Cracking Up!

Chapter 1 Wreck

CHAPTER 1

WRECK

July 20th, 2031

I watched the sun crest over the hot Texas horizon. The start of another endless, boring day. Each one is the same. Wake-up at 6:00am, dress, eat breakfast, go back to the room, eat lunch, back to the room, eat dinner, an hour in the sun, then lights out. It’d been the same routine for the last fifteen years. I spent the days recounting the events of a happier time. Well, they were happy for a few years. Married my dream girl, had a great job, good house and a loving family; until July 20, 2016. On that day, everything I held dear to heart began crumbling down.

If I had it to do again, would I react the same way? Probably. Were my actions justified?I thought so. Did it pain me I wouldn’t see my children grow into responsible adults? Of course. Would they ever be able to forgive their father? Doubtful. Yet, if they listened to any of my advice; I’m confident in time, they would understand why I acted the way I did. I guess the real gnawing questionwas, would I ever be able to forgive myself and even more importantly, could I eliminate the pain and grief I carried every day?

I’ll ponder that over breakfast. I grab one more look at the blazing ball of orange, watching it glisten off the metal bars. The calm, as usual,ruptured by the all too familiar words, “Joe Robertson, roll Call!”

* * *

 

July 20th, 2016

Julie never saw the 2012, red, F-250 pickup careening down the road, until it slammed into the passenger door of her 2002 Acura. Instead, she was focused on her to do list as she entered the intersection:

1)         Drop off kids

2)         Hit the gym—one hour

3)         Call two clients

4)         Check with Sherry on pending appointments

5)         Call the contractors—verify status of each project

6)         Show Dan and Sherry their dream home.

7)         Call the bank on the two pending contracts…

 The force of the impact pushed her car two hundred feet down the road. Her Acura resembled a broken “U” instead of the sleek, well tended vehicle she loved. 

Voices drifted in and out of her realm of consciousness; yelling out commands. She tried to move her hands with no response. She tried her legs; they too, were unreceptive. Panic gripped her mind and body. She needed to see why her well-toned muscles weren’t responding. She willed her eyes to open, with no luck. They felt glued shut. Her level of panic increased. Her heat-beat accelerated and her blood pressure spiked. She had to know what was happening. In her frantic state she twisted her body to the left. Searing pain overwhelmed her brain’s sensory receptors—she passed.

* * *

 

“Jim. Get me the jaws of life. She’s still alive! It’s okay ma’am. We’re going to get you out. You’ll be okay.” He recited those words time after time in his ten years as a paramedic to patients caught in horrific crashes.