Working Backwards
How it Happened
~
One Year Previous
June 12, 2009
The sun was shining off the pavement which had heat waves radiating off of it. It was one of those days where you wanted to test the theory of cooking an egg on the sidewalk.
The neighborhood buzzed with excitement, for all the kids had just gotten off of school. Kids were out running through sprinklers and zipping up and down the streets on their bikes. If one was to look out the window at this bright day, they would never fathom that such a tragedy was going to happen.
Travis, who had just recently celebrated his eighth birthday with a new mountain bike full of gears, was more than happy to be out of school. In September, he would have been a fifth grader, a ruler of the Robbinsville Elementary School. His class would be placed at the top of the totem pole, and he couldn’t wait.
Not that he was necessarily picked on, not more than any other fourth grader. With his sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and happy attitude, he was well liked. All of his teachers liked him, usually smiling and shaking their heads slightly if he was brought up in conversation, they could all tell that he was going to be someone some day. He was just excited for his turn on top.
Who knows that surprises life had in store Travis, for his trip got cut short. It’s rare that there is much traffic on French Boulevard, so in the summer the neighborhood boys would group together to play street hockey in the middle of the street. They usually had the whole stretch of street to themselves, not having to move themselves nor the nets out of the way for cars to pass through.
Down the road, a small group of older boys had a game already in place. Some of their younger brothers were sitting on the side lines watching their every move, trying to learn from them. Travis broke away from the group; he hadn’t felt like just sitting there that day.
~
Both of his parents were gone: Dad at work, mom at store. His sister, Angela, was going to be starting high school next year. She was also a pretty girl, she respected herself though, and she didn’t exactly have a trail of boyfriends or anything. Being the opposite of Travis, she was shy, not really putting herself out there. That being said, when Travis walked in the living room from being outside, she was sitting on the couch watching a movie.
“What are you watching?” Travis always questioned everything she did. He wanted to know: what, how, and why she did the things she did. Travis loved this sister; he wanted to be just like her.
She loved Travis, but sometimes his pestering got to her, “The Notebook,” she responded distracted by the screen.
“Why ain’t you outside?” He was confused as to why on such a nice day; someone would want to stay inside curled up on the couch.
“Because I’m not,” She gets quite testy when school gets out and she has nothing for her to focus on.
“Wanna help me ride my bike?” His eyes were glowing with excitement.
“Can’t you see I’m busy? And I thought you knew how to ride a bike,” Her patience was shortening quickly.
“But I want to show you!” He was damn near jumping up and down.
“Fine, go outside and warm up. My movie will be done in like twenty minutes,” That stupid smile on his face got to her every time. She always gave in.
“Really Ang?” She nodded, “Okay, but that twenty minutes better be fast!” Travis ran out of the room and out the door to the garage.
Angela sighed once he was out of sight. She knew that even though there were still four years left to go of painstaking memories to make, she would miss Travis when she went to college- hopefully far away. She turned back to the screen to finish the rest of her movie.
~
Travis was in the garage, staring at the marvel that was his new bike. Fire engine red was the color of the base. Black flames gave it a somewhat menacing look. He was going to wait for his sister, but he knew how long that could take- he just wanted to ride his bike.
Throughout the garage filled with clutter, his bike was the only clean spot, and that was by his design. A clean aura seemed to radiate off the shiny new metal within its circle of cleanliness. He fought through the piles of junk towards the center of the garage. After tripping over various objects that really just needed to be thrown away, he made it to his destination.
Despite his fight for his chariot on rubber wheels, he sighed happily as he rolled it out of the cool garage and onto the hot pavement and into the glaring sun. He squinted as he looked up at the sky noticing that there wasn’t a single cloud to ruin the beautiful blue sky.
Although the street was pretty much empty, save the hockey game down the road, the yards of his classmates were filled to the brim with people. He knew that he could go up to any of those houses and join in whatever game they were playing, but he just wasn’t in the mood for running around. He only sighed; somewhat agitated that he didn’t have one ‘best friend’. Usually he hung out with a bunch of kids made an attempt to be with his sister. But her patience with him wasn’t that long.
Trying to let his agitation subside, he climbed aboard the jet black seat and pushed off the ground. He stayed on the sidewalk, knowing his parents wouldn’t approve of him riding in the street, “it’s just too dangerous!’ They would say. It baffled him that they didn’t trust anyone. Gradually he become ballsier as his bike picked up speed- wind whipping through his shaggy hair and his classmates becoming a blur in his peripheral vision. Throughout his body was an overwhelming feeling of being on top of the world.
~
Angela’s patience was beyond thin. After she got rid of Travis, there was nothing but constant interruptions for her. Dad calling to check in, bank calling for dad when they knew he was at work-eventually she just gave up and turned her beloved movie off.
Agitated, she threw the remote down onto the couch and walked over to the glass door. She saw her brother coming from around the bend. In a minute he would be passing in front of their house. Something changed her mind and she walked barefoot out the front door. Holding her hand up to block her eyes from the sun, she began walking across the yard towards the sidewalk.
Waving to Travis as he rode by, she noticed the enormous smile on her younger brother’s face. She noted however, that he needed to slow down and be more careful. He didn’t even pause when he went across the small intersection; neither did the white Ford Explorer, who neglected the stop sign. Travis screamed, but it was too late. Clipping the front tire of Travis’s bike, the force form the car sent the poor boy and his bike into the middle of the street in a heap of flesh and metal.
Running full tilt towards her baby brother, the image of him lying motionless in the middle of the road would be forever etched into her brain. It has been said that the scream that erupted from her soul was heard all throughout the entire neighborhood. Cradling her brother’s head in her lap she didn’t even notice that the evil machine on four wheels which handicapped her brother drove away.
One Year Previous
June 12, 2009
The sun was shining off the pavement which had heat waves radiating off of it. It was one of those days where you wanted to test the theory of cooking an egg on the sidewalk.
The neighborhood buzzed with excitement, for all the kids had just gotten off of school. Kids were out running through sprinklers and zipping up and down the streets on their bikes. If one was to look out the window at this bright day, they would never fathom that such a tragedy was going to happen.
Travis, who had just recently celebrated his eighth birthday with a new mountain bike full of gears, was more than happy to be out of school. In September, he would have been a fifth grader, a ruler of the Robbinsville Elementary School. His class would be placed at the top of the totem pole, and he couldn’t wait.
Not that he was necessarily picked on, not more than any other fourth grader. With his sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and happy attitude, he was well liked. All of his teachers liked him, usually smiling and shaking their heads slightly if he was brought up in conversation, they could all tell that he was going to be someone some day. He was just excited for his turn on top.
Who knows that surprises life had in store Travis, for his trip got cut short. It’s rare that there is much traffic on French Boulevard, so in the summer the neighborhood boys would group together to play street hockey in the middle of the street. They usually had the whole stretch of street to themselves, not having to move themselves nor the nets out of the way for cars to pass through.
Down the road, a small group of older boys had a game already in place. Some of their younger brothers were sitting on the side lines watching their every move, trying to learn from them. Travis broke away from the group; he hadn’t felt like just sitting there that day.
~
Both of his parents were gone: Dad at work, mom at store. His sister, Angela, was going to be starting high school next year. She was also a pretty girl, she respected herself though, and she didn’t exactly have a trail of boyfriends or anything. Being the opposite of Travis, she was shy, not really putting herself out there. That being said, when Travis walked in the living room from being outside, she was sitting on the couch watching a movie.
“What are you watching?” Travis always questioned everything she did. He wanted to know: what, how, and why she did the things she did. Travis loved this sister; he wanted to be just like her.
She loved Travis, but sometimes his pestering got to her, “The Notebook,” she responded distracted by the screen.
“Why ain’t you outside?” He was confused as to why on such a nice day; someone would want to stay inside curled up on the couch.
“Because I’m not,” She gets quite testy when school gets out and she has nothing for her to focus on.
“Wanna help me ride my bike?” His eyes were glowing with excitement.
“Can’t you see I’m busy? And I thought you knew how to ride a bike,” Her patience was shortening quickly.
“But I want to show you!” He was damn near jumping up and down.
“Fine, go outside and warm up. My movie will be done in like twenty minutes,” That stupid smile on his face got to her every time. She always gave in.
“Really Ang?” She nodded, “Okay, but that twenty minutes better be fast!” Travis ran out of the room and out the door to the garage.
Angela sighed once he was out of sight. She knew that even though there were still four years left to go of painstaking memories to make, she would miss Travis when she went to college- hopefully far away. She turned back to the screen to finish the rest of her movie.
~
Travis was in the garage, staring at the marvel that was his new bike. Fire engine red was the color of the base. Black flames gave it a somewhat menacing look. He was going to wait for his sister, but he knew how long that could take- he just wanted to ride his bike.
Throughout the garage filled with clutter, his bike was the only clean spot, and that was by his design. A clean aura seemed to radiate off the shiny new metal within its circle of cleanliness. He fought through the piles of junk towards the center of the garage. After tripping over various objects that really just needed to be thrown away, he made it to his destination.
Despite his fight for his chariot on rubber wheels, he sighed happily as he rolled it out of the cool garage and onto the hot pavement and into the glaring sun. He squinted as he looked up at the sky noticing that there wasn’t a single cloud to ruin the beautiful blue sky.
Although the street was pretty much empty, save the hockey game down the road, the yards of his classmates were filled to the brim with people. He knew that he could go up to any of those houses and join in whatever game they were playing, but he just wasn’t in the mood for running around. He only sighed; somewhat agitated that he didn’t have one ‘best friend’. Usually he hung out with a bunch of kids made an attempt to be with his sister. But her patience with him wasn’t that long.
Trying to let his agitation subside, he climbed aboard the jet black seat and pushed off the ground. He stayed on the sidewalk, knowing his parents wouldn’t approve of him riding in the street, “it’s just too dangerous!’ They would say. It baffled him that they didn’t trust anyone. Gradually he become ballsier as his bike picked up speed- wind whipping through his shaggy hair and his classmates becoming a blur in his peripheral vision. Throughout his body was an overwhelming feeling of being on top of the world.
~
Angela’s patience was beyond thin. After she got rid of Travis, there was nothing but constant interruptions for her. Dad calling to check in, bank calling for dad when they knew he was at work-eventually she just gave up and turned her beloved movie off.
Agitated, she threw the remote down onto the couch and walked over to the glass door. She saw her brother coming from around the bend. In a minute he would be passing in front of their house. Something changed her mind and she walked barefoot out the front door. Holding her hand up to block her eyes from the sun, she began walking across the yard towards the sidewalk.
Waving to Travis as he rode by, she noticed the enormous smile on her younger brother’s face. She noted however, that he needed to slow down and be more careful. He didn’t even pause when he went across the small intersection; neither did the white Ford Explorer, who neglected the stop sign. Travis screamed, but it was too late. Clipping the front tire of Travis’s bike, the force form the car sent the poor boy and his bike into the middle of the street in a heap of flesh and metal.
Running full tilt towards her baby brother, the image of him lying motionless in the middle of the road would be forever etched into her brain. It has been said that the scream that erupted from her soul was heard all throughout the entire neighborhood. Cradling her brother’s head in her lap she didn’t even notice that the evil machine on four wheels which handicapped her brother drove away.