Lonely Ranch

Chapter 2

The sun glares through the window and causes me to groan and squint my eyes. I sigh heavily and force myself to get up. When I get up I'm reminded of how chilly mornings here can be as shivers go down my spine. I grab a robe from the hall closet and then make make my way into the kitchen to fix a pot of coffee. As the aroma of fresh brewed coffee fills the air I decide that I should go take a shower. After my shower I wrap myself in a big cotton towel and make my way over to the dresser and that's when I see the list that I made for the house and the things it needs. Of course I would have to travel into town as bad as I don't want to. I can't stand the looks of pity/sympathy everyone has gave me ever since I lost my parents. I can already hear them whispering about the poor orphan girl. I shake my head trying to get rid of my unwanted thoughts as I grab a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to put on.

I trudge my way back to the kitchen and get a cup from the cabinet, hoping the coffee will help with the effects of last night. I can't remember the last time that I had a good night's rest. Ever since my parents accident any loud noise is enough to send me back to that day, that and the smell of smoke. We had went to the lake to spend the day as a family and it had been absolutely perfect. If I close my eyes I can still smell the breeze and the food my dad had cooked on the portable grill so we could have a picnic together. It was a great way to finish the day watching the sun slowly setting on the horizon. After a long, but amazing day we finally packed everything up and decided to head home. On the way home as we were rounding a curve my dad noticed someone broken down on the side of the highway and stopped to offer his assistance. I swear the man was a saint. He would have taken the shirt off of his back and gave it to someone in need. My mom and me stayed behind in the car because it was dark at this point and we were exhausted from the day.

We decided to turn on the radio and listen to some music. As we were laughing and singing along to the music we look up to see headlights rounding the curve way too fast, my mom yells out to my dad for him to get out of the way and the car barely missed him. Captivated by the chaos in front of us we are under the sudden realization that it's headed straight for us now. It slams into the front driver side and causes us to spin around and my head hits the window in the process. I pass out and when I come back to I'm overwhelmed by the smell of gas and my the sound of my dad frantically trying to get the door open. It had been smashed by the guardrail during the spin.

Mom slowly opens her eyes and she is the next to smell gas. She yells at my dad to get me out of the car. She tries to take off her seatbelt, but it's gotten stuck. I take mine off so I can try and help her with hers. She tells me to stop worrying about her and to get out of the car. So, I turn toward my dad who is still aggressively trying to yank the door open. I ask how can I help? And he tells me to use my feet and push on the door as hard as I can while he tries to pull it. After a few tries it finally screeches open and he reaches in to pull me out. He tells me to get as far away from the car as I can. I refuse and tell him that I want to stay and help mom because her seatbelt is stuck and he yells at me that this is not the time to argue. As tears start to well up in my eyes his face softens and he apologizes and tells me that he can handle it, but it's important that I get to safety. I hear my Mom say my name softly from the front seat. "Pat, listen to your father." "We can do this." "You are the best part of both of us and we don't want anything to happen to you," With those words I look at both of them and reluctantly walk away.

The man that my father was previously helping waves me over to him and asks me if I have a phone. I check my pockets to make sure that I hadn't lost it in the crash and after a few seconds I'm able to pull it from my back pocket and hand it over to him. He grabs it and immediately calls 911. He explains everything that has happened and where we are located then hangs up after finishing the details. I ask him about the other driver and he sadly shakes his head. "He didn't make it. He was ejected from the car because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt." I gasp in shock at this new information and he tells me not to focus on that right now.

He then tells me to stay put and hands my phone back to me. "Listen for the sirens and I'm going to go see if I can help your father." I watch as he walks over to our car and begins to help my dad. After what feels like an eternity I hear sirens in the distance and turn to look for them and no sooner I hear a loud crack that makes me spin my head back around and to my horror the car has gone up in flames. I rush towards it and halfway there, there is another small explosion that causes me to stumble and as I'm recovering about to take off again I feel strong hands pull me back. Paramedics had arrived and I was so focused on getting to my mom and dad that I hadn't realized it. "It's not safe for you." he says and pulls me to the back of the ambulance. "Stay here with my partner and I will go check on them." I watch in a daze as the other paramedic starts assessing me. I'm watching intently as the paramedic is checking the scene and he looks up and makes eye contact with me and the look on his face tells me everything I need to know and I scream and fall to my knees.