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Description

The pounding rain smothered both the windows and the surrounding scenery, blurring it from view. You weren’t particularly interested in what was outside, probably because of the tension within the car. Your mom had been driving for a few hours now, and hadn’t uttered a single syllable. That same envelope, now crumpled, was still in her hand, and you couldn’t help but wonder what its contents were. Obviously, it was something both important and dreadful, according to your mother’s expression. There wasn’t a single twinkle of her eyes or smile at the corner of her lips.

Tired of sitting there and listening to silence, you dug around in your bag, looking for your portable sanctuary. Where are my stupid headphones? Music was always your personal escape from reality, and listening to it during car rides was especially relaxing. It was like being in a stereotypical music video, and even those were a tad bit too cliché for your tastes did have those occasional, relatable moments. Finally giving up on finding the headphones, you placed your hands on your legs, which were still unfortunately bare. You didn’t feel like pulling out any bottoms from your backpack, which now resided in the back seat. Hitting a small bump in the road, the glove compartment of the old car un-clicked, revealing your not-so-secret stash of gum, sunglasses, mini-mp3 player and headphones. My babies! My precious-es… Shut up! No, you shut up! Ah, my Gollum mental voice needs some work.

You plugged your headphones into the mp3 player, attempting to ignore whatever horrible situation you were in. After skipping a few of your more ‘depressing’ songs, you decided on a happy, fast paced song, and drifted off to sleep…

*******

Just to have your sleep interrupted by your head smacking into the windshield after the car collided with something. >Insert colorful language heremore vibrant languageyou know
“Mom?” You unbuckled your seat belt frantically and when free, you looked over at your mom. She wasn’t responding, and her hair now was plastered with something besides sweat. You unbuckled her and held her head with your stained hands, noting that she was just unconscious. Thank whatever deity is out there…

Luckily, the doors were still intact, so getting out wasn’t too much of a hassle. You grabbed your backpack and slung the messenger bag over it. Running to the other side of the car, you pulled your mom out of the car and dragged her to the side of the road, towards the dense forest. You leaned her against a nearby boulder and went back to the car, removing both the envelope and the first aid kit beneath the driver’s seat. You still wondered what caused the accident, but decided to tend to your mother first.

Going to her, you cradled her damaged head, inspecting the injury. There was a thankfully shallow gash along her hairline, which you pressed a wad of cloth soaked with alcohol upon. Hissing, your mother inhaled, and started to speak.

“You need to go straight into the woods. I’ll be fine. Just read the envelope, it’ll explain everything,” she said as she gently pulled away your hand.

“Why? We just got into a freaking car crash. We need the hospital, not trees. What is going on?” Your voice was raspy, with a twinge of anxiety. It wouldn’t have been that bad if it was just an accident, but you got that gut feeling that something was going on. She didn’t respond, and you decided to get up. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t say anything, whatever. I’m going to go check out the car.”

Taking a few paces, your mom interrupted you, and rather harshly. “You need to get moving into the forest. We can’t linger here.” Turning around, you saw that she had gotten to her feet, and was peering around the area, looking for something. She was obviously nervous.

“Just one sec-“

There was a glimmer, and the car exploded.

“-Nope, nope, nope! We are getting the hell away from here. Come on!” You ran past your mom, grabbing her arm. You didn't need to say that you saw a freaking spear impale the hood of the car or anything. You both knew already that the car crash couldn't have been an accident.

Description

The pounding rain smothered both the windows and the surrounding scenery, blurring it from view. You weren’t particularly interested in what was outside, probably because of the tension within the car. Your mom had been driving for a few hours now, and hadn’t uttered a single syllable. That same envelope, now crumpled, was still in her hand, and you couldn’t help but wonder what its contents were. Obviously, it was something both important and dreadful, according to your mother’s expression. There wasn’t a single twinkle of her eyes or smile at the corner of her lips.

Tired of sitting there and listening to silence, you dug around in your bag, looking for your portable sanctuary. Where are my stupid headphones? Music was always your personal escape from reality, and listening to it during car rides was especially relaxing. It was like being in a stereotypical music video, and even those were a tad bit too cliché for your tastes did have those occasional, relatable moments. Finally giving up on finding the headphones, you placed your hands on your legs, which were still unfortunately bare. You didn’t feel like pulling out any bottoms from your backpack, which now resided in the back seat. Hitting a small bump in the road, the glove compartment of the old car un-clicked, revealing your not-so-secret stash of gum, sunglasses, mini-mp3 player and headphones. My babies! My precious-es… Shut up! No, you shut up! Ah, my Gollum mental voice needs some work.

You plugged your headphones into the mp3 player, attempting to ignore whatever horrible situation you were in. After skipping a few of your more ‘depressing’ songs, you decided on a happy, fast paced song, and drifted off to sleep…

*******

Just to have your sleep interrupted by your head smacking into the windshield after the car collided with something. >Insert colorful language heremore vibrant languageyou know
“Mom?” You unbuckled your seat belt frantically and when free, you looked over at your mom. She wasn’t responding, and her hair now was plastered with something besides sweat. You unbuckled her and held her head with your stained hands, noting that she was just unconscious. Thank whatever deity is out there…

Luckily, the doors were still intact, so getting out wasn’t too much of a hassle. You grabbed your backpack and slung the messenger bag over it. Running to the other side of the car, you pulled your mom out of the car and dragged her to the side of the road, towards the dense forest. You leaned her against a nearby boulder and went back to the car, removing both the envelope and the first aid kit beneath the driver’s seat. You still wondered what caused the accident, but decided to tend to your mother first.

Going to her, you cradled her damaged head, inspecting the injury. There was a thankfully shallow gash along her hairline, which you pressed a wad of cloth soaked with alcohol upon. Hissing, your mother inhaled, and started to speak.

“You need to go straight into the woods. I’ll be fine. Just read the envelope, it’ll explain everything,” she said as she gently pulled away your hand.

“Why? We just got into a freaking car crash. We need the hospital, not trees. What is going on?” Your voice was raspy, with a twinge of anxiety. It wouldn’t have been that bad if it was just an accident, but you got that gut feeling that something was going on. She didn’t respond, and you decided to get up. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t say anything, whatever. I’m going to go check out the car.”

Taking a few paces, your mom interrupted you, and rather harshly. “You need to get moving into the forest. We can’t linger here.” Turning around, you saw that she had gotten to her feet, and was peering around the area, looking for something. She was obviously nervous.

“Just one sec-“

There was a glimmer, and the car exploded.

“-Nope, nope, nope! We are getting the hell away from here. Come on!” You ran past your mom, grabbing her arm. You didn't need to say that you saw a freaking spear impale the hood of the car or anything. You both knew already that the car crash couldn't have been an accident.