By Heather Kittle
Markus was sitting on the side of what he assumed was a freeway. He was enjoying some unknown song he heard coming from a blue truck parked off to the side of him. He remembers asking the stranger kneeling by him what the song was and getting his answer but doesn’t recall much else.
Markus was enjoying the song but also had some other feelings he was unsure of. What were these feelings? He couldn’t figure it out. Something felt off but couldn’t put his finger on it. He finally took a good look at the man that was kneeling in front of him. Markus noted how lovely the man’s eyelashes were. He wished he had the stranger’s eyelashes. He was betting the man got lots of compliments on his lashes.
Once Markus looked away from the stranger’s eyes to his mouth, he realized the man was talking to him, but he couldn’t hear him. Why couldn’t he hear him? Markus decided to stare at the man’s mouth until he could make himself hear again. It seemed to work. The stranger was asking if he was okay. Did he hear that correctly? Markus felt okay, for the most part. Except for the weird mental feeling, he felt physically fine. Or at least he thought he did. Why would he be asking that, anyway?
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Markus finally responded.
The stranger gave him a questionable look before responding.
“Because you were just in an accident, man.”
Markus cocked his head to the side, as he gave the man a confused look. The man mimicked Markus’ facial expression as he pointed to the left of them. Markus followed where he was pointing and realized he was pointing at what resembled his own care, but no way that was possible. The red Subaru was on its hood, windows were completely blown out. There was glass shattered all around them, and bits and pieces of his car as well as white pieces from another.
He took a long look around and noticed a white van on its side with the front end completely smashed in, all the way to the backseats. He also noticed someone else laying on the ground further to the left with more strangers huddled around them.
“Wait. What?” Asked Markus, fear starting to creep into his voice.
“Yeah, dude. You were in an accident and you’re bleeding all over. Are you sure you’re okay?” The stranger responded, inching closer and pointing out Markus’ hands to him.
Markus looked down. His hands were covered in blood. He stared at them and started turning them all around, back and front. The feeling of dread returned, and he now remembered why he felt that way in the first place.
‘Oh my, God. I was in an accident!’ He thought to himself.
All at once, Markus’ senses flooded his system. He could hear crying and screaming, and others around him talking and yelling at each other. He could hear sirens wailing in the distance, getting louder as they drew closer. He felt his breathing speed up and his chest starts moving in and out rapidly. He felt aches and pains all throughout his body. His head was beginning to throb, unsure if it was from the accident or the sudden, and overwhelming influx of all his senses all at once.
He remembered what happened. He and his wife were on their way home from his in-laws. They had just celebrated his brother-in-law’s birthday. His thirty second. Their family had thrown him a huge party, inviting all their friends and family. Typically, a thirty-second birthday wasn’t a huge deal, but his brother-in-law was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer last year and no one was sure if he’d make it to his next birthday. But he had, and he was in remission, so there was much to celebrate.
Markus remembered laughing and reminiscing with his wife about the party on the way home as they sped down the road. He had looked over at his wife as she was laughing and remembered thinking she was so beautiful when she laughed. But Markus must have looked too long because her laugh turned into a scream, and terror-filled her face as she pointed in front of them. Markus quickly brought his attention back to the road, but it was too late.
A white van was coming right towards, or rather him towards them. He remembers seeing the frightened stares of the young couple in the van and a sleeping child in the backseat as he slammed on his brakes. That, and his wife’s scream, was the last thing he remembered.
His wife. Where was his wife? He had to find his wife. Markus shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in order, and began trying to stand, stumbling a bit as he tried getting on his own two feet. His body was screaming at him to stop, but he ignored it and continued pushing himself up. The stranger was offering him assistance but was also trying to keep Markus from standing. This made Markus angry.
“I have to find my wife!” Markus screamed at him.
The man looked startled but unbothered by Markus’ outburst.
‘How can he seem so unbothered?’, thought Markus. He needed to make sure she was okay. And the child! What about the couple and their child!
Markus continued struggling to stand, but finally made it upright. The stranger said something to him, but he ignored it. He shook the stranger’s hand off his elbow and made his way to his car, trying to see if his wife, Laura, was trapped underneath. He got down on his hands and knees but didn’t see her. Markus shakingly brought himself back to his feet and looked around the wreckage, trying to find any sign of her.
He saw a group around what he was assuming was the wife or girlfriend of the male driver of the van. He couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not. He didn’t see the child or the male driver and was unable to process where they could be at the moment. He needed to find his wife.
Markus continued to wander the wreckage. After some time, Markus decided to look in the ditch near where their car sat.
Markus scanned the grass, hoping to see her. The weeds were only about calf deep. Shouldn’t be too hard to spot anything bigger than a raccoon or opossum. He saw more debris from the cars, pieces unrecognizable at the moment. He continued scanning when he caught something out of the corner of his eye, only thanks to the lights from the ambulance just arriving. He squinted at the object. It was her! He found her!
He started climbing down the embankment towards her but slowed down as he got closer. Something was off. Her sweater was somehow backward, yet she was looking right at him. Why was she looking right at him like that?