My Ex-Bestfriend

The Backstory of Michael

I remember the day I met Michael:
12 YEARS EARLIER

I was 6 years old when my mom was driving us home from ballet practice. I hated ballet. I lumped it into all things girly which I despised. My mom wanted a girl, prayed for a girl, but what her unspoken prayers was a GIRLY girl. Unfortunately that part got lost in translation and instead she got me. A girl by anatomy alone. The tights made me itch, my least favorite color was pink and I didn't have a rhythmic bone in my body.

This particular day my mom had told me to grab my matching pink sequined sweater and I told her I didn't want one. I knew I would be cold but I refused to wear head to toe pink. I would rather suffer.

I was and am still fiercely independent which often leads to learning things the hard way. When class was over the rain and wind whipped through me. I was freezing and crying now regretting my sweater decision.

My mom was frustrated with me for not listening as I complained endlessly about being cold. She began lecturing me through the rear view mirror on natural consequences. The rain pounded our car as streaks of lightning flashed ahead. She was yelling only so I could hear her over the thunder that ricocheted around us. My mom seemed unphased by the wrath of God that raged outside our window as her eyes
glowed yellow from the light striking around us.

Suddenly there was a bolt of lightning that hit right in front of our vehicle causing my mom to scream and jerk the vehicle right. The slippery conditions caused our vehicle to veer off the road. The problem was this was the only part of our entire drive home that was mountainous and we began descending down the ledge into the forest terrain below.

At first we were flying. I remember it was so surreal. A stillness in the air like we were in slow motion. Then there was a sudden jerk and crash. All I saw was darkness. I could see the steam and heard mechanical noises of the car at first then just ragged breathing. All the windows had shattered on impact and the rain poured in relentlessly. My tiny leotard saturated as I shivered. I don't remember feeling cold, my body was numb.

My mom moaned and with what I would later learn was the last of her strength she called me to the front seat. No one could explain how she did it. How she survived long enough to expend her last seconds selflessly on me. The autopsy would show she had broken both her legs, most of her ribs, her sternum, her back, she had internal bleeding,a  subdural hematoma and wounds that littered her whole exposed flesh.

I unlatched my seatbelt and  skimpered over the console, as shards of glass stabbed my feet. I didn't care, I wanted my mommy. Even with the extent of the damages she had miraculously managed to take off her jacket and wrap my body in it. She took off her warm beanie and placed it over my head.

I remember that even with blood dripping down from her cut eye her skin was flawless and she glowed in the moonlight. She was a beautiful angel. An angel she soon would become. Her green eyes complimented her raven features and she was the most beautiful person inside and out. She had a stillness in her expression to not frighten me.

She pulled me on top of her lap and wrapped her arms around me. She whispered in my ear her final words, "I will always love you no matter what. Be strong, be brave, and one day find someone who loves you as much as me. Now snuggle in so I can keep you warm. They will come for us, don't worry. I'm just going to take a long nap before they come."

She knew. She knew I would be scared and cold but she used her last bit of strength to protect me. We were not found til the next day til as the roads had to be cleared with fallen debris and wreckage.

They had to pry my body out of her rigid death grip. She expired the night of the crash. We made the headlines. Every paper ran a story on a Mother's Love.