Stuck in Place

Amy whistled as she walked through her front yard, looking for any sticks she could pick up and throw into the pile she and her brother were making. They had a big windstorm recently; as such, all the trees in their yard had suffered some damage in some loss of sticks. Or perhaps losing those sticks was a good thing since their trees probably needed to be pruned anyway. Amy wasn't sure.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack.

“Amy, look out!” cried her brother, George, who was standing on the other side of their big front yard. Instead of moving like a smart person, Amy looked up and saw that the tree beside her had a big branch that was starting to tear off from the trunk.

The branch was right above her.

Immediately, time seemed to slow down for Amy. Was she...was she going to die here? Not peacefully in her old age during her sleep like she wanted, but getting very painfully crushed by a giant tree branch? And not in a heroic way either, like pushing someone else out of the way, but just because her parents wanted some yard work done?

Well, it was better than getting her head chopped off she supposed. She heard that even if someone’s head got chopped off, they still stayed alive for a few minutes. That sounded horrifically painful. Amy did not want that to happen to her thank you very much. However, how did the doctors or the scientists figure that out? Did they-

On second thought, Amy didn’t want to know.

With another loud tear, the branch was now only hanging on by a few stubborn strands of wood.

“Amy!” But despite the cry, Amy still couldn’t move out of the way. She was too afraid, too caught up in her thoughts and regrets to save herself.

And boy, did she have regrets. Like not asking out her crush, for instance. All she had to do was ask Lance, who just happened to be their neighbor if he wouldn’t mind walking on a nature trail with her. He liked nature, the trail wasn’t too strenuous or long, and he was kind so he would probably say yes. So what was she so afraid of? That he would only say yes out of pity? That they wouldn't talk at all during the date? That if he didn’t grow to like her even a little bit, that the friendly atmosphere between them would become an awkward one?

Now that she thought about it, yes to all of those questions.

Amy still should have tried though. Even calling and leaving behind a voicemail would have been something.

Then with a final, loud rip, the branch broke away from the tree and started to fall.

Suddenly, Amy had a sudden urge to not die with any regrets.

“Tell Lance I thought he was cute!” Amy yelled before stretching her arms out and closing her eyes. She never told anyone her feelings about Lance before, and while she didn’t technically ask Lance out, this was close enough.

Amy felt at peace.

But instead of a branch, a body slammed into her and together, they landed on the ground a couple of feet away from where she was standing.

Not even a second later, she heard the branch crash to the ground.

It did not hit them. She, and the person on top of her, probably her brother, were alive.

Amy opened her eyes and immediately wanted to close them again.

“You almost had a whole minute to get away, you cute idiot,” Lance said.