500 words Forum The Day After

              Janet had been waiting for this day for so long. She felt that Mike had something up his sleeve when he had taken her to lunch at that fancy restaurant. She’d been right and he popped the question there. There was so much to do; so much to prepare for and not much time. She already had her wedding dress but there were alterations to be made. She dropped off the dress last evening and would pick it up this afternoon. She only had two days to get everything done. Mike wanted to get married right away; to just jump in the car and drive to Vegas, but she talked him out of that. At least her parents and best friends had to be there. And he conceded. As she left work today she felt tense and nervous and excited and happy. She’d just bought a new CD of her favorite band and she popped it into the car stereo player. She cranked up the volume as she pulled out of the parking lot. After she picked up her dress, she would go to her best friend’s house to help her work on decorations for the wedding. The tires crunched on the asphalt where broken bits of highway gathered cracked by sun and rain. The music was really good and Janet sang along with the tune because she knew every word. This was her favorite song. She was halfway to the seamstress shop and soon she would have to make a turn at an intersection so she started to slow the car down; easing her foot bit by bit up from the accelerator. She could see the three-way stoplight up ahead and traffic was light this afternoon. She was thirty feet from the intersection when the world exploded. The last thing she saw was splattered blood across shattered glass; the last sound she heard was the scream of steel against steel. The engineer had sounded his whistle but the girl in the Honda Civic just kept coming. Was she deaf? Was she crazy? Get out of there! The squeal of the brakes shot sparks from beneath the steel wheels as the heavy freight train barreled another 80 yards down the tracks before grinding to a stop. Only the axles and some crumpled pieces of blue tin were visible from under the front wheels of the train. At least that much was a blessing. There would be no wedding tomorrow. Janet’s best friend would never be a bride’s maid and Janet would never be a bride.            

wow i wasnt expecting this from this title! just goes to show how everyone thiks diffrently! well done i look forward to reading next week thanks for joining!

Wow, to go from something so innocent and beautiful and to end it so tragicaly is something I certainly did not see coming. Nicely done.

I just love a happy ending.  Great job

Great story with a very surprise ending.

I definitely see a parallel between your twisted mind and mine. ;) It's odd how such an everyday topic made us both create a matrimonial tragedy. Very well done.