Dooms Day

         Middle school, a time I remember as my passage from child to young adult, was something that I was enthusiastic about that summer. So much so that I’d convinced my mother to take me shopping for school clothes a month and a half before school would even begin. School shopping was always what I’d identify as the best part of starting a new school year. However, this particular day wasn’t filled with a fun-filled shopping spree or excitement over what was to come for the next school year. Instead, when I think of this day, I see my dad’s dejected face and bleeding skulls and the eerie calm I felt while I watched chaos ensue.

    That day in early July, my two brothers, Jacque and Kevin had decided to take my mother’s car out for a while. While out, they came across a road where a water main had broken causing them to swerve and before they knew it, they had hit a car causing both cars to be totaled. My brother felt so bad for totaling my mother’s car that he immediately went and bought her another car. It was white on the outside and had the loveliest, deep red velvet seats I had ever seen. I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Not only was I going school shopping but I had a new, cool ride to do it in. My mother was so ecstatic about her new car that she wasn’t even mad about the car crash, and shortly after that, we were on our way to Gordman’s to buy me some new clothes.

    We were driving as usual when we rolled up to an intersection. This particular intersection was one in which there were no stop lights so instead you just had to wait your turn. It was my sister, Jannine’s, turn to go but halfway across the intersection, a car came speeding towards us at top speed. I think we all knew at that moment that we were going to get in a car crash. My mother began to pray. I looked down and noticed I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. When the car made contact, several things happened at once: My sisters, Devin and Naomi, bumped heads, the sister that was driving got brutally hit in the face by an air bag, and our car spun out of control.

    After that, things kind of went in slow motion for me. When I look back now, I figure I was probably in shock. I immediately hopped out of the car along with my sisters and mother. Cars stopped behind us to check if we were okay. A woman got out of her car to help us. I saw Jannine hug Naomi and they began to cry. Devin stood on the side of the rode, pacing and cursing at anyone who asked her if she were okay. I looked at the other car that hit us and saw two women, one holding a crying baby come out of the car. There was a large hole in the windshield with blood dripping from it. A man wobbled out of a ravine, his skull a bloody mess, and I felt nauseas. The cops and paramedics arrived, asked if we were okay, and checked my pulse. I felt helpless. It didn’t take long for my brothers and dad to arrive and to take us home in their car. I made sure to stay quiet on the way home.
   
    I’m by no means superstitious but I felt it was extremely weird that every single one of my brothers and sisters including my parents had gotten into two car crashes in one day. Maybe, it was God’s way of trying to give my family a wake up call. My mother took the man who hit us to court and we won, but in the particular situation I don’t think there was really any winners. The true win was that they added a stop light to the intersection to prevent any further accidents and everybody in both families had survived that day.