backed up taillights extending into the dark. closer now, flashing lights. closer still: the car, driver's windshield smashed into the vehicle, the surrounding shards of glass flashing in response. there- a black hat, stranded in the middle of the intersection. i walk by it, close, too close. and there- a solitary red sneaker much farther down the road, by the wreck of a car. it holds my gaze in a magnetic pull of disbelief. that sneaker. punctuation at the end of a story. a question mark perhaps. ellipses? there may be a continuation. at the moment, though, it's a period stopping an incomplete sentence. abrupt, final. my chest tightens and i fight the urge to stop movement in an attempt to stifle all other emotion. my coping mechanism changes and i walk as fast as possible down the sidewalk away, until even my peripheral vision can't see the lights."
i wrote this in december 2006. i can still picture every aspect of this horrifying accident.
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