When you’re young, you never think anything bad will happen to you; you always know you’re safe, and you trust everyone around you with your life. The protection you constantly get from your parents and community lulls you into a false sense of security. In the year 2004, the day before spring break, I was jumping down the high mountain stairs, swinging my arms, and skipping down the hall. I was happy to go to school, just like any 4th grader would be. It was last day before spring break. I got dressed with my favorite pink shirt that had a bright pink heart located right on my chest, with my favorite sparkly pink jeans. I wore this outfit proudly. It was one of my favorite outfits. After washing my face it was now time for breakfast. Like always, I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk, my favorite! I loved the feeling of eating peanut butter, creamy and gooey, yet, it was very delicious. After I finished my sandwich I threw on my backpack and I was ready to go. If only my brother would hurry or we would miss the bus.

Today felt like a very refreshing, warm, lovely, and pleasant day. Every year I would look forward to spring. The spring air let me know that the school year was coming to a close, and fun summer days were on their way. The bus would come around 7:30 am, but sometimes it would be 5-10 minutes late. You just never knew when the bus driver was going to arrive. As I waited I enjoyed the fresh, crisp, cool, and breezy air. I walked back and forth on the side of the curb, one of my daily routines that I had to do everyday. The bus finally arrived. I made my way to the back of the bus by my best friend, Irina. Irina was a friend that I could trust. She was always there for me when I needed her, and I was always there for her. We both were in the same class with Mrs. Shelly. I looked forward to our morning conversations; they were always about the same thing, either about the new episode of Hannah Montana or how much coins we collected on Club Penguin. We had many things to talk about. Usually by the time we were done talking, we would have arrived at school. After we were done talking we would both listen to our iPods, my favorite artist was Miley Cyrus and The Cheetah Girls. Music was my escape from reality. It was a way I could also express the person I was. Twenty minutes later the bus was full and we made our way to Pleasant View.

Pleasant View was hardly a block away. In such little time, so much can happen. I vividly remember dozing off and looking out my window, not paying attention to my surroundings and enjoying the music. Suddenly, I began to notice something wasn’t right. The bus began to shake. The shaking didn’t stop. I was confused. I looked at my friend, and things got blurry for me. My iPod went flying out of my hands. My glasses flew off. From the force of the crash all I could feel was my body slamming on something. It kept getting worse every second. I began to panic. I began to get dizzy, palms sweaty, my neck tense, and my heart was pounding louder than drums. All I could hear were wheels screeching and little kids screaming and crying.

Once I opened my eyes I was sitting in a different seat then I had been sitting in before. I was shocked to find myself sitting in the middle of the bus, when I had been sitting all the way at the back. My glasses were missing. Everything was a blur. I yelled my brother’s name so he could help me find my glasses. “Mohammad I need you find my glasses, they are lost and I can’t see anything, please help me find them!” I said. “Okay, give me one minute and I will find them”, he shouted. My brother found my glasses and once I put them on everything became clear and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The bus was tilted, we were stuck in a ditch and all we could do was wait for help. The little kids were crying. They wouldn’t stop because they were really scared. No one had ever been in an accident so bad.

Within a couple seconds the neighbors heard the noise and ran outside, dialing 911. I looked at the bus driver, he was on the floor and his eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving. I was terrified, none of knew what to do. I didn’t know what was wrong with the bus driver. As I looked outside the window I saw many people began to get out of their cars and try to help us as we waited for the paramedics to come. We were all terrified; I remember asking one of the adults that came to help if he was going to be okay. All she had said was, “He’s going to be fine, but sweetie can I have you please go sit down”. No one would tell us what was wrong with the bus driver.

We all sat and waited, I began to hear the sound of the ambulance siren make its way toward us, “Waweep waweep waweep waweep waweep waweep”. The paramedics had finally arrived, within seconds they had the bus driver on the stretcher board and had made their way to the hospital. As we waited, a police officer came on our bus and had said, “We need you guys to give us your full names and your phone number if you know it”. “Hi, can you please tell me what your first and last name is and your house phone number”, he said. “My name is Rayan, and my phone number is 414-468-8968”. “Thank you Rayan, your parents will be here soon”, he said.

Everyone was led out of the front of the bus, where we all stood at the side of the street, watching cars slow down as they passed us. I waited for my parents patiently. I watched as officers went around asking other kids for their names and phone numbers. Finally, my parents arrived. My parents must have been very scared when they were told what happened. I couldn’t believe what had happened. Once my parents had arrived, I hugged both of my parents tightly. They had asked me if I wanted to go home or just go back to school. But my brother and I both decided that we would both go back to school. On my way back to school, I just kept imagining everything that had just happened. Everything seemed so unreal, as if I had just watched it in a movie about someone else. The shock of what had happened didn’t wear off until that evening. The sudden impact, the confusion, and not knowing what exactly had happened or why it had happened all made this experience one that, when I look back, is still as shocking as ever.