300 Writing Prompts: In the Blink of an Eye

When I was a college freshman at age 18, I visited home and borrowed my mother's Buick Skylark to drive around with a bunch of friends at night. We were singing showtunes and Disney songs in the car loudly, and having a bunch of fun.

I stopped at what I thought was a 4-way stop. I saw a black truck coming but I thought they were far enough away that I could go....as I expected them to stop at the stop sign on their end.

There was no stop sign. So she didn't stop.

I slammed into her head-on. Her truck flipped and ended up in a ditch. Someone in my car screamed right before it happened but nobody can remember who. I remember looking in the driver's mirror back at my friends to make sure they were ok, and then I just ran out of the car straight to where the truck was to see if the woman driving was ok.

People ran out of the houses there and checked on us, and somebody called 9-1-1. The cops and ambulances came very fast. I think (but don't remember) that they took the woman away. My friends and I declined care because we all felt ok.

I was put in the police car to tell the cops what happened. I was so shocked, but I kept insisting it was a four-way stop. I got cited for failing to yield.

In the blink of an eye, I totaled my mother's beautiful car and ruined someone else's.

I was definitely a paranoid driver after that.