thoughtsunfilteredd

[thoughtsunfilteredd]

Car accidents: a tale as old as time

A few hours ago me and my friends were involved in a car accident.

After weeks of planning it, we finally managed to find the time to go to watch a movie. It had been a long time since we last saw each other, so I was very excited. We decided to go on the same car so we didn't have to depend on our parents to pick us up later.

That was our first mistake.

The second that I hopped on that car, we instantly started chatting and messing around: we talked about life, school, what we were doing later, what we expected from the movie and if we were going to order salty or sweet popcorn. Just pure nonsense accompanied by laughter and smiles. I remember being on the back seat of the car next to my friend with our arms intertwined together as we took selfies and made fun of the photos. Our friends on the front were chatting about upcoming exams, while the radio played a song from 2015 that I can't quite remember, only that it had a very upbeat tune and that, at one point of the trip, we were all singing at the top of our lungs.

I remember feeling pure and utter joy of being with my friends and having such a great time, when i heard a screeching sound. I instinctively looked up, and I saw as the curve of the road that we were supposed to be taking and the barrier that delimited it tunneling right towards us. I can’t really explain what was going through my mind at that moment, all I can remember is lowering my gaze as i held tightly to my friends arms as our bodies were thrown around and the car slammed and scraped along the barrier that followed the curve, sparks flying up all around us. Then, silence. I also can't put into words what it felt like, to know that we had crashed a car, because it just felt surreal. We all knew know of the dangers of driving, of the importance of using a seatbelt, and how you should never drive recklessly because "accidents happen", but the thought of you being involved in an accident never even crosses your mind because why would that ever happen to you, right? We don’t grasp the importance and the seriousness of the matter until it happens to us.

A few seconds after the car stopped moving, we all fell in complete silence. No one spoke a word, but the music just kept going, almost as if nothing had happened, as if we hadn't just faced a near to death experience or could have been seriously injured.

The driver checked on everyone to confirm we were alright, and instantly called their dad, because what the hell are we supposed to do? We're all 17 (except for the driver), and we have no idea whatsoever on how to handle a situation like this. I feel like nothing can really prepare you to a situation like this, to be honest. Not at my age, at least.

My friend right next to me tried to open the door on her side, but it was obstructed by the wall, and as I moved towards mine I felt a pinch in my hands and back. That's when I realized that the back window had been completely shattered, and me and my friend were showered in sharp glass. I couldn't open my door because that side of the car had been completely wrecked, so we were stuck there until someone could pull us out or if the cops told us it was safe to drive the car just enough for us to be able to get off. We waited for the cops to arrive, and we sat there as at least 7 people drove right past us, slowly and watching through their windows trying to snoop into the accident, trying to figure out what happened just to see 4 kids staring right back them, not really sure of what they should be doing or feeling at the moment. No one stopped to help or even check on us, they just kept driving.

A few minutes after the cops and the ambulance arrived, they started barreling us with questions of what happened, if we were injured, how old we were, if we had been drinking and if we remembered our names: procedure stuff to ensure we were alright. Thorough the entire process the people would not stop calling us "kids", "little one", and other nicknames that made me feel like I was at a child's party, not in a car crash in the middle of a busy road. We finally managed to get out, and one of my friend's mum had already arrived, so we just started following her around and doing as she said. In that moment, I was finally able to stand face to face with my friend who was driving, and I must've had the worst face ever because he instantly hugged me and apologized profusely for everything that had happened, and asked me again in hopes of getting a more honest answer: "Are you sure you're okay?".

How can someone even begin to answer that?

Yes, I'm ok. I'm alive, and other than a few cuts I didn't feel any big injuries. But the emotional aftermath that followed the whole accident are deep that I don’t think I’ll be able to overcome them easily. We could've died in that curve. It was so simple, so so easy for the car to have turned over, for the barrier to have given away, causing us to fall into the side of the road or even off the cliff we were on.

A hundred or even million things could've happened, and they didn't. How am I ever supposed to feel about that?