It starts with a dream. A pleasant dream that transforms itself into a nightmare...
It's raining outside. I come down the stairs and see my parents in the kitchen ready to go. Mom grabs the keys and an umbrella. I kiss Dad on the cheek and tell him I love him before following Mom out the door.
We drive in silence. There is never much to say between Mom and I. I like the silence. It gives me time to be alone with my thoughts.
We are on our way to visit my older brother, Greg, at his new apartment. The rain is pouring harder now than it was when we left. I am staring out my window watching the gray world outside pass by. I glance briefly out the windshield and see head lights in the distance. At first I think nothing of it but then realize that the car heading for us is not on the their side of the road.
"Mom! Look out!" I scream.
She swerves at the last minute, missing the other car, but we are not out of danger yet. She hits the brakes but the car does not stop. The car hydroplanes before flipping over and rolling some twenty feet or more down the high way. The windows shatter cutting into my skin.
Finally, the car stops rolling and we are upside down. I struggle to get my seat belt undone so I can get out of the car. I look over to my mother. Blood is dripping down the side of her face.
"Mom?" I say.
No answer.
"Mom?" More frantically this time.
Still no answer.
I hear a siren in the distance. The sound gets closer, then I hear voices. People start trying to get us out of the car. They put a neck brace on my and lay me on a gurney. They do the same to Mom and they wheel us into the back on two separate ambulances and drive us away.
She's already dead...
I wake up screaming. My heart races. I cannot seem to breathe in enough air. My father walks in and turns on the light. He sits beside me and pulls me into his arms. He tries to calm me down. But it is too late. I am having an anxiety attack and it is getting harder to breathe. My chest is on fire.
He leave the room only to come back with a glass of water a moment later. He hands me the glass and i gulp it down. The fire in my chest immediately becomes less painful. My breathing becomes easier.
"Another nightmare?" he asks.
I nod.
"Tell me," he says.
"I had a dream that Mom and I were in a car accident and she died," I say.
He hugs me. "Honey, it was just a bad dream. It is nothing to worry about. Just go back to sleep and when you wake up, Mom and I will be here." He kisses my forehead and walks out, turning off the light.
I lay back down and close my eyes. I lay there until it is light enough outside to get up. I look out the window and see that the sky is a dark gray. It soon starts raining. I run down stairs. Mom and Dad are sitting in the kitchen. My heart starts to beat faster and my breathing slowly reaches hyperventilation.
"Sweetie are you alright?" Mom asks me.
"I'm fine," I say. "Mom can we go to Greg's another day?"
"Lily, you've been asking to see your brother for weeks and now you don't want to go?"
"No I do want to go...just not today. Let's go tomorrow or this weekend. Please?"
"Well, I want to see him today. If you want to, I will take you this weekend."
I shake my head. "No, Mom please don't go out today."
She chuckles and kisses my hair before heading out the door. She waves to me from the car as she backs out of the driveway.
That was the last time I saw my mother alive.