Flicker

The pounding in her ears broke the silence. Only it wasn't really silent. Muffled in the background, screeching tires crescendoed through the crackling melody of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth." She calmly slid her foot off the gas pedal and submitted, closing her eyes.

Images flooded in like the torrential downpour outside, each one vivid and palpable. Her blonde curls waved in the spring breeze as she spun around... and around... and around in a field of wildflowers. A carefree child. Blue sky-sprites danced along undulating paths until they dissipated. The warmth of the sun kissed her fair skin. Laughter echoed in the air, and her heart brimmed with pure joy.

Suddenly she was standing in the middle of a bustling hallway, faceless bodies rushed past her to fill empty rooms. As the last of the doors closed, she found herself alone. Or so she thought. In the distance, she could vaguely make out a silhouette leaning casually against the cold, tiled wall. She brushed her fingers against the metal lockers as she walked slowly towards him. Her first love. She inhaled the scent of his cologne and reached for his hand, eager to spread her wings and soar away with him into the vast unknown.

Summers punctuated long semesters spent pouring over glossy pages of textbooks in dimly lit, musty library rooms. She remembered the balmy nights when the world felt like an open road full of possibilty and adventure. The Squadron, as they affectionately called themselves, piled into her old volkswagon and blared music from scratched CDs. They wound their way up the coast, the California breeze flirting through the open windows as the sun dipped below the horizon.

As the moments ticked by, the tapestry of her life continued to unfold, each thread woven with triumphs and failures, heartaches and victories. Faces of loved ones appeared and faded, their smiles etched into her memory, their voices a symphony of warmth and affection. Regrets and missed opportunities bullied their way forward to remind her of roads not taken and words left unsaid. She watched helplessly as these moments slipped through her fingers, like grains of sand, lost to the relentless march of time.

In her final heartbeat before impact, a sense of peace washed over her. She surrendered to the inevitable, embracing her life, with all its beauty and chaos. Her cheek moistened, tears gently flowing out of the corner of her eyes. She let them slowly soak into her skin, a conglomerate of all the emotions sweeping over her.

At long last there was a crushing blow, the sound of metal connecting with metal, a cacophony of chaos. Her head swung as her body spun around with the vehicle. The symphony of destruction continued as glass exploded around her, showering her with sharp shards, the jagged edges piercing her skin. The discordant melody continued - bending, buckling, dull thuds and sharp cracks blended with the roaring and hissing of engines resisting.

As darkness descended, she took a deep breath. Echoes of the incident still lingered, a testament to the fragility of life. Voices whirred around her as her body was pulled from the wreckage amidst bright flashing lights. She felt hands lifting her, moving her, attempting to soothe her. In these fleeting moments, she embraced that it was not the destination that had ever defined her, but the memories made at every step along her journey, a fingerpint unique only to her.