around, again and again, this time the car succumbing to the momentum.
"What happened this time?" I bellowed. My eyes were closed the whole time.
When I opened my eyes, I was not in hell. I saw Betty, the driver, gripping the mayor by his collar. His mouth moved wildly as if screaming at the world. Betty shot him a sharp glare, but I interrupted their confrontation.
Janae sprung up from surprise, tattling something, her mouth arching up and down each time, and accidentally stepping on my mom.
"Janae!" I warned, even though I couldn't hear my own voice. I hadn't anticipated how difficult it would be to get to the hospital. I felt a sudden pang of guilt and sadness. I suddenly regret coming here.
"Dad! Dad was calling!" I cried. But it was no use, my phone was gone, lost to the abyss below the cliff.
Turning back to the front of the car, I saw my legs, limp and barely visible. I couldn't bend down. No flashes of light flickered anywhere. The bleeding from my ears wouldn't stop; warm liquid flowed as I touched them, my hands now stained a bright red.
"If this keeps going, I don't know who will hit the grave first" I sighed.
The driver said something to me, but my head spun, drowning out her words.
"What?" I asked, straining to catch her voice.
Her mouth seemed to be moving, with huge o's and a's, but nothing seemed to be audible from my point of view.
She came to my ear and screamed "We're lost!"
What the fuck did she say just now. I couldn't hear shit anymore.
"What?" I repeated my heart racing.
"Oh my goodness, what do we do now?" I breathed aggressively.
There seemed to be an intense conversation going on with them screaming, it was like a distorted television set I used to watch with my grandma when I was little. Nothing was barely audible it could be considered a silent film.
She signaled a square. My phone!
"It's not here!" I cried. Showcasing my empty hands.
Betty crossed her arms and rubbed her temples. Her expressionless face turned into an irritated face.
"Where do we go now?" I felt my throat sting. It must be from all the dust I inhaled and the streaming I'm doing cause I'm deaf. My head was also spinning.
The atmosphere was tense, and we paused for a brief moment. I looked out the window, the glass panes were damaged and cracked. No amount of service will be able to revive this kind of desecration.
"We hoot the trees." is what was audible. She kept pointing at the bunch of trees, so I assumed it might as well be that we're going to go another mile or two before we go to the hospital.
A hand shook me from behind. Was it mom? No, it was Janae, her brown hair, now covered in dust and blood. Her hazel eye oozed blood. She shook me one more time and pointed at my mother.
Even though it took me a few minutes to get the message, deep down I already knew what she was saying to me.
I made the mistake of looking back. my mother wasn't breathing.