I really
don't know where I should begin this Story. I guess it's not really fair to
call it that.. a story. It is, but it isn't make believe or fantasy. Not
fictional by any means. I suppose with any incident, tragic or otherwise, the
best place to begin is the beginning.
Forgive
me if I ramble on a bit. It's been a while since this experience happened and it's affected me so much in my daily life that not a day goes by that I
don't think about it.
I was in
my little Neon car at the time. A no frills version to keep my costs down. In
hindsight it probably wasn't the best choice for me, but that's a bridge I
crossed a long time ago I guess. Regardless of my taste in vehicles I was
driving in my home town, a small town, not many residents, twelve hundred or so
at best.
You
always think that living in a peaceful community is your best and safe solution
to the big city, but you give up some things that you can find readily in
metropolitan areas like hospitals, police stations, fire departments and the
like. In my case it was a vet.
My cat
Darius had been sick for several days and I made the decision that I wanted to
take him to the vet which, unfortunately, was thirty miles away from my home. I
loaded him up into his cozy cat container and set out for what usually is a
simple trip.
Darius
was always a smart cat. He's older and has been around and seen a lot in those
years being a cat I rescued from the ASPCA some years prior. He never was much
of a fan of the cat carrier and would often pace, twirl and meow quite a lot.
I was
watching the road carefully because it is continually under construction. We
get a lot of rain fall so the town city works decided to have ditches dug out
on both sides so if you're not careful and you run off the side of the road you
pretty much wind up in a ditch.
Considering
I was watching the road I wasn't paying attention to Darius. At some point
during the drive he got himself free from his carrier and curled up on the
backseat floor. Being a very affectionate cat I guess he wanted attention and
he leaped into the front seat, into my lap.
Startled,
I slammed on the brake and jerked the wheel. Being on this uneven and rocky
terrain the wheels couldn't grip correctly and I begun to spin out. In a panic
I must have hit the gas and realizing it, hit the brake. This sudden change of
stop and go translated into a rollover.
I don't
remember much of what occurred from this point on until I woke up with my world
totally turned upside down as my car was in the ditch, upside down. These roads
aren't well traveled and while driving a tan car I kind of just blend in.
My arm
was broken and my seatbelt was jammed. The door was dented in enough so that I
could not open it. Essentially I was stuck. For two days I stayed in the car, waiting
and in severe pain. Darius was hurt on impact and died by me later that first
day.
A group
of workmen, on their home from a job site, drove by the accident scene. I
didn't think much of it since it happened a number of times and my voice was
gone from screaming. Something caught their attention and they came back. One
was a trained EMT and was able to check my statistics. Without cell service one
of the truck men drove the extra 20 miles to get help while the others waited
with me.
I spent some time in the hospital healing up. I
haven't driven since and that was several years ago. I still miss Darius and
I've never replaced him.
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