Metal bending at the mercy of more metal.
The taste of blood and tears.
We were hit.
A car plowed into the back of ours. I can’t picture it exactly. I just know that there was another car involved and it hit us with enough brute force that my mother went flying forward, hitting her head on the steering wheel.
I, on the other hand, wasn’t wearing my seatbelt. I was hiding on the floor of the car from the storm. So, I went flying sideways, banging my head against the backseat door.
And now I remember the pain.
Sharp, excruciating, pain.
Being tossed like a rag doll as my mother and I flipped over and over in the car, all I could remember hearing were the sounds of my own screams.
And then there was utter silence.
The crash probably occurred in less than a span of sixty seconds, but it seemed like an eternity to me. Like a deep sea diver who sometimes loses his bearings when he’s low on oxygen, I was lying on the inside roof of the car and completely disoriented.
I called for my mommy.
But she didn’t answer back.
I was frightened and thought she was asleep or maybe that she left. I didn’t know. It was dark and there wasn’t much I could see. Maybe I was dead.
I remember feeling sleepy and a little nauseous, so I thought it might be best to close my eyes for a while. Trusting that my mommy would come for me when she could.
Then I felt tugging on my arms. Someone was pulling me. It hurt.
“Wake up,” the voice ordered. “Wake up, little girl.”
The voice was small but steady. Telling me to hang on as he pulled me out of the car and onto the side of the road by the river. It was still raining hard. So hard the droplets were hurting my head. The boy held me for a minute. Covering me with his body.
“Sit here for a minute,” he told me.
“My mommy.” I remember saying.
“One of the grown-ups will get her out. I’m sorry but I can’t do it.”
I began to cry.
There were other cars turned in various positions on the roadway behind us. We weren’t the only ones this happened to.
“Wolf!” I could hear a woman calling that name. Almost crying. She was calling for the boy who was holding me. “Where are you, Wolf?”
“I gotta go. The firemen are here. Don’t worry. They’ll get your mom out.”
“Wait.”
“I’ll come back for you, all right? Sit right here. Don’t move and they’ll help you.”
I cry when he leaves.
I’m crying right now.
Wolf.
The boy who pulled me to safety.
