“Molly! Look both ways before you cross the street!“ I yelled.
“Grampa, I did. It was just super fast, like the roadrunner!” she replied.
“Here, take my hand and we have to be slow, like turtles, when we look both ways. You can never be too safe.”
“But I don’t want to be slow like turtles, Grampa! I want to be fast!”
“Molly, lets go into the house. I have a story to tell you.”

It was a crisp, but sunny April Sunday afternoon. I was working on my flower garden, since spring had just started. I paid two boys that lived down the street to come over and help me with the heavy lifting.
“You boys add some mulch to that flowerbed over there,” I told the boys working in my yard.

“Yessir,” one replied.

“And see if you could water those plants behind that tree as well,” I said.

“Yessir.”

“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes to see how you boys are coming along.”
Dr. Rowan walked by with his beagle pup, Rolly.

“Hello, Dr. Rowan,” I called to him.
He waved and walked over to where I was standing.

“Hello, Neil, “ he answered, “How are you today?”

“Oh, just fixing up my yard as usual. Where is the Mrs.?” I asked.

“Jackie went out with the girls to go dress shopping for the school dance, so I decided to take Rolly out for her today. It’s such a beautiful day and I’ve missed walking him. I see you have those boys working pretty hard over there.”

“Yes. I am trying to get all the plants and flowers ready before the rain falls.”

“Well I’m sure it will look great as it does every year. I have to keep going, but it was nice talking to you.”

“You too,” I said and walked over to my favorite wicker chair that faces the road. It was there that it happened.

I yelped and the boys ran over.

“Neil! Neil!” they yelled, “Are you alright?”

“Call 9-1-1,” I ordered and watched them pull out their cell phones and start to dial furiously.
I couldn’t believe what happened. It all happened so quickly that I had no time to process what I just witnessed. One boy handed me the phone.

“Hello, 9-1-1. How can I help you today?” asked the operator.

“I just saw an horrid accident. It was on the corner of--“ I started to say quickly.

“Slow down sir. What is your name?”

“My name is Neil Owens. I live on 6894 E. Sunny Point Lane--”

“Is that where the accident took place?”

“No ma’am. It took place on the corner of Sunny Point Lane and Georgia Street.”

“And what did you see sir?”

“A man walked past my house with his dog, Dr. Rowan, yea Dr. Rowan and his dog. They were ready to cross the street when the car heading south started to swerve and I saw a head hit the wheel and the car started to accelerate and hit Dr. Rowan and sent his dog flying to the other side of the road, but it didn’t stop. It ran into my neighbor’s yard and hit about two trees and stopped about three feet from the house. I couldn’t tell who was in the car.”

“Ok sir. Just stay in your yard. We have already informed the police and they are on their way.”
I hung up the phone and stood there shaking. The boys stared at me, shocked. It was all starting to sink in. My knees felt weak and I fell to the grass and sat there. My head was spinning. I could hear the police cars wailing and the ambulances behind them, but I couldn’t get up to meet them.
A blonde, lanky policeman walked over to me. I somehow found the strength to stand up and face him.

“Hello, Sir. My name is Officer Jenkins. Did you see what happened?” he asked.
I told him what I saw.

“Thank you, sir,” he said.

“Could you keep me updated, Officer?” I questioned.

“I will,” he replied.


I sat in my house, with the boys, for what felt like years. We heard a knock on the door. I exchanged glances with the boys, but no one moved quickly to answer it. After a little bit, I walked over to the door. The same officer was standing in the door frame.

“Hello, sir,” said Officer Jenkins.

“Hello, Officer,” I replied.

“We found out what happened. An old man was driving the vehicle and became unconscious while driving and drove into your friend, Dr. Rowan and his dog. His foot slammed on the accelerated which caused the car to run into your neighbor’s house. Good thing they have many trees in their yard, or there could’ve been more people involved in this tragedy. We are sorry for your loss,” Officer Jenkins consoled.

“Thank you for getting back to me, Officer,” I answered and closed the door.


“So, Molly, do you understand now why I need you to look both ways before crossing the street?” I asked the little girl.

“Yes, Grampa, I do and I pinky promise swear to look both ways,” Molly said with a confident smile.