3.
Long days and even longer nights of partying left me surviving on as little as two to three hours sleep; this meant that I had very little patience and was extremely irritable. It was also the reason I had on this particular day overslept by an hour. I flew out of bed, jumped into my jeans and grabbed the first shirt in my closet. I brushed my teeth on the way to my car. My hair had not seen the hairbrush. The makeup artist and stylist certainly had their work cut out for them this morning.
It was an hour's journey to the set in a small farm town in the middle of nowhere. Regardless of how close to a larger town it was situated, it was in my opinion in the middle of nowhere. I swerved between cars like a Formula 1 racing driver fighting to get to the front of the pack and only slightly yielding at stop streets. My Porsche had the chance to show off and in a 120km/hour speed zone, I was whizzing by at nearly 240km/hour. I knew how to handle my baby, and she knew how to obey my command.
I glanced at my phone for a second when I heard it ring, my left hand immediately let go of the steering wheel to pick up the phone; a reaction that took possibly less than a second. Still within that second my eyes glanced back at the road ahead of me, and I observed a cow crossing the road about hundred metres in front of me, travelling at the speed I was, a hundred metres were as useful as one metre. With my right hand still on the steering wheel I pressed hard on it pulling the wheel to the right, the car swerved and at the same time both my feet slammed the brake pedal. I missed the cow by an inch.
But my car propelled skyward, it whirred as the tyres spun without any traction and after another second it started to roll. It flipped over and over several times before landing with a thunderous smash, at least, a hundred metres away from where the cow was now merrily walking to greener pastures, oblivious to my predicament. Once the car met with the ground, it bounced tossing itself over repeatedly, banging every inch of the body on the road surface, over and over again. The sound of metal crashing against the asphalt was so intense it echoed through my head, the shattering glass sprayed out everywhere attacking my body that got imprisoned in the wreck.
The final landing point was softer, more like a thud, and I felt as though I was sliding down a hill on skis. The hood of the car scraped across the surface of the earth, over small rocks and grass. And as suddenly as it had all begun the car came to a standstill. Another second went by before I gathered my swirling thoughts and could comprehend what had happened. I tried to loosen the seatbelt with my left hand but it would not move. I tried to get the belt loose with my right hand, but my hand moved slowly and with every inch it sent a searing pain through my body. I had to use it, though, I had no choice and with a deafening scream, I moved my hand to the belt. But my fingers could not press the release button; they were too weak. I screamed in agony at every effort. What was I going to do? Where had I landed? I was unable to see anything from this upside-down position. The blood in my face and eyes didn't help either. As the seconds ticked by I tried to get my legs out from under the dashboard, they inched away slightly and then a pain so excruciating tore from my feet right up and throughout my body. I screamed and lost consciousness from the intensity, but only for a few moments.
As I opened my eyes dazedly, my head pounded against my skull, and I realised I was stuck, and my only way out of the mangled metal was help from outside. But who would hear me from wherever it was that I had now parked? With every move I made to scream for help or to see out of the bit of window that did not get crushed, my body yelled back in pain. It was impossible for me to move. As I sat trapped, a strange smell began capturing my senses. I looked through a haze at the crumpled dashboard in front of me and instantly knew it was smoke. Smoke! The car was on fire, and I undoubtedly stuck in it, this could not be the end of my life. Not like this. I was not ready to go. I screamed for help, ignoring the pain. I shouted as loudly as I possibly could. What else was I to do? As the smoke in the car grew thicker, and I heard the sound of something cracking next to me panic overcame me. I wriggled in my entrapped position, but the pain shot through my body forcing me to remain where I was. The smoke got thicker and scratched at my throat the louder, and more frantically I screamed. I desperately cried out to the quiet world that was unaware of my existence, of my predicament, of my desperation.
Through my faint peripheral vision, I saw lapping flames stretching past the edges and reaching towards the front of the car. The tips of the flames licked at my arm as they crept forward at a rapid pace, sizzling and seething at my demise. The heat in the car had increased rapidly; it was so hot – oh my goodness it was inexplicably hot – my blood was boiling over. The flames, burning rubber and paint choked my failing lungs. I panted and gasped trying with all my might to scream for help, but all that was I voiced by now was a pitiful grasping sobbing squeak. The flames, not just the tips anymore were right on me burning the left side of my body. I groaned at the pain, helpless, not able to move away from the heat, knowing I was about to get engulfed in the fire and to experience a pain few humans have ever had the misfortune of experiencing while still alive. It burnt so incredibly hot; I smelt my soft flesh and my luscious hair burning. I groaned in pain and agony as the flames ravaged the car and my body. My insides were about to combust. I prayed that this would end soon to a God that I did not know. Though my mind was so drowsy and thick with smoke, I heard a sizzle and felt dollops of something heavy falling on my body.
'Ma'am! Ma'am, can you hear me?'
I heard a voice. Was I dreaming? There was a loud droning noise coming from a distance away. I also heard thudding noises and squelching sounds coming from what seemed to be the ground by my head. Something touched my body. I was sure of it.
'She's alive, only barely. Hurry, we only have seconds here.'
The world was a dark blur, and something moved in the darkness. Was I still of this world or was I already dead?