Never Too Busy

• Jasmin Talj, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2010

It was freezing cold. The moon was hidden by thick grey clouds. Snow settled over the world like a fluffy white blanket, muffling all sounds, giving the world a feel of serenity. The only thing disrupting the calm was the car. The cherry red colour of the vehicle glistened against the snow. The tracks it had made were already covered by steadily falling snow. It merely looked as it had appeared from nowhere. It was a few metres away from the tree it had collided with, having bounced back on impact. The tree tilted sideways. The hood of the car was crushed and wrecked. Imagine a piece of foil, spread out after being scrunched into a ball. The windscreen was broken, and the glass lay all over the dashboard, the passenger seat, and the driver. Me.
I struggled, trying to get free of the seatbelt that was confining me. Instead of giving me my freedom, the seatbelt did its job (unfortunately at the wrong time) and allowed me no escape. I stopped struggling, breathing heavily. For some reason, I was reminded of an afternoon, years ago. I had been trying to lean forward in my seat, to no avail.
“Remember, being slow with it might help.” Julian laughed, amused at troubles with a mere seatbelt, an inanimate object. I took a deep calming breath. In order to free myself, I would firstly have to free my left hand, which was trapped between the steering wheel and me. Slowly, I eased backwards as much as I could. I moved my hand away from the steering wheel, breathing a sigh of relief as my hand seemed unhurt. Ow, I winced. I had spoken too soon. I was regaining feeling in my arm, but joining the feeling was pain. My hand seemed broken. I ignored the pain as much as I could, but when I pressed the button that sent my seatbelt flying, a bolt of white-hot pain shot through my arm. The seatbelt hit my face as it flew, but compared to the pain in my arm, it felt like a faint tap. I opened the door with my right hand and tumbled out, giving a little squeal as the cold damp snow leaked through my clothes. Using the aid of the car door, I was able to hoist myself into a standing position. I pulled out my mobile phone and looked up to the sky in relief when I saw the impeccable state it was in. Someone up there must like me, I thought to myself as I dialled the memorised number. He picked up on the second ring. I heard the click as music was shut off in the background, and I heard him making shushing noises to other people with him.

“Rachel? What’s up?” I was glad to hear his voice.
“Julian? Are you busy?” My voice was hoarse from screaming and it shook as I felt tears on my cheeks.
“Never too busy for you, Little sister.”