One second, that's all it takes.
One second we were all laughing about something my little brother said. One second we were jamming out to some wayward country song, doing our best to show off our dance moves over the seat belts. One second was all it took for my family to be ripped away from me.
One second for the blissfully happy look on my mother's face to turn fear, then acceptance as she watched the front of the semi speed towards the passenger side of the window. I just vaguely could make out the sight of the driver, slumped over the wheel, before everything went black.
The next thing I knew, I woke to the car hanging over the side of the highway, a dizzying drop of cliff leaving nothing between us and the sharp rocks below as the ocean crashed against them.
It only took one second too late for me to realize that I shouldn't have moved.
One second for me to realize that I was going to die as I watched the car get further and further away from me as I fell. The wind stung the cuts on my face, and I found I couldn't move the fingers of my left hand, or bend my leg. Strangely enough, I didn't feel any pain. My chest burned, I couldn't breathe.
But I figured that was due to shock.
I prayed to whoever was listening that my family would be cared for. I didn't have long now, I could almost feel the spray of the ocean against my back. Crying did no good, as I was falling so fast my tears didn't have time to form. So I smiled, knowing that at least I could look over them in my next life.
One second.
I took that last second to prepare myself. But just as the ocean sprayed on my back, a strong wind buffeted me from underneath me, and then an arm was wrapping around my waist. I was pulled back against a strong body. I tried to twist to look, but all I caught was the flash of something black, blotting out the sun.
And then I was gone.
