Three Words, One Life

It was cold and rainy friday morning, raindrops were pattering against the window. An ear piercing sound wakes me out my deep slumber, I roll over to end the sound, the numbers on the clock haunt me, the realization of a simple “5 more minutes” turned into another hour. Jerking the blankets off of me, the cold air hits my skin forming goosebumps, making me regret leaving the warmth I was just feeling. I trudge up the stairs, the soft and fluffy like carpet rubs against the bottom of my feet as darkness surrounds me. My feet are instantly hit with the cold tiled bathroom floor, my hands find their way to the wall trying to find the familiar feeling of the light switch, flipping it on, I’m immediately met with the blinding yellowish light which left my sleepy eyes dazed.

I begin my normal routine, the shower engulfs my cold body with warmth as the water hits my back. Finishing my shower, I get dressed not bothering to put makeup on my face. I look at the clock on my wrist, the numbers sending my heart into a panic. Rushing out the house, my eyes immediately set onto the small silver-grey car in my driveway. I get into my car placing my backpack in the passenger seat and buckling myself in. Driving out the neighborhood, a nagging feeling that i’m forgetting something surfaces and doesn’t leave me.

Turning left onto the main road, I take my normal route to school. I see the big, tall, naked trees, surrounding me and the mountain outlines in the far distance, which I can see the sun rising slowly behind. The stormy clouds make the sky a dark grey, releasing the large drops of water its been waiting to get rid of. I follow the straight and narrow road, making sure to watch for the puddles of water where our draining systems fail to reach. I watch as all the cars pass by, their front lights shining bright, the windshield wipers moving back and forth fighting the raindrops. The once straight road starts to become curvy, turning my wheel to follow the road, my steering wheel become stiff as a board. The rush of panic and fear crossed me as I was drifting in the oncoming lane of traffic. The thoughts of my life slipping away and never seeing my family filled my head, I couldn’t think straight, what do I do? The only thing I could think if doing was jerking my steering wheel to avoid it. The steering wheel unlocked, placing a slight feeling of relief in me, that is until I looked up.

My eyes make contact with a large, grey metallic object approaching fast. The impact sends my car spinning, my tires trying to find a grip on the cold and wet gravel. My head begins to spin after making contact with the headrest behind me and all I see are white light, triggering the feeling that I forgot something. The realization instantly hits me, and I remember. Those three words I have never once forgotten to utter right before I left my family I now failed to say. In that moment, I didn’t know if I would be able to ever say those words again. Once the car comes to a stop I push the door open, falling out of the car I look frantically around me. Feeling the mucky air all around me, the smell of burnt rubber and rain instantly hits my nose. My heart feels as if it’s beating out of my chest, and everything around me looks fuzzy.

I pull my phone out, dialing the all too familiar number as people around me rush from their cars to comfort me. The voice on the phone breaks me out of my state of shock only to be able to choke out four words, “Mom, I need you.” I can hear the piercing sounds of sirens as they approach closer and closer, the flashing red and blue lights coming into view. The paramedics rush to me, examining me, asking me questions, but I can only focus on the women I see running to me from a distance. Her porcelain like skin and long black hair flowing behind her, her face full of panic and fear as she searches for me. Her green emerald eyes connect with mine, releasing a sigh of relief I didn’t know I was holding, breaking me from my trance. She rushes to me, engulfing me in her arms overwhelming me with many emotions.

I wrap my arms around her, tears running down my face like streams of water hearing her repeat those same three words I forgot to. Pulling away, she examines my face, looking for any bruises, scratches, or even the slightest wince of pain evident on my face. Her small, soft, warm hands run over my face as she wipes the tears from my face, hugging my tightly she repeats to me, “It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay.” As I remember that moment, full of pain, fear, sadness, and longing, life seems shorter. Some people’s biggest regret is not being able to say those words again to the ones they treasure the most. That day is still lodged into my mind like I just experienced it, it made my viewpoint on life morph into something more admirable and appreciable. Those three words are even more important to me now, they used to be nothing more than a goodbye routine.

Everyone talks about how life is about taking risk, how we should take every opportunity and not be afraid because our life could be short, but to me, life isn’t about taking risk. In that moment I realized what life was, it’s about spending quality time with those you love, and spreading love with everyone around you because even though saying “I love you” seems to lose its meaning when said repeatedly, to some people, like my family, it means everything.