The sky? Blue. The sun? Bright, barely covered by the remnants of the fluffy clouds that had been dotting the sky before dispersing as the ball of fire climbed to the zenith.
Everything was as usual, and the city, despite the summer heat, continued with the usual activity called life like a clock that knew no stop, only fleeting, illusory pauses. But that was nothing new, just as it was nothing new that the famous playboy whose face spent much of its time online on the cover of magazines and tabloids was behind the wheel of a luxurious sports car, an Alfa Romeo whose body was shining bright with a vivid red under the rays from above.
Drumming with his fingers on the wheel he was holding with one hand in a comfortable grip, a casual smile on his face and an exploratory gaze looking around in search of mundane or not so mundane beauties to appreciate the sight of at the intersection, Alex waited for the red light to turn green.
He didn't look like someone whose home had been broken into by a stranger a month ago at all. However, considering how he had still managed to have fun and enjoy himself right after what happened that night, and the days that followed, it was understandable that a month later, he was showing even less care or worry.
Humming along with the pop music setting the atmosphere inside the sports car, Alex started nodding his head to the beat as his smile grew when he saw a few mothers in the crowd. Even without their children with them, there were enough telltale signs for him to notice. After all, after motherhood, women were just that different, even if only subtly, sometimes.
Noticing a young mother who was with her young daughter in the crowd on the other side of the road, Alex took his hand off the wheel, propped his arm against the door, and used the back of his hand to support his chin as he stopped paying attention to the road. His smile softened, seeing the bright look on the little girl's face as her small legs pedaled against the ground to keep up with the pace of her mother.
It was so cute, that mix of bright-eyed curiosity and focus as the little girl's other hand clutched a playing ball almost as big as her own head tight against her side.
Letting out a soft laugh, Alex's phone rang just as the young mother paused before the road ahead and let go of the hand of her daughter to open her bag and search for something inside.
Pulling his amused gaze back, Alex turned to the disturbance on his own side, and raised his eyebrows, intrigued that Leyna was calling him. But he was only intrigued, as answering the call was all it would take to satisfy his curiosity. And he moved to do just that. Only for the world to freeze, and his hand to stop midway, the index finger extended forward.
For Alex, at that moment, the world slowed to a crawl, and all his senses, all his being, focused on his ears.
He heard it, the sound of the ball hitting the ground and rolling forward. He heard it, the sound of the small foot that hit, not the rough floor of the walkway, but the smoother surface of the pavement. And he heard it, that engine roaring as the car it belonged to raced to pass the light before it could turn red. And it was the engine of a truck. Alex could never mistake that sound.
For the first time in a long while, Alex's heart skipped a beat. He didn't even have time to blink before forgetting all about the call. His brain was already processing the data to create in his mind a reflection of the situation. Before even looking back at the road, he had an image of the empty intersection in his mind, along with the position of the little girl running through it, and the truck barrelling down the highway.
Alex's hands flew to the wheel and the clutch. It was like being back on the track, but not to pursue victory this time, at least, not the usual kind of victory.
*VROOMM– WHOOSH*
He shifted gears, pushed down on the accelerator, and jumped beyond the red light with his Alfa Romeo. The noise from his engine suppressed the cacophony at the intersection for a moment, pulling all the attention on the vivid red body of his car. And with that attention, others started noticing the little girl whose mind was only on her runaway ball in the middle of the road.
That was when the young mother, distracted by a call as she waited for the green light to cross the road along with the rest of the waiting crowd, raised her head, and her heart almost stopped. For a moment, her world seemed to stop to let her process the shocking realization that her daughter had left her side and ran to the middle of the road, then it collapsed, as by now, the truck Alex had heard racing to cross the light before it could turn red was now close.
"EMILIE, COME BACK!!!"
The shock, the panic, the fear, all mixed in a crushing cocktail of raw desperation didn't create a ripple in the indifferent world, but it choked the young mother, squeezed her ability to think, and took away any strength in her limbs, leaving her tetanized because she saw no hope, not even subconsciously.
Despair, grief, self-blame, self-loathing… All of those emotions were already rearing their heads to pull her crushed heart deeper into the dark, bottomless abyss.
At that moment, the world turned grey, then, slowly, dark. She should not have been distracted. She should have paid more attention. She should have kept an eye on her. She should not have let go of her hand. She… She… She…
The young mother could see nothing anymore, nor hear anything.
As she drowned, only two distant sounds managed to pierce through the haze of her despair, but more like nails to the coffin of her dying heart, not of strands of hope.
*SCREECH– BANG!!!*