Hi. It’s Sarah again. You would probably know soon anyway, due to the superior quality of my writing. Also – with the bestest gramer and gratest speling in the world. Seriously the whole family was so happy about Lisa’s news! She came home exhausted after dinner, so I didn’t ask her how it went. I also got up quietly the next morning and let her sleep late.

But I realized that Lisa and I now had a growing problem at school with which to deal.

It was inevitable. Guys were taking an interest in both Lisa and me. Some just looked. Some looked too long; known as “leering”. Some tried to start a conversation, as though they thought we might have something interesting to say. Maybe we had some profound insights into the meaning of life. Yeah, that’s it. They were after stimulating dialog. It’s logical, the prettier a girl is, the more cerebral her interests are likely to be. Lisa and I both knew that they wanted to hear one word … “yes”. They never got far enough to ask the question (or even imply the suggestion) they wanted answered by that word. Of course, they were wasting their time. Lisa was drifting toward lesbianism more by the day, and I had seen enough naked males to want no part of them. Male bodies may be good for some things, but they were not made to look at. I may be wrong, but … no, I’m not wrong.

So, I approached my problem solver. “Lisa, is there some way we can head off the time-wasting conversations with these horny guys? It’s getting to be a real pain.”

“I have an idea. I’ll bring you something tomorrow that will fend them off kind of like garlic fends off a vampire.”

Before school the next day, she told me, “Hold out your left hand.” I held my hand out and she slipped an engagement ring on my finger, saying, “With this ring….” She had a similar ring on her finger. “We’re all set! We both now have finances ... somewhere. We’ve each set a date … sometime. Additional details are nobody’s business. I can guarantee that no guys will come up to either of us and ask, ‘Oh, when‘s the date?’ Girls might, and my answer will be in the future. I think some of them are too stupid to realize that it has to be in the future; it can’t be in the past! By the way, I’m glad we’re cousins, except for this one thing. Otherwise, I would buy you a real ring … or maybe you would do the ring buying.”

“Well, we’re cousins, but one of us is not likely to impregnate the other, so we won’t have inbred children. Anyway, problem solved!” I stretched out my left arm, held up my hand and said, “Looka dat rock!” It wasn’t really all that big. Lisa didn’t want something so big that people would think they were fake. They were fake of course, but they were good fakes.

After a few seconds, Lisa tilted her head put her hand up to her ear as if I had said something she didn’t almost couldn’t hear. “What? Oh, yeah, you’re right about that!”

“Right about what?”

“Oh, I thought you said I’m a genius.”

“Oh, right. I didn’t think I had to say that, but if you need to hear it, Lisa, you’re a genius!”

“Why thank you! I like a person who’s honest and so quick with a compliment!”

“Well, thank you for bringing the ring from my finance. He’s in the army, in Uberiquitzan.”

“I’m gonna find a place on the map that no one’s ever heard of. That’s where my finance is fighting for world peace. I think he flies a plane, though, so he’s in the Navy.”

“Yeah, mine’s on a boat, so he’s in the Air Force. We are so knowledgeable about the services because we’re future wives of servicemen. Gee, Lisa, are you pining away for your guy?”

“Sure! I pine every chance I get.”

“Yeah, me too, I’m a real piner.”

“Now we’re like Heidi; remember her? She supposedly had a boyfriend who was in the Army.”

“Yeah, ‘Hefty Heidi’. She weighed about 300 lbs. She had one ragged picture of her ‘boyfriend’. She called him her ‘fiance’. What happened to her?”

“I guess her fiancé came home, swept her off her feet, and took her away.”

“That had to be one strong fiancé. Oops. We better stop gossiping. God’s gonna get us”

We ceased our gossip hopefully in time to avoid God’s wrath … or did we?

It felt good that a lot of the problems, conflicts, strife, wars, and rumors of wars, etc. had been settled, quelled, or at least stamped down temporarily. I felt like our family had achieved a form of homeostasis. Things were pretty peaceful, and I hoped nothing would happen to burst our little bubble of happiness. I was mulling this over as I ordered a burger at the place I ran into Bryan. I thought about him and wondered how he was doing. I made a mental note to see if was working on the window. I hoped he was because I think he’s a lot smarter than he pretends. I wondered why someone would “dumb down” like that. Some girls do it because they think a guy likes a girl that, presumably, he can take advantage of. I wouldn’t know why a guy would do it, unless it was to be in keeping with his “dumb jock” image. I sat facing the freeway, where traffic had come to a standstill. I was glad to be in a cool restaurant instead of sitting in traffic. As I sat casually watching, a large tanker truck was coming up behind the line of stopped cars doing at least 60 MPH (96.56 KPH). He was making no attempt to stop or even slow down. I watched in horror as the big truck ran right over and crushed the small white car at the back of the line. It went so far, it completely covered the white car and half of the car in front of it. The moment was surreal! This can’t be happening! The person in the white car was dead for certain. Strangely, I thought of the words the reporter cried when the “Hindenberg” exploded, “Oh, the humanity!”

Right there in the restaurant, I cried. There were other people in the restaurant, but I was only vaguely aware of them or what they were saying or doing. Within seconds, sirens were screaming from every direction and a crowd of “looky-loos” was gathering. Traffic in the area would now get 10 times worse than before. TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) shuts down the whole freeway when there is a fatality. I quickly got into my car and began a circuitous route around the crowds and traffic, taking side roads and service roads to make my way home. I had just seen someone die. It wasn’t up close, but it was the closest I had ever come to death. I never knew the effect it would have on me. I wanted to go home and see the people I love and I wanted to hug them. That was something the person in the white car would never do again and his or her loved ones were soon to get a telephone call or a knock on the door that they will never forget.

I wound around until I got out of the area and headed straight for home. I even sped my car up when I got in our driveway; no speed limit. I ran into what seemed to be an empty house even though there were cars outside. “Mom? Aunt Katy? Dad? Lisa?” Some of them almost certainly weren’t there, but I didn’t want to miss anybody. I needed somebody!

“Sarah?” My mom came walking toward the front of the house.

I ran to hug her. I put my head on her shoulders and sobbed.

“Honey, what is it? Did you get in a wreck?”

I shook my head to indicate “No.” Now I was hyperventilating. Mom got me a paper bag to breathe into. After a few seconds, I was somewhat recovered.

“Mom, come see!” I went into the den and she followed. I turned on the TV and put it on the local news station. There was an advertisement which featured a slow-motion video of a woman shaking her head from side to side. Her hair was beautiful, and the slow-motion made it look even more so.

“OK, Honey, this can’t be about shampoo.”

“No, Mom! Look!”

The commercial was finished and the news was back on.

In breaking news here on Channel 13, There has been a major accident very near our ABC13 studios. Jessica Willey is on the scene and files this report.

Yes, Tom, here on Highway 59 at Buffalo Speedway, an 18 wheel tanker truck plowed into a line of cars which were at stopped due to road construction. The last car in line was a white subcompact car, and it got the worst of it. You can see that the 18 wheeler ran completely over the car and most of the car in front of it. This just happened in the last few minutes and there is no word yet on any fatalities. We’ll give you updates as we receive more information. Back to you, Tom.

Video was showing while the reporter talked. It was close to the wreckage, but avoided anything graphic. The accident was as bad as I thought, and I realized then that there was probably more than one death.

Keep it here on ABC13. We’ll give you updates on this and other stories.

The station went back to yet another commercial.

My mom queried me, “Was it someone you know?”

“No, Mom, but I saw it happen! It was terrible! Whoever was in that white car is dead. There’s no way they could have lived.” The tears started to flow again,

“Oh, my tender-hearted little girl.” She wrapped me up in a hug. “I love you and your tender heart! You have no idea who it was?”

I sobbed. “No, ma’am, but it was a human being! It was just … awful! Can I call Dad?”

“Tell you what; text your dad and ask him to call you if he has time.”

“OK.”

I texted my dad, “Call Sarah?” He would know that the question mark meant “when you get a chance”. It had told him ahead of time not to interrupt anything important. Sometimes, he called right back, sometimes it took hours, but he always called back.

This time he called almost immediately. “Sarah? What’s up?”

“Oh, Daddy, I just saw the most horrible thing!” I held back my tears as I told my dad the story. He advised me to get a shower and go to bed early.

When I got off the phone, I asked, “Where are Lisa and Aunt Katy?”

“They’re shopping.” Suddenly, she saw the anxiety in my eyes. “OK! Sarah, don’t start imagining things!”

“Well, I noticed the white car, but I didn’t pay any attention to what the other car looked like. Dad told me to go to bed early, but I can’t do that now!” As I talked, I punched in Lisa’s number. I heard her phone ring in the next room. She had forgotten to bring it with her. I tried Aunt Katy’s phone and it rang several times and went to voice mail. I left a message for her to ‘Please call’, then hung up. I looked at my mom with the tears gathering. “Oh, Mom, I can’t handle it.” She held her hands out and I went to her to receive her protection and solace. I sobbed again. Here I was sobbing over someone who probably had her ringer turned off, but I couldn’t go to bed without knowing my aunt and my cousin were OK.

“Honey, there are millions of people in this city. Please don’t make up things in your mind. At a time like this, your vivid imagination is your worst enemy. I’ll text Katy we urgently need her to call. Lay down on the couch and please watch something besides the news.”

“I want to watch the news to see what kind of car it was! If it’s a silver SUV I … I don’t know what I’ll do!”

“I’ll sit here with you and leave the news on to see if we get any more information.. Rest a little.”

“Thank you, Mom. Mom?”

“Yes, Honey?”

“I love you!”

“Honey, I love you more than tongue can tell.”

I lay on the couch listening to the drivel on television. When I closed my eyes, I could see over and over a tanker truck going 60 MPH and crashing into stopped cars. Could I see that second car? I opened my eyes slightly and squinted, as if it would help me see more detail of the scene. Maybe if I got hypnotized? Silly thought. I would know the whole story tomorrow morning. I wanted to know now! How ironic, if Lisa saw it, she could probably tell us the year, make and model of the car. I got a sick feeling thinking that my aunt and my cousin might have been hurt, or even killed! Wait … the next-of-kin have to be notified. How will they find us? Should we call the police station and say … what? … we might be next-of-kin to someone in that big wreck? No, they would find Katy’s and Lisa’s identification on their … Oh, God, I need You now! We all need you! Why are they so late? Oh, it’s only 7:15 PM. Thousands of thoughts swirled in my brain. I thought I would never go to sleep but, despite my emotional overload, I went to sleep on the couch. Deep, desperately needed sleep to prepare me for bad news.

Next: The bad news