Left In OBLIVION

I was just coming home from work. Exhausted. I worked a ten-hour shift to make sure I could pay my electricity bill that had not been paid for three months now. I sighed, running my fingers through my dirty, dark brown hair. I’ve needed a shower for a few days now, but the hot water hasn’t been working lately.

Guess I’ll shower in cold water.

My stomach grumbled, reminding me I missed lunch. I remembered I’m almost out of food, at least I saved some instant ramen from yesterday. First, I needed to stop by the Community Centre to heat up my water for ramen. After I get home, I get an hour’s rest, then work another three hours. That’s my day, Thirteen hours of working, then sleeping on a used sixteen-year old mattress. I sighed but kept driving. I got out of my car once I got home, grabbed the other half of an instant ramen package and walked to the Community Centre.

“Hey Jaden. What do you need this time?” Anita smiled. She told me she wanted to grow out her braids, and she looked like she made great progress. Her long black hair reached her waist, hiding the back of her shirt. We walked into the room containing a microwave, stove, and the thing I needed most, a tea kettle. I opened the lid and poured water into the kettle, preparing to boil the water inside. Putting it down, I chatted with Anita like I normally do. She’s usually here around this time everyday. I told her about work and she told me about the people who come in and out of the Centre. When the water finished boiling I placed the instant ramen in a bowl and poured the water, set a timer to four minutes and let it sit. Once the timer ran out, I poured out the water in the sink and finished my meal. I finished my conversation with Anita and went to my car to finish my last three hours of work.

“Jaden! Hey man! Glad to see you here!” A co-worker, whose name I had Forgotten, smiled at me.

“Sure man. Happy to see you too” I replied back.

I stacked boxes of canned food in the back of a truck ready to be shipped to a generic grocery store. I was tempted to sneak a couple canned goods into the inside pocket of my pants, but knew I could rot in jail for that. I smirked. They might serve better food there than in my junky heck-hole. I shook my head at the thought and continued stacking. My quota was seventy five boxes before I went home, which was approximately twenty five boxes an hour.

At the end of my shift, my arms felt like jello and it hurt to walk as usual. I half limp into my car ready to drive home and fall asleep. The engine takes a bit to get ready before springing into action. Well, I shouldn’t say ‘spring.’ more like ‘clunked’ into ‘action’. I chuckled before laying my head back on the rest, waiting for the throbbing in my arms to stop before driving home.

Once I was ready, I started driving. My route home was to turn right, go over a bridge, turn left, turn right again, then pull up to an apartment that looks like a safety hazard. When I approached the bridge I saw a car driving twenty over the speed limit, which was odd because most only go ten over here in Ontario, Canada.

I made sure to keep a close eye on the crazy driver as they kept going faster, Heading towards…me? Instinctively reacting, I crossed into the other lane to avoid a collision as they approached me. But it didn’t matter. They rammed into my front wheel, sending me back into my lane. I corrected the move and sped up. Hoping the driver will leave me be.

They sped up and rammed into my bumper sending me flying over the edge of the bridge. My grip on the wheel tightened as I fell to my death.

Oh Lord Oh Lord Oh Lord I’m going to die.

The car hit the water and sent my head into a whiplash that made me lose my grip. Once the car hit, I started to sink. Water started slowly seeping through the crack in the glass of my windows. I panicked, thinking of a way to make it out alive.

Who wants me dead? Who hates me? What did I do wrong?

I closed my eyes thinking what I could possibly do at this moment. Then it hit me. My paranoid younger sister would always watch videos on how to survive random events and would always tell me. I used to roll my eyes but listen.

Thank the Lord I listened.

Jaden! If you ever need to escape a car if you drive into the ocean, remember to open your windows,

I cranked my windows down letting the water flood in. Hoping Angelina was right.

Keep your seatbelt on ’till the waters up to your chin. Then take many, many deep breaths. Open your car door and float to the top.

I kicked open the door, took a final deep breath, and let my body start to float. Thankfully, my car didn’t sink too far so I got to the top fast. When I reached the surface I gasped. The water stung my eyes. Gasping for air made me choke on the water around me. Once my lungs regained control, I took in my surroundings. After a few seconds of staying afloat, I heard a noise. It was loud and right above me and getting louder. Looking up, I saw it was a helicopter releasing a ladder right beside me. It fell beside me and someone came down. They shouted something I didn’t understand. I grabbed onto the last rung of the ladder,then felt a hand grab my left arm and a sharp pain below my shoulder. I saw it was a needle. But, why? I felt drowsy. They grabbed my arm when my hand slipped and they held on. As I quickly started to lose my consciousness, I looked up. Trying to make out the hand that grabbed me. A…Woman. I then blacked out.