Scar Patterson

I felt every single second of it.

I felt every agonizing second of the mid-sized sedan tumbling through the forest, stirring an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. The sounds of tree branches brushing violently against the car deafened me, or perhaps that was just the scream that was threatening to sound from my throat, even though it was probably lodged there by my fear.

The car hit a large tree trunk, making it come to an abrupt stop. I was still alive, barely, but I was. The car was upside down and it took me quite a while to figure that out because my heart was pounding loudly in my chest and my brain thumping just as loud as I waited for my dad to do something, but he never did. He just sat there, unmoving.

“Dad?” I asked him in a strangled voice. I tried to move out of my seated position but it seemed as though I was stuck. “Dad, come on. We need to get out of here.” But he didn't respond and after a while, I began to think that he wouldn't. 

A soft knock from beside me brought my attention to the window which I didn't realize was mostly shattered. A little boy about my age with short, shaggy blond hair was staring back at me in horror. “Are you okay?”

“I can't move,” I told him, and then I pointed to my dad. “And he can't move either.”

The boy looked at my dad for a brief moment then back to me. It looked like he knew something I didn't. “I'm gonna get you out.” He reached through the broken glass, not caring about slicing his skin, and grabbed onto arm. “I'll pull and you push, okay?”

I nodded as I prepared myself. As soon as he started tugging on me, I tried to push myself out my seat, but I felt a sharp, intense pain rip through my leg. I screamed loudly and yanked my arm out of the boy's grasp. “Stop,” I protested, “it hurts.”

“What hurts?”

“My leg,” I responded shortly. “I think…” I glanced down to where my leg was jammed between the passenger seat and a piece of metal that had broken away from the roof of the car, “...I think I see blood.”

The boy's breathing became quick and labored. “Okay, but I can't leave you in here. I know it hurts but you have to bear it.”

I shook my head violently. “No...”

“Come on,” he insisted, ignoring me. This time, he shattered the remaining glass so that he could fit his body through the window. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled with all his might, despite my protests. The unbearable pain ripped through my leg once more and I screamed louder than I've ever screamed before.

But it worked. The boy was able to pull me out of the window.

I sighed in relief and threw my head back on the ground. “Now, my dad … he needs help, too!”

He blinked at me as if I was speaking another language. “You're bleeding really badly.”

I could feel myself falling in and out of consciousness and I couldn't piece together a full sentence. “But my dad...”

The boy pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped it around my leg, tying it tightly. “Hey, look, my mom is a doctor. She'll know what to do. I'll be right back.” He scrambled to his feet and took off in an unknown direction. Even though I wanted to plead and cry for him to stay with me, I couldn't because I was slowly drifting away into the oblivion.