Owlish

I rubbed my eyes and tried to get them to focus. They were blurry, and I still had an hour left before I was home. It had been my idea to go for a ride, James and Eric tagging along. The fluorescents of the bus stop buzzed impossibly loud, but I was the only one that seemed to notice.

We started this trip late afternoon. I needed out of the house with my parents hounding me about my future—again. The only reason I was allowed a motorcycle was with a promise. I swore I would focus on my studies. And I delivered, but all A’s from an undecided is meanless to my parents. So even though I made the Dean’s list my freshman year of college, they weren’t satisfied until it went towards a career.

I know what I wanted to do, looking towards Eric just as his head went back in a belly laugh at something James told him. The two of them never bothered with college, heading straight into the workforce. I wish I could be so lucky.

This was doing nothing for my stress. It was dark, and we should turn around and head back, but my brain still wasn’t straight. “Let’s keep going.”

My friends shrugged and pushed their helmets back on their skulls. Even with different circumstances, James and Eric understood me better than anyone. The cylinder of light from the bike’s headlights was all there was. The dark back roads of town didn’t have street lamps. With thick forest on either side, the lack of light didn’t disrupt the local wildlife’s sleep cycle—which was the point. It made the twisting roads dangerous at night and a thrill for those out seeking.

That wasn’t my aim, but focusing on keeping my body in my seat instead of the fast-moving pavement was an excellent distraction.

With barely any light, the slightest flash gets your attention. It was why -when white blurred my right side- I took my eyes off the road. It was less than a second, but anyone would tell you that’s too long. Still, I looked and saw nothing but darkness…until I turned my sights back to the road.

It was big and white, that was all I saw. It flew in front of me, across the road, and out of sight again. I was slowing to a stop, James, and Eric ahead of me and oblivious. I would catch up later, trying to figure out if I saw a ghost or not. When something heavy landed on my shoulder, ruining my balance and also making me jump.

My bike twisted under me, jerking to the side and flinging me off just before sliding across the road overturned. The shock of hitting the unyielding cement put me in shock because I felt nothing as I rolled. I couldn’t decide if that was good or bad; not feeling pain was good, but I wouldn’t know what I’d done until it was all over. And there was no way I wasn’t going to hurt after this wreck.

I finally came to a stop, my body skidding and rolling in a way that should have been agony. Something had to be broken; I just didn’t feel it yet. So I laid still, looking up at the winking diamonds above and wondering if I’d ever see my bike again after this.

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