A look into the future

It all happened so fast. The smell of gasoline intoxicated my lungs as it spread through the air in the dark night sky. My vision was impaired as the blood from my forehead trickled down my face into my eyes. It was almost impossible to move within the confines of that metal death trap. Any movement insured glass and broken pieces of metal would pierce my skin adding more agony to the pain I was already feeling. All of it was a big blur, really. As the smoke started pouring inside of the vehicle it was becoming even harder for me to see, let alone breathe. It was as if everything that could have gone wrong that night indeed happened to me all at once. I was on the edge of panicking. Panic and fear are two very different things. If I had caved into the panic, that would have meant certain death. I was trying not to let the panic overcome my fear. Fear is what keeps many of us alive. Still stunned at what just happened, the only thought I had was, “I need to get out”.

As I unbuckled my seat belt, I tried opening the door but it wouldn’t budge. I noticed the back window was cracked so I crawled my way to the back seat. I pushed and pushed, but the window would not break. At this point, I noticed the fire in the engine compartment starting to get bigger as the flames swayed back and forth, as if they were saying their farewells. It was at this point I decided to take off my shirt and wrap it around my hand. I then began to punch the window as hard as I could. It felt as if I was doing more damage to myself than to the glass. My side was aching and I was almost sure my leg was broken. When I realized I was trapped, I stopped. I suddenly broke into tears and just pictured my wife Susan and my children on my side. I pulled out a picture of my late brother, John, from my wallet and said to him, “Make sure you are waiting for me at the gate”. I heard sirens and I saw flashing lights. Then, I lost consciousness from the smoke.

One summer