A Date with Destiny

A Date with Destiny

Written by Catherine MLP Pagano
copyright Catherine MLP Pagano
June 21, 2016
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What more could possibly go wrong?  That's what Marge was asking herself for the hundredth time today.  Since the moment she realized this morning that the alarm clock did not go off, making her late in getting up and ready for work; skipping the morning shower because there just wasn't enough time and spilling a few drops of coffee on her nice clean blouse...all because she was rushing to get out of the house.  It wasn't even 8:00am yet.  This was not the best start of a day.  Nonetheless she did manage to pull her car out of the driveway without knocking over any trash bins or running over the neighbor kid's bicycle.  "Oh wait, today is trash day? Damn.  I forgot to put out the trash. Strike two."  There was no doubt Marge was having a bad day to start.

Jason was up early every morning.  He didn't need an alarm clock; his body worked just like a clock.  "Ding", time to get up.  He had never been late for work a day in his life.  Mister efficient, Boss's brown nose, Never Tardy Ted; all names his coworkers had bestowed upon him at one time or another; just because he was always on time for work.  They hated that about him.  Other than that though they could not begrudge him for doing good work; he even went above and beyond by helping to do some of their work too.  Behind his back they called him a putz; but just as surely they took advantage of his giving and helpful nature and lessened their own burdens of work.  And so that was just how it was at work; eight years running now.  No one ever imagined a day when Jason just wouldn't show up.

Marge and Jason.  Two people who did not know each other.  They were total opposites in so many ways and on this particular day they were on a collision course that neither of them could have predicted or even imagined.  This was to be their date with destiny.

Jason only lived about five miles from his job, so he chose to ride his bicycle to work on sunny days.  He liked the exercise.  Today was a sunny day.  He pulled his bicycle from the wall frame in the garage, checked the brakes and gears, just as he did every time he got ready to ride it.  Jason had his routines; that was just his nature.  Better to be safe than sorry; leave nothing to chance; always be prepared.  Yes, Jason liked his routines.  One might say he was even fastidious.  So with his helmet in place, off he went to work; enjoying the sunshine, pushing himself to keep an even pace for the next five miles so that he would get to work on time.

Marge was still noticing little things that she had not gotten done this morning, like combing her hair, eating a breakfast and putting on a bit of makeup.  She kept looking into the car's rear view mirror to check out the state of her appearance.  There was a lot of huffing and puffing going on while fussing with her hair and trying to drive at the same time.  At one point, she even reached into her handbag to pull out a tube of lipstick.  She planned to apply this at the next stop light.  It never once occurred to Marge that all this extra activity was a terrible distraction to her driving.  This was a routine she did just about every day.  She always drove to work this way; with that false confidence that she could make this drive practically blindfolded.

Fifteen minutes into her ride to work Marge was approaching the intersection where she needed to turn right onto the parkway that led directly to her work.  About this same time, Jason was approaching the same intersection, in the same lane as Marge's car.  Jason planned to go straight through the intersection.  Marge forgot to put her right turn signal on and she was still applying her lipstick.  She still hadn't hit a red light since she had pulled that lipstick out.  She wasn't going to wait any longer to put the lipstick on.  That's when it happened; the terrible accident that was going to change the lives of these two people forever.  Time slowed down.  Every movement was played out like a slow motion movie.  Each character exaggerating their face and body actions so the audience could truly appreciate the scene being played out before them.  It's fair to say that Jason was the first to realize that the car to his left was turning directly into him, rather than going straight as he had predicted based on the fact that no turn signal was given to show otherwise.  His eyes opened wide as his mouth formed a huge "o" and he turned his head to look into the face of Marge.  His hands had a vice like grip on the handlebars of his bike as he attempted to turn the bike to the right.  Marge had been applying the lipstick as she approached her turn.  She was looking in the mirror, not at the road.  She never saw Jason on his bike.  In the split second that Jason locked eyes with her that's when she realized she was driving right into him.  Jason's back tire slid sideways to the left.  The front passenger side headlight of Marge's car hit the bicycle's rear wheel.  This knocked Jason and the bicycle to the ground.  Marge slammed on her brakes.  The airbag deployed.  She was in shock.  Where did he come from?  Where is he now?  What is she going to do?

The driver in the car that had been riding behind Marge had seen the whole incident.  The driver stopped and rat out to help Jason.  Marge was still in her car.  She had not moved.  The bystander called out to Marge, "call 911".  She didn't move.  By now other people had stopped and someone had called 911, because the sirens of police and ambulances could be heard approaching.  Jason was moaning and groaning on the ground, but he was alive.  The bystander stayed with him and reassured him that help was coming.  But why is the lady in the car just sitting there?  Finally the police and ambulances arrived.  As the medics checked over Jason and put him on a gurney for the ride to the hospital one policeman approached Marge to start asking her questions and the other policeman started taking statements from the bystanders.  It did not take long for all those around to realize something was terribly wrong with the lady in the car, Marge.  She had a wide eyed stare and opened mouth, frozen on her face, as if in a silent scream.  Marge was dead.  The shock of what was happening caused her entire body to stiffen up with the anticipation of the impact.  Upon impact, the car's airbag had deployed and broken her neck.  Lipstick was all over her mouth, cheek and chin.

And Jason, well he recovered from his injuries but he realized how close to death he had been.  He knew that his routines had become a rut and he needed to let loose and enjoy life more; before his next meeting with death.  He never went back to his old job.  Instead he found work as a bicycle tour guide; an idea that he had always toyed with but never thought to actually pursue.  When people signed up for his tours the first group meeting was always about bicycle safety and road safety.  It's always better to be safe than sorry.

The End.