The accident Essay -- essays research papers

The Accident Every once and awhile I'll look back on my life and I'll laugh. Particularly at the times I spent with my best friend Nate and all the mischief we caused. I look back now and I think what the HELL were we doing? How did we not die? Have you ever sat down and had a conversation with a male teen between the ages of 14-17? I should've been locked away for that period of my life, I swear I was temporarily insane. I had NO concept of "consequences" or "repercussions". I did whatever, whenever. Unfortunately this little package of immaturity also came with other misleading thoughts such as a sense of invincibility, a total disregard for any authority, and taking pretty much EVERYTHING in my life for granted. What's also unfortunate, is that I had to learn all of these life lessons the hard way, and in one horrible night when I was just sixteen and a half years old. As I said, Nate and I are best friends, a little out of touch now, but best friends nonetheless. I guess it was the fact that we were both rebelling against the environment we were slowly growing up in that it made us so much alike. In a town where white-pride isn't just common, more like a way of life, we were just a couple of 12 year old kids looking for an escape. What's strange about growing up in a small town is that it encourages a sense of self-value, independence, and creativity which can be lost in large towns or cities. I mean, if you're not doing something creative in our town, what the hell else would you be doing? So, Nate and I developed a VERY similar sense of humor. A dry sense of humor that I assume no one else really appreciated because we didn't have all that many other friends. We entered middle school with hopes of new experiences and meeting new interesting people. This was when I met Jeff, my other life-long-hetero friend. Jeff and I played hockey together when we were eight. He quit, and I hadn't seen him since. Once I introduced him to Nate, we all became very close friends. Finally the day came that every 16 year old dreams about. Jeff and I got our licenses. We were both a little older than most people in our graduating class, so we were a couple of the lucky kids. And on top of that, we both had very nice cars. Mine a ... ... at Nate, he was clutching his chest from a deep cut he got from the seat belt, I was almost too ashamed to look directly at him, his face covered in blood. He looked at me and said â€Å"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have egged you on, I’m sorry†. Before I could respond Jeff interjected, â€Å"Nah, I shouldn’t have taken you guys down here, this was a stupid idea, I’m an idiot. I‘m just so glad you guys aren‘t dead.† I couldn’t believe this, I screwed up, almost killing one of my best friends and here they were trying to make excuses for MY mistake. The car was totaled, we drove through a fence, hit a tree and then a mound of dirt which was what tossed the car on its side. The backseat had collapsed, everything in the trunk was now in the front of the car. Most of it hitting Nate on the way there. We stood there. Quiet. In shock from all the life lessons we had just learned in about 5 seconds. You could almost feel the childhood slip away. It was then that I realized how lucky I was to have such great friends, and how precious life really is, and how it can be altered, permanently, so quickly. I’ll think about this night every once in awhile. It reminds me how happy I should be to still be alive.