Prom Night

It was Saturday, April 24, 1999, and it was prom night for Natalie Smith. She had bought a beautiful burgundy dress, and she had swept her hair up in curls.

Her boyfriend, John, was supposed to pick her up at seven o’clock, and they would go out to eat. He had told her that he had a surprise for her. She liked surprises; especially on special occasions like tonight. John was going to wear a burgundy tuxedo to match her dress, and they were both getting sky blue flowers.

When John arrived at her house, Natalie immediately saw the surprise. What she did not know, however, was the extent of it. Natalie saw him standing through the moonroof of a white Cadillac. She thought he had borrowed his mother’s car to take her out to prom. That’s so sweet. John waved to her and motioned her to come outside.

Her father was standing at the door with a look of complete astonishment on his face. When he saw Natalie, though, his expression immediately changed to one of knowledge, and he opened the door. “I love you, Dad. Thank you so much for letting me go tonight,” she said lovingly. She turned and could not believe her eyes.

It was a limousine. It had five windows on each side and it sparkled in the moonlight. She glided up to the limo, and when the driver opened the door for her, her mouth fell partly open in surprise. John got out of the limo, put his hand out to help her in the car, and said, “Here is your surprise. Wait ‘till you see the inside.”

Natalie was completely speechless. As she got in, she noticed a blue glow toward the middle of the car. Her surprise went to the next level as she sat down.

It seemed that she had become a queen. The car was black as midnight, and the tiny lights that ran around the ceiling made her feel like she was among the stars. As she scooted over for John, Natalie noticed that those lights were changing colors. When he sat down, he asked, “So, what do you think?” As John asked her this, he switched on the lights to the bar. The entire car lit up with a bluish hue. When she saw it, she turned to him and kissed him. “Am I correct when I say that you are speechless? So you like it. Good!” he said.

Natalie found her voice just long enough to say, “This must have cost a fortune! You shouldn’t have done this just for me.”

“Oh, it gets better!” he said. This comment left her in complete bewilderment. What could be better than going to prom in a limo?

The ride down to the restaurant practically flew by. They were having so much fun in the car that they almost didn’t notice that the car had stopped. Small lanterns lit the walkway up to the door of the restaurant.

When they walked in, Natalie realized where they were. “How did you get us a reservation here?” John had made a reservation at Mary’s Restaurant, the best restaurant in the region. “I have connections here,” he said.

As they were seated, they saw lit candles on the table. “Wow, you must know the owner or something,” she said. Right when they sat down, the waiter brought two virgin strawberry daiquiris. “What’s this?” Natalie asked with a smile.

“I was told that you liked strawberries, so I ordered a strawberry daiquiri for you,” John said, returning the smile.

“What? Did you order a rib eye cooked medium-well, too?” she asked sarcastically.

“Yes, actually I did. Speaking of it, here it comes now,” he replied. Natalie was completely astonished.

They ate their dinner making small talk about what was happening at school. When they finished eating, they walked outside to the waiting limo. “This is so cool!” Natalie said. Prom was about thirty minutes away from the restaurant, so they had a playful argument about how many people would be there.

When they arrived at prom, they felt like celebrities because everyone turned and stared at the limo. It was the only one there. As the driver opened the door, the silence was tangible. When John got out of the car, something unexpected happened. Camera flashes started going off and seemed to be unending. He helped Natalie get out of the car, and there was an audible gasp from the crowd. There were murmurs about how beautiful she looked and how handsome he looked and how cute they looked together.

As prom got underway, it was just like any other prom—lots of pretty dresses and lots of black-and-white tuxedos. The dance floor was full most of the time; the music was great, and Natalie had the time of her life. The night flew by for everyone. At the end of prom, after-prom was on everyone’s mind. It was going to be at the Recreational Center, which had many different activities. As everyone was leaving to go to after-prom, their limo pulled up to the front door.

To get to after-prom, they had to go down the highway to the outskirts of town. As they went down the highway, a car suddenly came flying across from a side road. The car struck the limo near the rear-passenger corner. That was where Natalie was sitting. As the car collided with the limo, Natalie saw her life pass before her eyes.

John felt a jolt from the front of the car and was shocked at what he saw. Natalie had been knocked unconscious when her head hit the window. She had a gash in her head from her hairline down the right side of her face to her jaw. It was already gushing blood. When John reached over to help stop the bleeding, Natalie came back into consciousness. “What happened?” she asked him.

“Never mind, just sit still,” he replied. She watched him with detached curiosity as he called 911. When John got off the phone, she slipped back into unconsciousness.
* * * * *

Natalie came back to consciousness when she felt a jolt. “What was that?” she asked groggily.

The EMT replied, “We just hit a bump in the road, dear.” She slipped away again thinking; a bump in the road, but the limo was damaged too badly to be driven.

When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, there were about six people waiting at the door. Before the ambulance stopped, the doors of the vehicle were thrown open with superhuman strength by John, and Natalie was hauled out of the ambulance in record time.

Natalie was awake while she was being wheeled to the operating room, but on the way, John felt her slipping away from him for the last time. Natalie looked up at John to see him, running through the hospital to keep up with the gurney, his face wet with tears.

As Natalie was rolled through the door to the operating room, he saw her spirit diminish right before his eyes. Natalie was clinging to life like it was a life preserver, and she didn’t know how to swim. It was a losing battle, just as if she was on the Titanic as it sank. John saw her being pulled under the surface of the water, but he could do nothing to stop it.

It was reported to her parents that a car driven by a drunk driver had struck the limo, and Natalie had died at 12:09 a.m., but John knew that that time was wrong. He had watched her die before his eyes at midnight. John knew it to be a fact because as Natalie was rolled through the door to the OR, the clock on the wall, near the nurse’s station, tolled out twelve o’clock. On the twelfth chime, he knew without a doubt that she was gone. In the hall, John fell to a seated position, and cried until someone helped him up into a wheelchair. Then, the nurse took him to the waiting room and stayed with him so he wouldn’t feel totally abandoned.
* * * * * *

At school that Monday, word had spread about Natalie’s death. John had bought a dozen roses and decorated her locker with some of them. When he walked into his first class, John was wearing all black, as was Rachael, her best friend. When the late bell rang, he stood at the front of the class and said, “Please rise.”

Everyone stood. John walked to her desk and placed a single rose on the desktop. The room was silent. He walked to the front of the room again, and said, “Thank you for your support, thank you all.”

When the second period started, John went to his teacher and asked permission to go to Natalie’s second class. The teacher granted him permission. When he walked into the room, everyone stood because they had all heard about what John had done, and they expected him to do it again. John walked to her desk and placed a second single rose on her desktop. As he started to walk out of the room, Rachael went up to John and gave him a hug. She whispered a thank-you to him with tears streaming down her face.

John repeated this ritual at every one of Natalie’s classes. He was very reclusive on that day; John didn’t talk to a single person. He was observing a complete day of silence in respect to Natalie. After the second period of the day, Rachael started to join John when he went to Natalie’s classes. Both of them wanted to remember Natalie as peacefully as they could because that’s what she would have wanted. April 24, 1999 was a very happy day for most, but, for a select few, it was the saddest day of their lives. It was the day when Natalie Smith was taken from the living and placed in a graveyard. John thought, at least she had a good time while it lasted. At least she hadn’t suffered too much.
* * * * * *

John later formed his own help program for drunk drivers and drug addicts. He named his program The Natalie Smith Foundation. John co-founded it with Rachael.