Headlights cloud my vision, making my eyes water at the brightness of the oncoming traffic across the highway. Music blares from my sister’s stereo, calling We Are Who We Are by Ke$ha out to the world who doesn’t seem to care. I try to contain my hair from whipping across my eyes, tickling my nose as the windows slide open. Her voice screams the lyrics and her hands drum on the steering wheel like she is a part of the band and they are cheering her on from the stands. She sings her heart out, and by this point her heart should stop because her voice could kill a whole city. But I don’t complain, it’s humorous to hear her, so happy and full of life sitting next to me in the leather seats of the 2014 white Kia Optima.

My eyes trail off her big smile and fix themselves on the cars in front of us. The dark skies seem to go on forever, and at 11:45 at night, it seems to be just that. We have been driving for a good eleven hours, with only two bathroom/food breaks. Gabby says we cannot stop so much, or we’ll never get there. But, I don’t think that’s the case. I did the math in my head, and if we had stopped at least two other times, we would be just an hour behind where we are now. So I don’t see why I have to hold in my large coke until we get to the hotel.


My phone vibrates against my thigh and I read the message that appears under the name Kendra with a bunch of hearts. That’s my girlfriend. My thumbs fly over the digital keyboard at the speed of light, and the message is sent. She asks how my trip is going, I reply that it’s hell. She promises me that it will get better and she loves me, I say I love her too. She goes to bed and I am left alone again.

“Who was that?” Nosy as usual. “Was it your prissy little girlfriend?” She taunts me like a child, thinking that these little insults will bug me. A nudge in the shoulder and a smirk tells me she is kidding, and her eyes focus back on the road.

My phone goes off again and this next time, it’s a message from my best friend Ellie. She calls me bub and explains her two days of vacation to me. I explain mine and she makes fun of me, like always. This time I say I have to go, for, I can feel the sleep creeping into my bones and my brain. She complies. My phone is slid under my thigh and I rest my head on my elbow.

The songs come and go on the radio, and my head starts to bob. My eyelids become heavy, but I can’t sleep. Gabby said I have to stay up with her. I don’t see the problem of my sleep, for, she seems to know the words to every song that plays, and feels the need to preach them to the world. She won’t be falling asleep at the wheel anytime soon. In fact, she probably wouldn’t even notice if I start to doze off.

I focus on the stars and their patterns above my head, thinking of a story for every constellation in my head. My eyes glance at the sliver of white and grey above the trees to one side of the highway. The wind blows from the opposite direction, so, as I swivel my head, the wind blows through the driver’s side window and pushes each strand right over my head into my face. My hands push it away and I turn back to facing the road in front of us.

I lay my chair back slightly and close my eyes, trying to focus on sleep and drown out the screeching sound of Gabby’s god awful singing. Headlights from the other lane on the highway seem to be getting brighter and brighter as we drive along. I can still hear my sister’s singing, yet it starts to fade into the drawl of the car’s engine as we drive, and I fall farther and farther into sweet sleep. It comes almost instantly and I slip into a pretty great sleep, with the sound of a toothpaste commercial in the back of my mind.

“Colin!” I feel fingers grasping my arm and shaking. I groan and shrug her off. ”Colin!” She makes everything so difficult sometimes. I try to shrug her off again but her calling of my name starts to become frantic. My eyes won’t open, however, and apparently I never shook off her hand. The sound of her voice seemed panicked, and I couldn’t seem to wake up and figure out what was happening. I can’t move. My mind screams at my body to get up and move, but nothing happens. I am frozen in place, and the screaming of my name continues.

Sirens sound in the distance, moving closer and closer to where we seem to be. A cold wind brushes against my bare arm. Weird, I was wearing a sweatshirt. The cold February air chills my already unmovable body, and the hair on my arms stands on end. The sirens seem to be right in front of us, and my sister seems to be yelling at someone else other than me.
I feel sharpness on the ground underneath me, and all of a sudden, pain shoots up my back and moves throughout my whole body. I want to scream out so bad, but my mouth won’t move. My mind races for logical explanations for this, but nothing appears to be standing out for what is happening right now. I don’t know what is going on, and I’m scared. No, petrified.
I feel hands all over me now, and the fear rises. People call out all about me. Someone puts their fingers to my neck, and I don’t know why. They can’t possibly be checking for a pulse, can they? My wrists are checked as well, and I feel a cold metal circle on my chest. But wait, wasn’t I wearing a shirt before? This doesn’t make sense, none of it does. I was sleeping in the car on the way to Maine. Now it seems there are paramedics lifting me onto a stretcher.
My sister screams and I feel her collapse on top of me. Why is she doing this? What is happening? I’m right here! I can’t scream, she can’t hear me.
I feel warm air hit my body, and a new change in atmosphere. I think I’m in a car. No, in the ambulance. I hear the doors slam and the sirens are blaring even louder in here. I smell medicine, everywhere. People move all around me, bumping into me and hands run all over me. I’m so scared. I hear a machine start up, and someone yells “Clear!” This can’t be good. This happens all the time in movies.
I realize with perplexity. They think I am dead. Oh my god they think I’m dead! My brain screams and I try so hard, but to no avail. I feel the cold metal slabs hit my chest, but, no shock of electricity. Nothing happens, at least, I don’t think anything does. My back arches and I jolt, but I don’t feel it. They try a second time. And a third. Nothing. They think I’m gone. But I’m right here! I’m not dead!
Some time has passed I guess, because in no time the doors are opened and I am rushed out of the ambulance, and we are back into the cold air. I feel rain now, pelting my bare chest and arms. It’s cold, and it falls fast against my skin. More people shout and I can hear my name being called from behind us. Of course I recognize the voice, but it doesn’t get closer. I am rushed into warm air again, probably the hospital. I hear so many people talking, machines whirring, and wheels turning. People let go of my stretcher, and softer hands take over. I am rushed into an enclosed room and people run around in a frantic state of help. Are they trying to revive me? That won’t happen because I’m not dead! Someone hear me!
All of a sudden I can’t feel anything anymore. The smell of latex starts to disappear, along with the feeling of hands all over me and machines connected to my body. Then, the sounds become fainter and fainter. Until I can’t hear anything at all. Nothing expect my thoughts are with me now.