LOST

     “Mecha tanoshikata!” Yumeko repeatedly chanted from the backseat. “I had fun too,” Tsubaki replied while speeding down the ramp. “Sit back,” she then fretfully requested.

     After making their way down the winding ins and outs of the parking complex, they pulled up and fell in place on a long line to get through the exit gate. As they waited in the car, inching forward bit by bit, Tsubaki repeatedly checked her surroundings to make sure they were safe. Yumeko pulled her gift from the bag and fiddled with the package trying to break her shiny new charm bracelet free. Unable to calm her nerves, Tsubaki took the package before then hastily strapping the bracelet around Yumeko’s wrist.

     Finally making it through the exit gate, she frantically sped off, trying to put as much distance between her and whomever she believed was following her. Almost every car had been heading in the same direction making it impossible to eye anyone possibly tailing behind. She scanned everything she could see in her view. From pedestrians crossing the road to the driver of every car she drove past. She was in a panic. The beat of her heart sent a suffocating pain throughout her body, and the weight of her foot pressed heavily onto the gas pedal, sending the car zipping down the road.

     She thrusted the wheel to the left swinging the car around the bend as she rushed to get on to the highway. The gust of turbulence shook nearby cars as if they were standing stationary. Then suddenly…

     Tsubaki jammed the brakes as hard as she could. The loud aggressive screech of the tires digging into the asphalt turned heads and sent birds flying. But it was too late. Unable to stop the car in time to avoid the oncoming cyclist, she swung the steering to the right with all her strength, swerving the car straight off the road and sending it flying into the river.

     As they plunged into the water, Tsubaki’s body violently jerked forward, her neck whiplashing forward and back. Trying to gather herself, she desperately reached over towards Yumeko, whose unconscious body became weightless in the flood of rushing water. Soon, urgency turned to desperation, and then to terror.

     The water was quickly rising past Tsubaki’s knees. “Get out of the car!” she screamed, but Yumeko failed to come to as her head was barely staying above water. Tsubaki struggled with all her might to set herself free, but as the water continued to rise, so too did her uncontrollable panic.

     Her hands slipped off the seat buckle, overripe with adrenaline and incapable of being held steady. Yumeko had been fully submerged, and her time was running out. Tsubaki clenched her teeth as she yanked at her seatbelt to no avail. Trying to force herself free, she twisted and contorted her body; her hands searing from the tightness of her grip. Managing to shift her body sideways, she began kicking at the car door with all of her strength, but as her attempts failed her, so too did her lungs.

     A gush of water rushed down her windpipe. Her chest feeling like it was collapsing, she inadvertently gulped down another mouthful of water. Her body growing weak, Tsubaki peered over at Yumeko, hopelessly stretching her arm out towards her. Somebody… help, she pleaded, but the only feeling she had left to hold on to was helplessness. Her hand barley grazing Yumeko’s, a faint tear escaped her eyes as they rolled back, and her vision faded to darkness.