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Dors, le mal est passé et tu entres dans la danse

Sleep, the worst is over and you enter the dance

Le pire de côté, tes reves en cadence

The worst of your dreams follow in rhythm

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The rain poured down in sheets causing the wet pavement to reflect into my eyes as it caught the lights from the passing cars. I sent out silent prayer as I gazed out the window, but a skidding car passed in the opposite direction startled me from my thoughts with a gasp. I closed my eyes with a slight shake of my head and opened them to find myself staring into the green glow of the digital clock on the dashboard – 7:34pm. I fidgeted nervously in my seat.

“We’re going to make it in time.”

I turned my head to look at my mom in the driver’s seat, her eyes reassuring me before she directed them again towards the road.  The windshield wipers were moving at full speed, though it seemed it hardly helped at all.

“I promise you we’re going to make it” she reaffirmed, her hands gripping tightly to the steering wheel.

Our conversation became blurred and slurred in my mind, but I felt the car move slightly faster as she pressed her foot against the accelerator in an attempt for us to reach our destination. I could hear the water spinning off of the tires as I stared intently ahead, my eyes transfixed on the brief moments of clarity the wiper blades provided before the windshield was once again consumed by cascading rain.

I sent out another prayer as my eyes moved to the clock once again – 7:42pm – and it was then that I saw it.

Hazy headlights were blaring at me through the windshield and my eyes widened in horror. From the corner of my eye I saw my mom press back into her seat as she violently turned the wheel to right, slamming her foot onto the brake pedal. I clutched desperately to my seat as the car lurched and veered to the side, wheels sliding along the slick road beneath them. I closed my eyes as tightly as I could, but a vivid picture was painted in my mind from the sounds echoing in my ears – and then I felt it, my world going black.

My eyes snapped open and I clutched tightly to my chest, panting heavily as my eyes adjusted to the blue glow consuming me. My breathing staggered as I finally caught my breath and ran my hand across my forehead, wiping away perspiration and the dampened hair obscuring my vision. I turned my head to the left, lifting it slightly to stare into the blue LCD screen of the alarm clock perched on my bedside table. 3:03am – I flopped my head back into the softness of my pillow with a sigh while my hands rubbed my throbbing forehead.

“Great, Bom,” I thought as I stared up at the ceiling.

I sighed again and perched myself up, fixing my pillows behind my back and leaned back into them. I reached to my bedside table and pulled open the small drawer, reaching inside to pull out the thick novel within. I clicked on my lamp and opened up to page 352.

It looked like it would be another sleepless night.