Single-Syllable Story – The Edge of Town
July 16th, 2010 |Gregg Redd sped down the street that ran past the park where he would go and make out with that one girl in high school by the oak tree. That was years ago, now. He drove north for a while to the edge of town. The homes and shops and the glow of the street lights changed to fields and farms and stars and dark.
When his speed topped out, he closed his eyes and turned off his lights.
The crash was swift and loud.
He was thrown from the car through the glass that sat strewn on the road. It made a path to the ditch a fourth of a mile up. The car rolled five times and the leaks seemed like blood that poured out of a corpse in the night. Gregg lay in the ditch near the road. His eyes were still closed.
A car passed by the scene and the man saw the wreck. He called for help and a flight for life came to take Gregg to St. Joe’s. Clouds hid the stars and it snowed.
“You should be glad he still has a chance. You should be glad he’s still with us. Thank God for his sake, and yours. By all rights his neck should have snapped.” said the nurse to the Redds.
“Do you think he’ll make it?” asked his mom.
“How’s his brain? Will he… will he be the same?” asked his dad.
“There’s no way to know. We just have to wait,” said the nurse.
“Why?” his mom asked his dad. “Why do you think… do you think he was drunk?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s worth the thought right now. Let’s just hope things work out for the best. Let’s hope he lives.”
Luck was on Gregg’s side, if you see it that way. In two weeks he could talk, though he did not have much to say. His mom and dad asked him how he crashed. He said he lost the wheel and it all went so fast that he could not be sure.
Gregg did not know how to feel. He did not feel blessed. He watched folks be rushed to his ward that died, both young and old. He did not know why he was the one who lived. He kept his eyes peeled for drugs he could take to try it once more. He knew he had to.
Gregg thought by now they would have found what was in his trunk.