I’m on day two of my promise to not mention that one thing (because of that other thing)during the entire month of November. I would be on day three, but I whimped out on day 1 so it doesn’t count.
Over the weekend I watched an amazing anime: Kanon. Stunning, beautiful story, with some amazing pacing. To me, they perfectly timed each powerful emotion to give it maximum impact. Something I would love to be able to do. There was a scene toward the end where it was a combination of now and flashback to maybe an hour earlier. We’re watching two very normal moments, happy, light-hearted, kids playing and laughing and then *wham*! A car skids out of control and slams into one of the characters on a crosswalk at high speed.
And my gut wrenched, and I sobbed even though I didn’t want to, because the entire 24 episodes had that kind of grip on me on Saturday.
I was driving to work this morning and it was still dark out. 7:45 and the sun hadn’t come up. Makes me long for Sunday. I pass a junior high and a community college on my short 3 mile treck. If I decide I want Starbucks in the morning (which I shouldn’t have, but it’s been a long three days), I also pass a high school.
At 7:45, all three have heavy traffic flow moving in and out. Headlights going in both directions and congestion at the surrounding intersections. This doesn’t bother me, I don’t stress about morning traffic unless I’m running late (rarely happens) or my car is acting up. I was going with the flow this morning, music cranked, window cracked, happy story thoughts in my head.
As I drew closer to the high school, I saw flashing red and blue lights in the right lane. I moved left, it just made sense to me. Most of the other traffic did as well, but not all. Some moved right to try and pass us all. As we drew closer to the high school, I could count the emergency vehicles. Five cop cars, a fire truck and an ambulance. I suspect the police were mostly there to block off traffic and keep things moving.
Approaching the intersection, I could see more details. No cars smooshed into each other, like you might expect right outside a high school. Instead, a single SUV parked at the side of the road, with a woman probably my age standing on the curb, head in her hands. And being loaded into the ambulance, a stretcher with a person strapped on. The scene from the weekend flashed in my head, and I felt that same familiar tug and sob, but this time associated with a real life group of people.
And I felt grief, sorrow, sympathy, pity, both for the pedestrian who had been struck, and the horrified woman who had hit them. For their families, for friends at school, and more.
While I made it to Starbucks without further incident (a whole block away), the caramel machiatto didn’t taste so sweet any more.