Monday, January 17, 2005

The Accident

When shit hits the fan time slows. Images freeze. Three of them I remember clearly, no more no less. Sound however is absent…

The first image: A car just takes off from the other part of the highway and I see her wheels. I am in the middle lane of the highway going from Beirut to Saida.

The second image: I slam on the brakes and veer left, just missing the car that slides in front of me leaving behind loads of debris , bits and piece of metal and concert from the highway divide.

The third image: I am heading towards the divide, I try to veer right to evade hitting the divide. My car veers a bit right but its rear slide and SLAMS into the divide.

Moments later time regain its true march, my car points backward (towards traffic) a burning car smolders in flame in front of me. Six or seven peoples died from that accident. The car I just missed slammed into another following me. All the passengers died, some burned some other died from the shock. Four young men were in the car that flew from the other highway. In the one that followed me there were three persons, a family.
A man, his wife and their teenage son… All died, I lived … Why…
Was it me or was it you!

O my only friend Azael!

2 comments :

Eve said...

Hamdellah 3ala essalemeh!!

Anonymous said...

Ibrahim - Thank God you survived.

I found your blog through Nour, who won the BABA Lebanon Blogger award. I was also a nominee, for my blog Dove's Eye View, at http://bedouina.typepad.com

You're my neighbor! My father is from Mieh-Mieh, and my uncles still live there. My parents lived in Lebanon from '93 to 2002, kept an apartment in Beirut and stayed in Mieh-Mieh on the weekends. My name is Leila Abu-Saba and I have been to Lebanon twice since the war ended, '95 and 2000. Inshallah I will be back there when my two small children get a little older and it's easier for us to travel.
My email is leilasab at yahoo dot com if you feel like saying hello. Nice to see a Sidonian blogger! Where do you live?