Can't Look Away It all started with the abrupt screeching of the tires as the brakes attempted to preven the coming catastrophe. It's followed by the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass as the black luxury sedan with tinted windows slammed into the side of the blue, hatchback compact car. More tires screech as other cars attempt to avoid adding to the already possibly deadly accident.

Bystanders began to gather around trying to get a glimpse of any carnage that might have taken place. The crowd gets larger and larger, barely leaving enough room for the caravan of emergency vehicles to break through to assess the situation. The paramedics piled out of the ambulance and the firemen prepared the jaws of life to rescue the driver of the compact car. Another paramedic peered into the front seat of the black sedan and found it empty. He assumed the the driver fled the scene. Seeing no one to help he joined his partner to help the victim in the blue car.

The jaws of life created an opening through which they could reach the teenage driver of the hatchback. They could see that he was badly injured but still alive and slightly responsive. He was bleeding from the head, his collarbone and leg were obviously broken, but there could be unknown internal damage, fatal in many cases.

The crowd that gathered was nearing mass number, reaching almost 200 spectators. The majority had never seen a serious accident and were, in a way, bloodthirsty. Some were disgusted, some shocked, and a few of the more depraved were enjoying the show, but none of them could look away. But no one paid attention to the black sedan.

The paramedics began easing the driver out of the blue car. They nearly had him out of the vehicle when he began convulsing violently. They immediately set down on the gurney and attempted to stabilize him. The injected him with some sort of solution and suddenly the man went into cardiac arrest. As one of the paramedics began performing CPR the other grabbed the electric paddles from the ambulance. The medic performing CPR stopped as the other began charging the paddles. The entire crowd, over 200 now, watched in suspense. They cut the man's shirt off baring his chest. The paramedic placed the paddles in postion and cleared everyone away from the body. At the very instant that he pressed the buttons on the paddles, the massive bomb in the trunk of the now forgotten black sedan exploded, killing 175 and wounding another 50 people.

The driver of the black sedan put on his black sunglasses and walked away smiling. He took pleasure in a job well done and the large body count and therefore, payment. He knew full well no one can avert their eyes from a car wreck.




Avert your eyes