The Civic Incident
UnpredictableI walk along the street, listening to music. Oblivious to what is happening around me. The only things existing is Jay Chou in my ears, and me. My feet automatically stop at a zebra crossing, and automatically start walking again the moment it turned green. All subconscious movements. School just went out and I am tired. I only want to go home.
Suddenly---
HONK! HONK! HON---
I look up at the noises that are even louder than my music. A car was rushing full speed at me, and doesn't seem able to stop. A dirty once-white '94 Honda Civic. The car swerves, trying not to hit me, while I still stand rooted to the spot. But at over 70 km/h it is pretty much impossible to stop until it crashes into something and destroys the engine.
In these few precious milliseconds where all this is running through my head, I have pretty much lost my last chance of escaping. The car nears me and I raise my hands, my last feeble attempt to protect myself, and wait for the crash.
It never came.
I open my eyes, staring in shock. The car has, miraculously, stopped in front of me, only a few inches from my feet. All is silent. I look around.
Everyone and everything has stopped moving. Cars immobile in the middle of the road. People in the middle of actions. All the normal sounds of a busy street, gone. I suddenly realise that even the music blaring from my earphones has gone silent. It is as if I am caught inside a photograph.
As if time itself had stopped.
I look at the car in front of me, still frozen in motion. I step aside and lower my arms. Chaos immediately ensues again as if nothing had happened. The car brushed past, barely missing me.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?"
"Jesus, that was close!"
"Is the girl hit?"
I see these people rushing towards me, and I am suddenly jolted to my senses. I rip off my earphones and run to the safety of the sidewalk. These people, pedestrians, strangers, all huddle around me, worried looks etched on their faces.
"I'm okay," I say, trying to get past the crowd. "Really, I'm alright. The car didn't hit me." I continue to push past them, and they seem to get the message as they part to let me through. I try to walk calmly, but the moment I round the corner I start to run.
What the hell happened just now? Why did everything--- well everything but me, that is--- stop all of a sudden? Did I do that? An arm appears from nowhere, grabs my arm and pulls me into an alley. I start to yell out but before I can make any sound a hand covers my mouth. Another pair of strong arms wrap around me and effectively stops me from struggling. I bite the hand over my mouth, hard, and it recoils with a "damn!"
I open my mouth to yell again but a finger pokes into my cheek and instantly I feel a freezing cold spreading out from that point and my lips go numb.
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So, how was it? :D I welcome comments! ^^
Also, I need a main image up there... if anyone wants to help, message me:D or I'll keep this crappy thing pic I found online :P
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