Kim

                Driving home from work, Kim’s eyelids felt heavy. She was grateful to be only a few blocks away from her apartment. She had been working long hours and her sleep schedule was suffering because of it. She rounded the last corner toward her building and was met with two wooden tripod barricades blocking her way. She pulled up behind the roadblock, got out of the car, and joined the growing crowd of bystanders on the sidewalk.  

From what Kim could tell, a car had collided with a tree on the opposite side of the road. The tree had cracked in half from the impact and looked like it was bending over at the waist. The other end of the street was blocked off by two police cars that were parked nose to nose. Police tape was tied to several trees surrounding the wreck. Two officers — one male, one female — were pacing in front of the wreck in silence, stopping every so often to say no more than a few words to each other. The male officer had a brunette buzz cut and a slight beer belly, and the female officer had shiny, mahogany hair that she had twisted into a low bun. Her uniform hugged her curves like it was made for her body. Kim realized how disheveled she looked having just come off a twelve-hour shift and felt self-conscious.
Turning her attention back to the wreck, Kim zipped her purple winter jacket up to her chin. A few strands of her strawberry-blond hair got caught in the zipper, but she didn’t notice. The condition of the car made it clear to Kim that whomever was in that car had to be dead.  The thought of standing just fifteen feet from a dead body made Kim’s heart race. She had spent hours browsing morbid forums on Reddit, reading up on missing persons and unresolved murders.  That stuff excited Kim to no end, and she wanted to get closer to that dead body. Almost reading Kim’s mind, the horde of onlookers began moving forward. The female officer noticed the shuffling crowd and walked toward it, arms outstretched at her sides.

                “Folks, please keep a respectful distance,” she shouted. Her hair caught light from the sun and shone a beautiful crimson.

                Unsatisfied with the view she had, Kim wanted to find a new vantage point. She changed positions so that she was standing on the side of the crowd furthest from the police cars. Toying with her nose ring, Kim wondered what could have caused the crash. She bet it was texting and driving. It was common in her town, even among adults. Kim was thankful her parents had instilled safe driving practices in her sister and her when they were teenagers. As a thirty-something, she’d never text and drive now. The wind picked up, blowing Kim’s strawberry-blond waves into her face. She took an elastic band from her wrist and tied her hair into a sloppy ponytail.

                Suddenly, a speeding vehicle flew around the street corner and came to a screeching halt behind the blockade of cop cars. Kim couldn’t see much from where she was standing, but she heard a woman get out of the car and begin shrieking like a wild animal. The shrill screams gave Kim goosebumps. The two officers raced toward the woman and tried to calm her down. Kim assumed she was a family member of the driver. The officers began escorting the hysterical woman toward the wreck. By the time they came into view, they were back on to Kim. Bundled in a black winter coat, hood and all, the woman inched toward the car flanked by two officers. When she got to the driver’s side window, the woman fell to her knees. She began screaming like an animal again. Kim’s heart raced as the sound stung her ears. The woman finally calmed down enough to speak.

“That’s my daughter,” the woman said. Kim’s heart dropped into her feet. She immediately recognized the voice. It was her mother’s.

                Kim’s blood ran cold as she realized her sister must be in that car. With the taste of bile in her throat, Kim raced toward her mother. When she got to the car she stopped dead in her tracks. The windows of the car had been busted out allowing Kim to see right into the vehicle. She studied the driver. Purple winter jacket. Strawberry-blond hair. Silver nose ring.

                A blaring horn startled Kim awake. That was the fifth nightmare she’d had that week and they were getting worse. This one was so bad that her sleep-laden eyes didn’t adjust in time to notice her car heading straight for a tree.