freaky friday

so let me lay out the scene:  it's a quiet morning.  i'm stopped at a light behind 2 cars, around the corner from a middle school.  i'm on the last leg of my commute, just a few blocks from the hospital.

 

i see a flash of something in my periphery, something fast.  i manage to catch a glimpse of tail lights on the back of a sky blue car as it whirs by on the sidewalk.  there's a rumble of noise, like the car is accelerating, and there are a few bumps as it sails off the sidewalk and through the intersection.  next thing i know, i see sparks -- the utility pole is teetering, power lines are falling, and then the traffic light is out.  the car only stops when it's headfirst into a tree, it's front end a welded V against the trunk.  and then... white smoke.

 

besides my initial reaction -- OMGWTFISTHISADREAMDIDIREALLYJUSTSEETHAT? -- i wanted to know if the person inside the car was alright.  there seemed to be a collective hesitation from the others in their cars around me, wondering what to do next, as i'm sure everyone else was as stunned as i was to witness the bizarre sequence of events.  finally, the 2 cars in front of me inched forward carefully (as there was nothing to tell us when to go), and i paused next to the car to look in.  the windows were somewhat fogged up but the guy inside looked to be okay.. from what i could see, he carried an odd expression of almost "wow, that sure woke me up" mixed with "boy, am i in trouble."  i originally thought maybe he was being chased, but saw no other cars around.  then i had thought, what a jerk for being in such a hurry that he had to drive up on the sidewalk.  didn't seem like he'd be going anywhere soon after that, though.

 

people were stopping and approaching the car, so i thought it was safe to move on to avoid starting a traffic jam.  then, once the initial shock wore off, i offered up a silent prayer of thanks that no one else had been hurt.  there could have been pedestrians, especially children around.  someone could have been driving through that intersection at that exact moment -- but thankfully no one was.

 

what a way to start a friday.