Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
The rain is pouring and the car is already sliding sideways across the wet road. I hear the screeching of the brakes but it’s no use, it’s too late. It’s coming into winter and the roads are practically ice.
We’re going to hit and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it.
My eyes flash out the window before landing back on my little sister, Sammy.
She’s too close.
My heart races as the sound of her screams rip through the small car. She knows she’s in the worst possible spot. She can see it coming just as clearly as I can.
The car continues sliding across the road as my father desperately tries to gain control but we all know it’s too late.
Far too late.
The tree comes towards us at a startling speed but to me, it’s as if it’s happening in slow motion. I watch as my sister looks out the window and watches the tree coming right for her. Her eyes widen as her breath catches in her throat.
My brothers arm comes shooting towards me, slamming me in the chest and forcing me back into my chair as he desperately tries to offer what little protection he can. Fear laces every milli-second that passes, making me want to scream again but the sound won’t come out.
Please, God. Let us all come out of this unscathed.
The car slams into the tree and my head is thrown forward before bouncing off the headrest before me. Glass shatters around me and rain comes pouring in through the broken windshield, drenching my family as the sound of crushing metal fills my ears.
My eyes open moments later and I have to blink a few times before they’ll focus. I hear the distant noise of people shouting and rushing. My head hurts so bad.
I gasp out as I desperately look around the car for my family, checking they’re ok. I look to my right, to my brother who’s directly beside me. He’s bleeding with glass shards all over him but he’s breathing. “Brendan?” I question but get no response. I look him over again and realise he must be unconscious so I move on to my sister, only she’s not there.
My head spins as I desperately look around the mangled car. My eyes shoot to the front seat and instantly notice mum is gone. Where would she have gone? If she is out of the car she must be ok, right? Maybe I blanked out for longer than I thought.
I cross to dad who’s in the driver’s seat, slumped over the steering wheel with his head twisted my way. His eyes are open but something’s off. The eyes that are usually so full of life are… dead.
“Daddy,” I scream as I desperately search for the button to release my seat belt, only the jostling just makes the damn thing lock in place, holding me in tighter.
I fight hard against the seat belt until I finally manage to release it. I grab hold of the headrest before me and try to pull myself up, ignoring the screaming pain that shoots through my head.
I reach into the front seat and immediately feel for my father’s pulse, the way I was taught in my first aid class. I try my hardest to concentrate but the sight of my mother’s lifeless body on the road before us has me screaming out in agony.
How could this be happening? We don’t deserve this.
Strangers start crowding around our car and I hear them calling out, asking if we’re ok but I don’t answer. How could I?
My parents are dead.
Should I be crying? Why aren’t I crying yet?
I soon find myself on the wet, cold road beside the car, watching as two strange men haul my unconscious brother from the car. They lay him down beside me and I want nothing more than to pull the glass shards out of his body, only my gut is telling me to wait for the paramedic.
I watch on with dead eyes as the men go back for my sister which is when I hear the sirens in the distance, giving me my first bit of relief. The paramedics will be here soon and they can take care of Brendan. They’ll make him all better. Me and Sammy will take care of him. It will be hard but we’ll be ok.
The strangers finally pull Sammy from somewhere beside the mangled car. The big guy holds her in his arms and gently lays her on the ground before hovering over her.
Why is he doing that?
Move away from her. You’re scaring her, she doesn’t like strangers.
I shuffle as best I can across the hard road, scraping up my knees in the process. I find myself by her face and realise she’s hardly breathing. Blood is staining her clothes and it’s clear she has multiple broken bones.