It is so hot. I wish my mom hadn’t made me “play” outside today, especially since its about a zillion degrees and I just got out of school a few minutes ago. Even the wind that’s rushing at me by the speed of my bike is hot. The only good thing that’s come out of this summer’s day is a bike ride to Richardson’s Dairy. I can practically feel the cool, creamy, coffee flavored ice cream running down my throat. I’ve got to get there soon, or else I will most definitely die of heat and exhaustion!

There’s the street the crosses directly in front of my favorite ice cream store, and it looks a little busy today. I’ll have to stop on the sidewalk until the light turns red. Time to step on the brakes. “Oops!” My klutzy foot misses the stupid pedal and keeps on going, into the tire. My pant leg is lodged in the bike tire and the rotations felt like they were pulling my leg off. I careened toward the street. In a panic, I try to pull my leg out of the wheel, but to no avail. I am going to die.



It was such a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a girl was riding her bike into traffic. Wait. Hold on. Why was she doing that? She was going to get hit by a car or something. He really couldn’t take this today. After hours of being in an office working away at a boring conference he had just wanted to take a nice relaxing walk. Instead, he gets to be the witness of an accident. “Maybe I can still stop this.” He thought. He began to run over to the street as fast as he could so that he could grab the kid’s bike, and save her. Just then, the light turned red and all of the cars stopped. She was about five feet away from the pavement. “Thank god.” He said aloud. Now he could stop running and go home to take a nap. A long nap.

Screech! A big red van came into view. It looked as if it was out of control and heading straight for the teenager on her bike, who had gotten halfway across the street. She wasn’t going to make it this time, no miracle on earth could save her. So he whipped out his phone and prepared to call 911. “I must look like such an idiot, just waiting on the sidewalk while a thirteen year old gets hit by a van.” This was the last thought he had before calling an ambulance.



“I’m gonna be late for work!” she thought worriedly. Her boss had told her only yesterday that this was it. One more strike and she was out. Fired. Let go. Or, rather tossed out the window. But the problem was that she needed this job! Her rent was overdue by, like, three weeks, the refrigerator was broken, her computer was fried, and to top it all off, her cat was out of food. She had been late for work every day for the last two weeks and “the man” wasn’t having that. She had had a perfectly good explanation for every day she woke up late. Sort of. Well, maybe saying that a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle had crashed through her twelfth story apartment window wasn’t the best excuse but, hey, she hadn’t had a cup of coffee that day. Still, it wasn’t her fault that her “cat” had unplugged the alarm clock. This wasn’t gonna be a good day.

Kerpow! One of her rear tires suddenly burst open. She was so startled by the noise that she fell out of her seat and rolled into the back of the van. As soon as she let go of the wheel the van spun out of control. Slam! She hit the back of the van hard. “I suppose I shoulda worn my seatbelt…” she thought as the van took a sharp turn and she was knocked to the floor. She started to crawl to the driver’s seat and had almost made it when…WHAAAM! The van came to a crashing stop as it hit a tree. Everything went black, as if a black cloth had been draped over the world.



“911. What’s your emergency?” the operator said into the speaker. It had been a long day. She had gotten five prank calls, two misdials, and one toddler asking for “mummy.” Who let a toddler play with a telephone? But even that had been more exciting than this. All she did was wait. And wait. And wait. It was so boring. All she wanted was something interesting to happen. It wasn’t like she would want anyone to get hurt for her entertainment but, something… Well, maybe this call would be entertaining. “Hello? This is Bob Jerskney and I need and ambulance right away! A voice spoke hurriedly into the phone. “Slow down, sir, and tell me what happened and where you are” This was getting interesting. “Yes, of course. I am located across the street from Richardson’s Dairy. A teenage girl has just been hit by a van, which then crashed into a tree. The girl is lying on the ground and she looks hurt!” Wow. She’s HURT? A van just hit her and this guy is surprised that she’s hurt. Nice. “I’ll send an ambulance right away. Bye.” And with that she hung up and called for an ambulance. Back to boredom.




Click. The seatbelt locks in place over the driver’s shoulder, pinning him against the seat.
He shoved the key into the slot and turned it so that the engine roars to life. A siren screamed on the roof. He punched the gas and the ambulance sped out of the parking lot. He absolutely had to get there on time. What if he didn’t get there on time? What if someone DIED because he kept to the speed limit? He just couldn’t stand the pressure of his job but he also knew that he’d feel even worse if he quit. What if someone DESPERATLY needed an ambulance the day he quit? He was the only full time ambulance driver in the county and they really needed him. His boss had already given him a raise twice in the last three months! Thank goodness traffic wasn’t bad… The driver knew that in order for the paramedics in the back of the ambulance to save this person’s life they needed to get there fast. The accident comes into view. He pulls over to the curb with a screech and hits the brakes. Before the vehicle even comes to a complete halt the paramedics burst through the doors and rushed to the scene of the accident. The driver looks over to where they’ve run and sees a shocking sight. A teenage girl lats on the ground with a small (but frightening) pool of blood around her. What if he hadn’t made it in time? What if she’s DEAD? How could he possibly live with himself?



Time for work. That was the first thought the paramedic had as she jumped out of the ambulance. She ran over to the van that had hit a tree and the girl. She needn’t worry about the teenage victim quit yet since her colleague was already bending over her. She hurled open the back doors of the red van and saw a young woman sitting there. The woman’s arms and legs were bruised and one of her eyes was swollen shut but otherwise she seemed fine. The paramedic helped her out of the van and into the ambulance. Then she headed for the girl. It was awful. It looked like the back tire had been hit by the van and almost thrown her off. It would have too if half of her leg hadn’t been lodged firmly in the front tire. That leg was obviously fractured. The other leg looked as if it had been scraped along the pavement and there was a long bleeding abrasion across her shin. As for her arms, one looked okay, but the other was at and odd angle, possibly dislocated. Luckily no ribs were broken and she was still breathing. The other paramedic had bandaged her cuts and splinted the broken leg when they loaded the teenager onto the van. The paramedic climbed into that ambulance. She thought the girl would recover. She had saved the day once again. All that was left to do was call her the kid’s parent, but that wasn’t her job. All was well.