They Were Wrong

I stare out the window and glance at the dark, gloomy sky. Dark clouds loom over the large city, almost covering the city in its entirety. I sigh deeply and glance back toward the teacher, who continues speaking. It sounds like indistinct murmuring from here. Always has. I chuckle to myself at the thought and return to staring at the clouds.

A moment after my resumed watching of the sky, there's a loud crashing of thunder. A girl on the opposite side of the room lets out a brief shriek of surprise, and I sigh deeply. Ninth grade and she's scared of thunder? Pathetic. I sigh heavily and watch as bright lightning pierces through the darkness of the clouds and illuminates the sky. I stare at it in awe of its sheer magnificence, its sheer beauty.

I smile to myself at the resurfacing of a far-off memory. The time that my younger sister and I had sat and watched as rain poured down in blankets and the lightning had made it seem as if the rain itself had been glowing with a bluish hue. My sister sits on the opposite side of the room. She had skipped a grade recently. She is doing the same thing I am--staring at the beautiful storm brewing outside.

I sigh deeply and glance toward my sister. "Awesome, huh?" Christine mouths to me. I smile and nod in response. She returns to staring at the storm before finally the teacher snaps loudly.

"Pay attention to the class!" Mrs. Brayden shouts. I scoff and return to staring at the storm. A moment later, the most incredible thing happens. Thunder rings out and a massive bolt of lightning the size of the school itself slams into the ground with such force it looks as if it had been hurled from the heavens by a god. The ground under us shakes and several students scream, some even falling over.

The jaws of both Christine and I drop in amazement. I glance down toward the ground, large smoking singe marks drawing attention to it. Other students hurry over to the window and peer outside, gawking at the size of the hulking place. Christine rushes over finally and the two of us glance at each other before it happens.

Suddenly, blankets of rain pour down, making it nearly impossible to see. And then a moment later, deafening thunder. After a few seconds, it subsides, and then there is the sound of wrenching metal from outside, barely audible. Then finally, the sound of several car-alarms blaring before they are drowned out once more by the pouring rain and pounding thunder.

It takes a moment... But after a while, we all realize what just happened. What those sounds were. They were the sounds of people dying, their cars being torn apart violently, and the sound of screaming from the cars and the people. The smiles on our faces fade and then we glance at one-another with pure terror on our faces.

And we know then... That they were wrong and there is no going back. That lives would be lost and there is nothing that could be done about it.

I hurriedly rush outside of the classroom, despite the exceedingly loud protests of my teacher.

Christine follows me and I glance at her with a slight shake of my head, which she disregards. The two of us burst through the doors and barrel down the street toward the closest accident. I peer around and run up to a car.

The entire front end had been destroyed from the impact. Inside is a young girl with long, dark hair that tumbles to her waist. It covers her face but nonetheless, I reach inside and pull open the door before dragging her out of the car, straining from the effort. She hits the ground and I place my head on her chest. Nothing. It's hard to hear thanks to the rain that is falling and drowning out nearly everything, even my own thoughts, but I can't hear anything. Her chest doesn't seem to be rising or falling either. I put my hands in the proper position and begin to start CPR.

I took some classes in my free time. I continue to do chest-compressions for several seconds before pulling open her mouth, pinching her nose, and breathing into her mouth forcefully. I do several more repeated motions of this before she finally coughs and sputters back to life like the engine of an old car.

I smile deeply and lean back on my knees, panting. Not too much rest. There are still more people who need helped. I rise to my feet and hurry over to the next car. This sight...isn't quite as pretty. A young man, maybe 23 years of age, is sitting inside. In several pieces. His torso is sitting on the dash, his legs in the passenger seat, and an arm is sitting in the backseat. Solid entrails are resting on the man's legs.

Christine rushes over to see and help but keels over, retching and vomiting violently at the gruesome, gory sight. I make no face of disgust. Instead, I sigh deeply. Too bad. So young. A life just snuffed out in an instant. Over in the snap of fingers. All because of one storm. I sigh once more and turn away before helping the other victims. I think once more of how truly horrendous it is--the fact that so many lives are torn apart. All because they were wrong. I shake my head in disappointment. So many different possibilities, so many outcomes, so many scenarios. And yet the worst one possible is what actually happened. I wonder... Is it supposed to be funny to the universe? I don't see any reason why all this horrible sadness and such has to happen. All of the pain, the hate, the rage. It isn't right.

I sigh deeply to myself and shake my head as I walk over to the young girl who I had helped. "How's the head?" I ask her, gesturing toward the large ice-pack pressed against her hairline. "Oh, it's fine. Thank you for helping me." She says, a grateful smile. "Yeah. Thank you for helping me out by living. And wearing a seatbelt to help you do so." I say. She laughs, amused, and sighs. "Yeah, no problem. Although you did me more favors than I did you," she answers. "Yeah, maybe. So, what's your name?" I ask. "Oh. Kenzie," she tells me. I nod and shake her hand. "Name's Dawson. Dawson Clark. Nice to meet you, Kenzie." I say. She takes my hand and shakes it gently. I thought this day would only bring darkness. Guess I was wrong.