I was just sitting there on the on ramp in bumper to bumper morning traffic. I was being impatient and hating everybody just the way I always do. Nobody was moving and I was raging. Then, the left corner of my left eye registers movement. Woohoo! Here we go.

It only took a small fraction of a second for my mind to register, analyze and catalog what my eyes were seeing. The movement was a woman, no a girl, flying through the air. I estimated her to be about 60 to 70 feet up and traveling at 25 mph. Give or take. My mind even registered what she was wearing while in mid air. Why? I don't know.

Just to the left of her was an old Dodge Caravan, red with that crappy looking wood paneling, rolling and twisting through the tall grass of the field between the freeway and the on ramp. My mind reels!!! OMFG I am actually watching this happen. I will never forget watching her hit the ground.

I'm out of my car before the van even stops rolling. I rush to the girl. She might be all of 15. Christ! Her left leg is obviously broken in several places, as is her left arm and collarbone. She's unconscious and shock is already setting in. I dare not move her. All I can do is cover her with my coat. As I'm doing so the screaming in the van starts.

The screams of a young girl pour into my being, I can hear nothing else. The van ended up on it's passenger side, completely destroyed. The only way in is through the now missing hatch back door. The first row of seats (actually the last row) contains an unconscious girl of maybe 12. She's breathing and also in shock. The screaming is coming from a girl of maybe 7 or 8 in the center row of seats. As I'm checking her for injuries the girl in the back starts vomiting. Christ again! It's a sign of massive trauma to the head. I look around through the windows only to find that I am completely on my own here. (People suck!)

The screaming begins to register as words in my mind..."the baby, the baby." Hanging directly over my stooped body is a car seat. JFC!!! I'm beginning to wonder if I can handle this. I unstrap the car seat and move the blankies around like mad, searching. A little girl, maybe 9 months old, and she's perfectly ok. Mom and Dad, in the front are both out cold but seem to be ok.

I hear voices, there's an elderly couple at the opening to the van. "We called 911" the woman tells me. Oh God, I didn't do that, I DIDN'T CALL! How much time have I wasted for this family? I hand her the baby and the 8 year old and start to clear the mouth of the vomiting 12 year old so she doesn't choke. I look through the front windshield, there are three men tending to the girl who was thrown clear. The EMT's finally take over. I fill out the witness paperwork while I chain smoke two packs of Marlboro's.

I'm an hour and half late for work. I tell the owner of the company, my boss, the entire story. He stares at me silently for what seemed like forever, then hands me a "written warning for attendance violation" sheet. "You need to sign this" he says. I signed it all right...with a big giant "FUCK YOU ASSHOLE" where my name should have been. I go to my locker to get my coat only to realize "she has it, I hope she's ok."

Damn, I liked that coat too.

Deunan