The rotting flesh dangled from her arm, bone exposed, blood squirting. There was a searing pain tearing through her as picked herself up off the ground. As her vision began to return the world around her to her senses she realized the terrible truth. She was not injured, she was dying.
As Natalie got to her feet it became clear. She had lost too much blood. She couldn’t quite stand. She was able to pull herself to the side of the road. She lay there against the curb squinting as the sunlight scorched her eyes. There wasn’t much time left, she knew that much was true. Instead of worrying about what was coming next she tried to focus on the positive things in her life. The pain was too much to allow her to even shed a tear for her last moments on this earth. She knew her time was up even though her life didn’t flash before her eyes.
It wasn’t long till the bleeding would cost her the remaining senses she hadn’t lost yet. She could see but her vision was blurry. She had no hearing at the moment though. Just a ringing in her ears. If these are going to be my final moments in life, I want to try to remember the things that brought me joy, she thought to herself. It wasn’t like she had much of a choice. After all she was looking right at the severed head of her mother while she lay on the side of the road. Despite being clearly dead, she still felt the warmth of her mothers gaze looking upon her. She knew she would be joining her mother in the afterlife quite soon so it was oddly comforting, her mothers detached head titled in a way that made it look like she was providing comfort for her daughter.
Another thought entered Natalie’s mind. This was certainly not how she planned spending her 10th birthday. Seeing her dead mother under the car, her arm torn in two, blood all over the place, no hearing, no sense of smell and blurred vision, Natalie knew she was about to face her creator. She wasn’t thinking about her dead mom or her short life being cut down. All she was thinking was how her best friend would have to attend her funeral instead of her slumber party. Now she could finally feel a tear slither down her cheek. It would be the last tear she would ever cry.
Daniel was sitting on the porch clutching his baby girl’s favorite doll. He was blinking back the tears as he remember the moment he first held his little girl in his arms.
“It’s not right baby Natalie. It should have been me.” he cried to no one in particular.
Daniel wasn’t ready for this. The car accident decapitated his wife, threw his ten-year-old daughter from the car with a broken neck, arm and spine. He wasn’t so much sad for her passing, he felt sick thinking about her suffering.
“Dad, it’s time.” said Billy, his older child. He reached out his hand to grab his son. The two walked to the car. As they drove to the chapel, Daniel kept holding that doll even tighter.
“Mom can we stop and get something to drink?” Natalie asked. She had been sitting in the car all day. Her mother had been running her around town getting her hair and nails done, buying balloons and party favors. Veronica was doing everything she could to ensure her little girl had the best 10th birthday party ever.
“Sure sweetie, we can get something to drink at the station when I stop to get gas.” she assured her child.
Natalie was fiddling with her new earrings. She was so excited. Her only concern was if her dad would like them too. He threw a fit over her getting her ears pierced. She finally got her mom to win that fight for her, she just hoped he would like them. She picked out dolphins for her earrings. Her dad worked in the zoo and even though he never got to see the ocean, he loved dolphins.
Victoria heard one of her favorite songs come on the radio so she reached over to turn it up.
“Hey baby, this is one of my favorite songs, wanna sing alon…
…she didn’t get to finish her sentence. The trailer of the semi truck her car slammed into tore her head clean off. Natalie reached for her mother to try to save her when her arm was sliced in two and she was thrown from the vehicle.
There was a dog in the middle of the road running down the street. It had a leash behind it but no owner. The young woman walking the dog had been flattened by the truck. Natalie was tossed to the side of the road.
Her mother’s head rolled under neath the car while her body remained inside the car, now on fire. Natalie was instantly sad to see her dead mother, yet somehow she was relieved her mom wasn’t burning up inside the vehicle.
“She only took her eyes of the road for a split second,” the preacher was recalling the final moments of the two lives lost in the terrible tragedy.
“The mother was killed instantly. We thank God for that as her body was stuck in the car burning up for nearly 30 minutes as crews cleaned up the wreckage. The poor little Natalie, we know she suffered for quite a bit. Her suffering is over now as she enters the arms of her Lord Jesus.”
Daniel was trying to find comfort in the preachers words. Nothing was going to work. Not now. Not today.
Later that day Daniel was sitting in the kitchen holding that doll. He just finished doing the dishes. His mother always told him to keep busy following a family tragedy. She used to say “Idol hands are the devil’s playthings.”
“Daddy, why are you so sad?” he heard his daughter’s voice coming from the other room. He dropped the teddy bear and quickly turned to see his son standing there.
“Dad are you okay, you look like you could use a nap.” Daniel was looking around frantically for the source of that voice.
“Where is she? Where is Natalie/ I heard her voice just now she was right here talking to me, wha, WHERE IS SHE!” He was yelling into his son’s face, grabbing his collar.
“Dad, I, what are you talking about? We buried her this morning.” Billy said with a look of fright on his face.
“I heard her son. She was right here. Didn’t you hear her? Didn’t you see her? She was”, tears swelling in his eyes, “she was right here.” Daniel finally fell to his knees and let the tears out.
Laying on the side of the road Natalie noticed the dog. She couldn’t turn her head to see where the owner was. She just thought to herself, I hope they’re both okay.
Natalie was trying to look into her mind to find a happy memory. As she closed her eyes she formed an image in her mind, that of her father sitting at the kitchen table, looking so sad. He was holding her favorite doll.
She whispered to her father, “Daddy, why are you so sad?” Then she slipped into heaven.
Stephanie Bri 