“C’mon sweetie. Buckle up. You don’t wanna be late for the park, do you?”“No way, Mama! I want to make a sand castle!” Rebecca replied as she struggled to put her seat belt on. The faded blue truck started up with a rumble simultaneous to the garage opening.“Okay, honey. We’ll make a sand castle. Are you ready? Is your seat belt on?”“Yes, Mommy! Let’s go!” Rebecca said impatiently. Her mom turned to give her a look making Rebecca add, “Please?”“That’s better. Let’s boogie.” Rebecca’s mom answered. The truck pulled out into the street, only pausing when Rebecca pressed the button that closed the garage door. A huge gust of wind seeped through the tiny crack of the window, and Rebecca’s mom reached over to roll it up. A concerned look crept onto her face.“Uh-oh. Looks a little windy today. Are you sure you wanna play at the park?” She asked.“Yes, Mommy! I wanna play!”“Okay, honey. But you’re gonna have to wear your jacket.”“Oh fine.” Rebecca pouted a bit as she peered out the window. The wind was causing little tornados of dust to gather around the car.“Mommy?” She asked with a hint of worry.“Yeah? What’s wrong?” Rebecca’s mom answered, noticing the fright in her daughter’s voice.“Why are there holes in the ground?”“What? What do you mean?” Her voice stopped quick as she looked toward the street her car would soon be on. She had been too concerned with Rebecca to even notice until now. “Oh my. What’s happened here?”“Mom, we can’t drive over those.”Returning from her thoughts, her mom replied, “Oh, honey. There’s no orange signs telling us that it’s not safe to drive here. I’m sure it’s safe. They wouldn’t have left the street open if it was unsafe. Right?”“But mama–.”“Hush.” Her mom interrupted.Rebecca put down her head and knew she had to stay silent. She just didn’t feel right about the unwelcoming ditches scattered throughout the street. She also thought it was funny that no one was around outside.Turning onto the road that Rebecca was so worried about, the truck made it over the first few holes.“See, honey? It’s alri–.” Her thought floated unfinished in the air between her and her daughter as the truck plunged front first into a large ditch.Rebecca screamed for her mother’s help, but her mother had been knocked unconscious when her nose hit the steering wheel and began to bleed.The hole was full of dirty water slowly consuming the vehicle. Uncertain of what to do, Rebecca shook her mother in attempt to wake her up. Even though Rebecca was young, she recognized the danger of the situation. She recognized that her mom wasn’t waking up. And she recognized that she had to get out of the truck.Rebecca reached for the door handle, opened it, and squeezed through the tiny space between the ditch wall and the car. The closed door that had kept most of the water out was now open, and gallons of water began to fill the car, sinking it deeper and deeper.Rebecca used the car and the ditch wall to climb onto the roof of the car.She thought she saw her mother’s hand reach op through the dirty water, but couldn’t be sure. As if to confirm what she saw, a voice echoed around her head that hoarsely said, “Help me, Rebecca.” The arm sunk further down into the water until the feeling of death overcame Rebecca.She screamed for help. But when no one answered her, she slid into the water and let herself sink. The last thing she saw was her mother’s bloody face pressed against the window.
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