Collision

A car crash triggers a series of events that change a man's life beyond all repair.

Collision

By Ryan Austin Fernandez

 

IT was early in the morning, specifically six in the morning, when a loud crash woke me up from my sweet dream: Two cars, one of which was red and the other, blue, one lane, 3 bodies, one survivor from the front car. She had been sent to the hospital.

Nobody knew how it happened. It was just an accident in a small street. The cars were pretty smashed up. The sole survivor was terribly injured and unable to speak.

A few hours later, we were told that the woman had died. A friend of mine was her nurse and she told me that she was able to say one word before passing away: “Lazarus…”

It was weird because my brother was named Lazarus. He preferred to be called Larry though.

She only told me however

The days passed by as usual, the only inconvenience the accident had caused us was a small section of the road where the two cars collided being blocked up for investigation.

Personally, this was very annoying. The part of the street just happened to be in front of our neighbor’s house and the bottlenecks, although infrequent, were annoying.

I was out to get groceries one Sunday and I was unable to get my car into the road. For some reason, more cars passed by our street. It was as if the crash site had become a tourist attraction for the sadistic.

Larry said he’ll take his bicycle and get the basic goods. I gave him the money and he was off. I then sat down to watch some television.

The crash was all over the news. Nobody cared about the other events happening. The crash was the headline of that day’s newspaper. It had been more than a week already.

I switched the channel to a sitcom to lighten the mood. I was all alone there, laughing. Then I saw someone in the other room.

“Larry?” I called out. The person silently went back into the room.  This was probably another one of Larry’s pranks. He was quite the prankster but he was still good company. I stood up and went in the room. It was empty.

I sat back down in front of the television and continued watching. Then I felt cold for a few seconds. It was a strange feeling.

It went away after a few second but I couldn’t help but think I was not alone in the house. I resisted the urge to slowly walk around the house with a flashlight like in those horror films and just ignored the feeling.

After a few minutes, Larry came back in through the back door and put the groceries in the dining table. I had fallen asleep and woke up just to see him enter the living room.

“Good morning, Bill. Sleep nice?”

He was kidding around again. It was 1 hour past noon.

“Did you get the groceries?”

“They’re in the dining room.”

I stood up and went in the dining room. The grocery bags were there, just like he said.

“Want a sandwich?”

“Sure.”

I took four slices of bread and put some peanut butter and jelly on two of them. I put the other tow on top and put them on a big plate. I walked back out and Larry was nowhere to be seen. The television was showing static.

I placed the plate down on the coffee table and went out through the back door. “Larry?” I called. There was no answer.

I went back in and stepped out through the front door. For some reason, it looked like it was six in the morning. A red car was steadily cruising through a street. Suddenly, a blue car appeared, speeding a few meters behind the red one. There was a loud crash and the sun quickly cruised through the sky.

“Bill?”

I looked behind me and Larry was there, staring oddly at me.

“Is anything wrong?”

“No. Nothing’s wrong…”

I slowly staggered to the couch as Larry took the plate and sat beside me. For the rest of that day, nothing strange happened but I couldn’t get the vision out of my mind.

I was not under the influence of alcohol or any illegal substances. I was perfectly healthy with no history of mental diseases. For all intents and purposes, I was just a normal guy.

That night, I dreamt the same dream I dreamt when the crash happened. I could not remember what it was when I went out to see what the crash was about but when I woke up the next day, I knew it was the same dream. It was a bit longer and thus, less sweet.

 

I did not tell Larry about it for I was scared he might see me as crazy. He always looked up to me, despite the occasional prank.

I woke up one day to find my watch missing. I get up and look around for it.

“Larry, where’s my watch?”

“I don’t know.”

I looked around the house and found nothing.

I ate some breakfast and rushed to the garage.

“I’m going to work. Don’t forget to lock the doors.”

“I know.”

Larry was still in college. I had a job as a waiter at a restaurant not from my home.

I put on my uniform and got to work. It was just another day in the job for me.

One of the customers I served did look somewhat familiar. I couldn’t put my finger on who he was.

I parked the car in our garage. I got out and saw my watch hanging in front of the door leading inside the house.

“Did you find your watch yet?” Larry said mischievously.

“Very funny, Larry.”

He had most of his fun during Monday.

I went back in and changed into more comfortable clothes. I then went in my room and turned on the television. I fell asleep after a while.

In the middle of the night, I woke up and suddenly remembered who the customer was. It was one of Larry’s classmates, Paul, who he brought over for some Lab work or something.

I didn’t blame him for not recognizing me. I was always in my room watching TV.

After this, I fell back to sleep.

 

THE next few days were relatively normal. The only odd thing that happened was the constant appearance of Larry’s friend at the restaurant.

The road was also open.

I asked him about it that day. He said that they just moved nearer to our house since he was having a hard time getting home after their lab work. He also said that I was one of the best waiters. I was flattered.

I asked him why he didn’t recognize me. He told me he was shy. I don’t know why he would be shy of me since after all, I was a waiter and he did give me his order on a regular basis. During these times, it was all business.

That night, I had the same dream I had before the accident once again. The first times, I could only remember a few details and it was cut short by the crash. The second time, I could remember a few more details and I had actually written down what I remembered. This time, I remembered quite a lot.

There was a park bench. I was eight years old. I went for the playground but I tripped on the way. My Mother helped me up and tied my shoelaces, the reason I tripped. I went on to the playground and I was having the time of my life. This was where the first dream ended

I was on the monkey bars when suddenly; a big kid grabbed my leg and pulled me down. I fell and hurt my legs. I tried to stand up and go after him but I couldn’t and besides, I was too scared. This was where the second dream ended.

Now, everything glowed white. I was now at my current age of thirty-two. The bully was walking towards his red car with his wife. He drove off. I still could not stand. My mom helped me up.

He went off into the distance and I could only watch. Out of nowhere, a blue car crashed into his. Then I found myself in the blue car, me and Larry. We were dead.

I woke up and it was morning already. I went to the dining room and ate some breakfast. I went in my car and drove to the restaurant.

Paul was there again only this time; he was with a guy who resembled the bully from my dream. Paul ordered his usual order. His friend only ordered a milkshake.

I gave the order and waited for it. When it was ready, I brought it to their table.

After they were done, Larry went in the restaurant.

“Hey, bro,” he said to me. “Paul, we have some work to do.”

“Yeah, where’s the paper?”

The other guy remained quiet. I watched.

The conversation went on as if the other guy was not there.

“Bill! Get back to work!”

“Sorry.”

I went back to work while still keeping an eye on the mysterious third person.

After a few minutes, the mysterious man still has not spoke. I was nearly done with the day.

Larry asked me if I could drive them home. The mysterious man was gone. I agreed. We put his bicycle in my car’s trunk as we drove home.

We dropped off Paul first. We headed back to our house when I things began to get weird again.

“Who was that other guy you were with?” I asked.

“What other guy?”

“I don’t have time for pranks, Larry. Who was he?”

“I was just with Paul. You know who Paul is, right?”

“Don’t give me that, Larry.”

“I’m not giving you anything! What’s wrong with you?!”

Then I looked at him and Larry was not there. It was the man.

“Larry?!”

He did not respond. He simply looked at me straight in his eyes.

“What did you do with Larry?!”

“Bill, what is going on here?!”

I heard his voice but he was not there.

“Larry, where are you?!”

“I’m riding shotgun. Where do you think I am?”

The man was still there and his eyes began to bleed blood.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY BROTHER?!”

“Bill, I’m right here. Keep your eyes on the road!”

“ANSWER M�"“

“WATCH OUT!”

I went a bit too fast and almost hit the car in front of us.

I did not know what to do. We were already in our street when I stopped the car.

“Alright, what the hell is going on?”

“You tell me, Bill. You’ve been acting weird since the crash!”

“WHERE IS MY BRO�"“

It all happened so fast. We were hit from behind by a car at full speed. The airbags activated but I was very much injured. I looked to my right and Larry was there, lifeless, still. I wasn’t sure is he was still alive. At that moment, everything slowly faded to black…

 

I woke up in the hospital. I looked around for Larry but he was nowhere to be found. I suddenly felt the pain of y injuries.

The nurse that was assigned to me was my friend, the one who tended to the dying woman.

“Where’s Larry?”

“Bill…”

“Is he alive…?”

“Bill, I-I-I…”

“Lazarus. Is he alive?!”

She bowed down her head.

“ANSWER ME!”

“Bill, he didn’t make it.”

I couldn’t believe it. I shut my eyes, wanting to believe that this was just some sick old dream. I looked back at the nurse and only found the mysterious man there, his eyes still bleeding.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!”

He remained still. The light in the room began to fade out.

“LARRY! WHERE�"“

He placed his hand on my forehead. I immediately felt death closing in.

“My brother… where…”

I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine.

“What have you done to him? Where is Larry…?”

I began to lose feeling in my body. I felt the sweet breath of life slowly leaving me.

“Larry… Lazarus…”

Everything faded to black as the last thing I saw was the man’s eyes. It was early in the morning…