Once Bitten

Prologue: PAUL

The freeway was dimly lit as we drove down the road in Dads SUV. Mum was fast asleep while he handled the wheel. My younger sister, Pele, and I sat dozing in the back seat. We were only an hours drive away from home, he figured he could stay up until then. The freeway appeared empty that night. We rounded a bend. Out of nowhere a huge log truck came barreling around the corner straight for us. Driving on the wrong side of the road, its bright white headlights blinding us.

Instinctively I wrapped myself protectively around Pele, shielding her from harm. The truck hit like a train. It ripped us from the road and we spiraled through the air. Crashing back to earth, the car rolled and rolled. Then there was silence. The car teetering on the very edge of a ditch.

Every part of me was in agony. Especially most of the right side of my body and face. Warm blood dripped through my hair. With each ragged breath I took a new wave a pain washed through me. Pele's small body shook in my arms. She called out to Mum and Dad in a quivering voice. They didn't respond. The front of the car was crunched inward so badly there was noway they could have survived. All the doors were smashed and the windows shattered.

"Paul?", Pele called out to me "P-Paul please s-say something", she sobbed.

I could hear her clearly but I was unable to answer. My thoughts unclear and clouded. The sick feeling in my head prevented me from making my body respond in any way. The seat had come down on my right leg. Its broken metal parts stabbing deeply into flesh.

She twisted around to face me. Sobbing when she felt the amount of blood soaking my thin sweater. To comfort me, she began to sing. She sang the same song Mum always did to us before bed,

"Sleep my little ones, I love you well.

I cast upon you my sleeping spell.

I love you more every day.

And I love you more in every way".

Breathing a sigh, I allowed myself to drift. I knew I was dying but it was comforting to hear the song, one last time.