Syazwan

 When I was 12, I witnessed a car accident with my own eyes.

It was the last school day for the week. The day was bright and sunny. A perfect day to get your clothes dried. School finish at 1.15pm but my dad was running late to pick me up because he fell asleep. I believe he was tired. It was 1.50pm and only a few students left at the school. I waited outside the school compound just like the rest of the kids. There was marble benches and I sat on one of those, starring at the empty road. It was an urban area in Kedah.

Outside the school compound, there were hawkers selling ice creams, candy, and some unhealthy fried food that we all love. There was a boy who were still in his school uniform was buying ice cream and after he had done, he was going to cross the road as he live just across the street. He looks left and right to make sure it is safe to cross. Like I said, the road was empty, so I guess he did so just to make sure it is really safe to cross. When he was crossing, out of nowhere, there was a car hit him so hard that it produces a very loud bang surprising everyone in the area. The boy was thrown across the car. He didn’t fell on the roof, but he fell directly behind the car. Can you imagine? The car hit him from the front, and he fell behind the car! I was stunned. My mouth and eyes were wide open. I can feel my heart beating so fast, not sure whether I was breathing properly at that time. A woman was heard screaming across the road. One of the hawkers left his stall and run towards the body. The car driver came out of the car, and he fell on his knee. A woman whom I believe is the boy’s mother, running towards the scene and hug him. She bursts into tears while calling his son’s name. “Syazwan! Syazwan!” Blood started to pour on the ground. I was shocked, I can’t move at all.

The scene is still crystal clear in my head even though it has been 15 years. I don’t know what happened to Syazwan, the boy, now, but I hope, wherever he is, he is doing well.