Tomorrow?

         “What are you doing tomorrow?” You’ve heard it many times, I’m sure. But are your plans ever set in stone?

~*~*~

         I got into the car with Sammie, my senior. it was a morning like any other. The sun shone brightly and birds flew over head; they were the first back after a harsh winter. The snow on the ground melted slowly away, and little tufts of green grass popped out, searching for the sun.
         Sammie and I were both on our way to go watch her boyfriend and my brother play in the first game of the baseball season.
         “Who’s ready to watch the Crusaders get stomped?” Sammie screamed out her window.
         “Go Buccaneers!” I countered, and we both started laughing.
         I looked up, tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks. Sammie lifted her head and howled. I laughed, raising my head to do the same.

~*~*~

         I woke up in the hospital, confused. My mom ran up, tears filling her eyes. “She’s awake! She’s finally awake!” My dad and brother ran up, relieved. “Thank God.”
         “What happened?” I asked, confused as to why they were all so concerned. My brother stepped forward, his face grim. “You and Sammie were on your way to the baseball game and you got into an accident. You’ve been a coma for three months.”
         “Three months!? Where’s Sammie, is she ok?”
         “Oh, Honey. Sammie died on impact.”
         “But don’t worry, she didn’t feel anything.” My dad spoke as if this would relieve me; that the fact that even though one of my best friends was dead, it was all okay, cause she didn’t know she was dying.
         I went back to school after a few months of rehab. Everyone looked at me differently. They pitied me, because I was the one that had lived. Sammie had been the better of us; she was the homecoming queen, the head cheerleader, lead soloist in the top choir at our school, not to mention she was always the lead in all of the school plays and musicals.
         I graduated three years later, and a scholarship was named in my honor. It was for students who, after experiencing a great lose or a life changing experience, stood out academically and had become a leader among their friends and classmates.          I went to my favorite college and graduated with honors. I wasn’t the girl who lived anymore.
         I got married the spring after graduation. He became a doctor, and he made good money. We had three kids, one boy and two girls. My husband and I watched them grow up in our little house in the suburbs.
         Now, our kids in college and making their own lives, we moved to a beach side house. The structure gave off an air of coziness, with our own private stretch of beach and a little boat to sail out to the island just off the coast. We could finally sit, the water lapping at our feet. I leaned my head back and sighed.

~*~*~

         I lowered my head and watched the semi crash into us. My head whipped back, and the last thing I ever heard was Sammie’s scream, the sound of compressing metal, and the bones in my neck shattering.