The Terror Of Giggles

The rain splattered against the window in buckets, completely blurring the outside world from view. I watched silently as the windshield wipers came up and pushed away the water for a split second before it would hit again. I tried to make out the green blur of trees flying past, but it was so dark that the road straight ahead was barely visible. Instead I shifted my concentration to my body. Everything felt light and tingly. I could hear the steady thumping of my heart, beating uncontrollably hard against my chest, a blatant reminder of the amount of alcohol I had consumed earlier in the night.

Suddenly a horrible lurching feeling engulfed me, a dizzying force pushing me hard against my seat. It was as if I was in a rocket taking off for the moon.Time slowed to almost nothing, everything magnifying just like they showed in the movies. The girls’ giggles from the back seat amplified, tearing at my ear drums. As if the sound was trying to force its way to the center of my brain. The high pitched squealing of the tires against the wet pavement rang through my hollow body.

A shiver shook through me as I braced myself against the dash. It was as if I was grabbing a chunk of ice, the cold shock sending an exploding pain up my arm. It seemed like an eternity, my heart growing tighter and tighter in my chest. Then the horrible sound of crunching metal radiated from all around me. I felt my body being jerked, as if I was just an old sock thrown into the dryer. The window shattered beside me, piercing my body like tiny daggers. The jagged glass penetrated my body in razor-sharp hot stings.

Finally the car crumpled and we came to a jerking halt. Taking a painful breath in my lungs filled with the smell of burning rubber, something I had found so comforting before now tore at my insides. I concentrated on the sporadic breaths, listening hard for the calming sound of a heartbeat. Anyones heartbeat. I realized that my eyes were squeezed tightly closed and I forced them open. Through the light cloud of smoke I could see a maze of twisted metal. A red light was being reflected off the road, which was littered with broken glass and chunks of debris. The light pounded at my head every time it flashed, until finally I couldn't take the pulsing. I relaxed my body, and faded off into the darkness.