Lucky to Be Alive

I raced outside, the cold rainy air that wipped my face didn't bother me. I was drenched within seconds.

I could see branches of the tree that had fallen ahead of me as I approched the corner of the house. I could also see the power line to our house slithering along the ground furiously like a snake sprinting away from danger. Terrible thoughts crossed my mind but they couldn't be true, he had to be alive.

"Jason!" I heard my mother scream.

It sounded desperate.

"Come back here this instant! Your father is calling the ambulance, there is nothing else you can do."

But I didn't care.

I had to get to him.

I approached the fallen tree with vigour, ignorant of the deadly power line dancing around me, and then I saw him.

His broken body tangled amongst the limbs of the fallen gum tree.