Excerpt: Talasi Summer

That’s when it happened.

So fast.

One moment we were cruising along the freeway, the next dad was slamming on the breaks and mom was screaming. I didn’t see the semi-truck heading straight for us, but they did.

Tires slipped along the wet bitchuman, screeching loudly. Lights fled past us in circles and I felt sick. I heard my mom cry out in fear and she tried to reach for me and dad was yelling for us both to hold on before something massive pushed us out of the way and off of the road like a hockey puck.
Crunching metal and parts of the car groaned in protest as our suburban was squished like a can of empty soda.

What was happening? I couldn’t be sure. Pain wracked my hips like there was no tomorrow and my heart thumped madly as our car slowly spun to a stop with a resounding thud against the concrete barrier.
For a moment there was silence, an ear splitting, dread filled silence. What had happened to the screeching tyres and crunching metal? Now only lights flash slowly past us, somewhere in the distance cars continued to roll past.

It was then I heard the sirens and started to comprehend exactly what had happened.

“Dad? Mom?” I said softly, my eyes searching for them in the dark damaged interior of the car.
I saw mom’s arm reached out for me, but she wasn’t moving, her head resting against the dashboard.
Dad came to life so suddenly it scared me. He gulped in deep breaths before crying out in pain.
“Alice?! Claire!” I heard the desperation in his voice.
“Daddy!” I whimpered. The shock of the situation finally causing tears that were caught in my throat start to fall down my cheeks, “Daddy, I’m here.”
“I’m so sorry Clairebear!”
“Its ok dad, I’m ok. We’ll be fine. The police will be here soon. And the ambulance, they’ll help us,” I whispered. I was finding it hard to concentrate; things were suddenly looking very, very dark.
“I’m sorry Claire. I love you. I love you very much.”
He tried to unbuckle his seatbelt to get to mom, I heard him desperately trying and getting frustrated at himself, unable to escape from the clutches of the device designed to keep us safe in situations like this one.
For what seemed a long time I sat motionless and heard his attempts to talk to mom, but she wasn’t responding, and soon he gave up, giving into the blackness that seemed to have enveloped the car like a thick woolen blanket, for I too was starting to see nothing but the deep dark nothingness that invades every nook and cranny.
But then I saw Sammy.
So peaceful, but almost in sadness he radiated love.
He was pressing his arms tightly around my mother’s neck, peeking out at me from over her shoulder. He kissed her cheek and then scrambled across to sit on my father’s lap where he just sat and looked up at the man that he had barely known. He rested a hand on our fathers chin, feeling the stubble of his usually dark beard that he’d only shaved off last evening.
He then looked directly at me. His big blue eyes full of memories and questions, wanting to know, always curious.
“Sammy,” I sighed, “I’m sorry I wasn’t watching you that day.”
I began to sob and he somehow managed to come over to me in the backseat and curled up on my knees. He pressed his warm body into mine and wrapped his arms around my chest, but said nothing.
I continued to sob, not wanting to hold back the tears anymore, ready to give up on fighting back the curtain of night that was quickly overtaking me. I could feel my heartbeat growing faster and yet heavier in my chest. It was so cold; I could see my breath turn to puffs of white into the air. But Sammy was there and his warmth reminded me of how much I loved to be held.
But it seems that not even that would be enough for me to brave the sleepy feeling that soon overwhelmed me.
I closed my eyes, and dreamt of nothing but being held by a little angel.