Essay by Joshua Wong

QUESTION

We were amazed when we heard how lucky John had been.


ESSAY

As I waited at the traffic light outside my school, I recalled a life-changing experience that happened almost exactly where I stood.

It was approximately six months ago. Our End-of-Year Examinations had just finished. My friends and I were eager to loosen up and forget about our studies for awhile. We decided to go to John’s house. I had been to it once before, and I was dying to return. John lived in a bungalow. His house had a total of five computers including two laptops. Each and every one of them had games and internet access. In addition, John had a game room, where we could enjoy ourselves with his Xbox360 and Wii.

I suppose my friends were just as eager as I to go to his house because they all agreed to go.
Two of my friends and I had to stay back with a teacher for awhile, so John and the other friend went first. They said that they would wait for us at the bus stop. After the teacher spoke to us, we rushed down to the ground floor and ran to the school gate. As the talk with the teacher had not taken long, we were able to see John in the distance, talking to the friend. The traffic light showed a green man, so they began to cross the road.

Suddenly, a black Volvo with fully tinted windows and no number plate appeared round a corner and sped straight toward where John would be in a moment. They were on a collision course.
I desperately wanted to shout to John, I wanted to ask him to stop, but I was utterly out of breath and so were my friends. John and his partner were engrossed in conversation, so they failed to notice. However, miraculously, John suddenly came to a stop. And so did the friend. John reached into his left pocket.

At that very moment, the Volvo sped past John, inches from his nose. John looked up, only to see the plume of dust the car had stirred up. By then, we were all fully energised. I ran straight toward John and told him what had just happened. John looked at me a mixed expression. Fear, horror, gratefulness and wonderment were all displayed there. Later at his house, John told us exactly what had happened.

‘’My phone suddenly vibrated. So I stopped and took up my phone’’, John continued ‘’you know what’s the freaky thing was? The message was from my mother. It read: be careful on the roads today!’’

To most people, this would have been mere coincidence, but I wonder, could it be divine intervention? Anyway, we were all amazed when we heard how lucky John had been.
I was brought back to the present by the sound of the green man coming on. I began to cross the road, thinking about John and what would have happened if the message had not been sent.

Submerged in my own thoughts, I did not realize that not all the cars had stopped at the red traffic light. I turned to the sound of screeching tires and saw the face of a horrified driver. A split second later, metal hit bone with a sickening crunch.

For some reason, I felt no pain. I just lay there on the road, wondering what had happened. When I saw the pool of blood in front of me, I figured I had not been as lucky as John. Faintly, I could hear the sirens of an ambulance. I could not help but to wonder, why John? Why not me? I desire to live too. I suddenly felt extremely weary, and closed my eyes.