The Crash | Teen Ink

The Crash

March 30, 2016
By kaitlinkline BRONZE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
kaitlinkline BRONZE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 1 comment

You never know when you wake up in the morning that today is the day  your life will flash before your eyes. We were driving to school listening to Starlight by Taylor Swift, it was just a normal day. We left at our normal time. I was planning on talking to my science teacher, my sister was getting ready for a quiz first hour, and we were singing along to the music. Nothing exciting happened; it was just the same ride we always drive every single day. Same roads, same turns, same Taylor Swift songs.

Everything was fun until we were just about to pass the fire station; we saw the green traffic light, but she must have turned her head.  Before I knew it, everything went into slow motion, I was screaming, and all I could see was the truck's headlights coming at my door.  Our car got thrown into the other lane smashing into the front of another car, then we bounced off them onto the sidewalk.  If you’ve ever seen the movie Raise Your Voice, then you can see this scene; you're driving down the road having a good time singing then your head turns and all there is to see is the headlights of another car filling your eyes and then crash, metal on metal.  That’s what this felt like.  There were little kids screaming, the windows blown out, and the tires all popped.  I couldn’t even get out of the car because my door was jammed shut. 

Everything went still; the music went dead, I was crying, my sister was crying.  I called the house phone, no answer.  I called my mom and dads phones, no answers.  After about 10 minutes we got a hold of our dad and he called our mom.  Before they got there the police and firemen came to talk to Stephanie about what happened, they told her that everyone was okay, our car had the looks of being totaled, asked if we were okay and for her license.  They thought that maybe she had been texting but that wasn’t the case; it was just as it's titled, an accident.  When my parents got there, my mom parked in the fire station, but my dad pulled up on the grass like Miami Vice.

This car accident really put things into perspective for me; that none of us really know when our time to go will be and that instead of holding grudges and being angry just try to move on from whatever it is because it only hurts you, not anyone else.  My dad was the first person I saw after the crash besides Stephanie and the police.  I hadn’t really talked to him in a week or two, I would say hi or bye sometimes but other than that it was just cold stares, snarky comments, or silent treatment.  I was just so upset with him that it didn’t feel right to do anything else, but getting out of the car I don’t think I’ve ever hugged anyone so tight in my life.  The thing is, it felt really good to hug him again and to know that even though we had been nothing but rude to him he was gonna be there for us.


The author's comments:

This piece was inspired by my car accident and my "rocky" relationship with my father


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