Shadow Rose 1

The sun was setting, casting a beautiful glow of purples and pinks that stretched across the cloudless sky. The windows on my light blue Volkswagen van were rolled down, letting in a soft breeze that lifted the hair off my face. Ahead, the road was lit by my headlights, light dancing off the marked white lines.

The road was desolate and had an air of wildness to it. Dark, looming trees lined the road, stretching and creating an arc over my head. The only thing I could hear over the roar of the engine was the hoot of owls from deep within the forest. I was traveling at a steady pace, not exactly going slowly but not flooring it either.

My van could only go so fast anyway. Piles of rust covered the car only to be interrupted by the terrible light blue paint job. I tried to not let it bother me though. My dad had bought it for me before he died. "Now Mathilde," he would say, "I know this isn’t the greatest looking car, but it’ll get you to where you need to go." And I would reply, "What am I going to do when people call me a flower child and ask for good vegetarian recipes?" He just smiled and gave me the peace sign. My van had sat in the garage for four years before I finally turned sixteen and was old enough to drive it.

Now, looking back on the old days, I remembered our family whole and together. Just my dad, my mom, and I. Cooking in the kitchen. Playing board games. Watching Saturday morning cartoons. Looking out over the balcony at the stars and the moon, making the night sky glow. Watching the animals in our backyard searching for food and the moon reflecting off the deer’s eyes.

All of a sudden, those thoughts converged into one reality. I slammed on the breaks as a deer darted halfway across the road. It stopped abruptly in my way, its eyes shining brilliantly in the moonlight. Only, I noticed something different about those eyes. They weren’t the normal shiny black of a doe; they had a hint of blue that startled me. I didn’t have a good enough reaction time even though everything seemed to be going in slow motion. I stared into its eyes for a split second before it crashed into the windshield. I screamed.

The impact sent shards of glass flying through the air. I felt a sharp pain on my face and icicles dancing on my arms and hands. I was in shock as I realized what had happened. I breathed in deeply and tried to stay calm as my mind raced. I looked down at my arms and saw that they were speckled with glittering glass, pinpricks of blood beginning to ooze their way down.

I assessed my situation: my windshield was smashed, tiny particles of glass were embedded into my arms, my face was probably worse judging by the pain, and I was miles away from any civilization. I would not let myself panic. That’s when I remembered my cell phone. I carefully pulled the clunky black cell phone from my jeans pocket. I sucked in air sharply when my finger caught on my pocket, dislodging a minuscule piece of glass from the tip of my pointer finger. I began to dial 911, when a voice came from my left. I jumped at the sound.

"Are you alright?" the voice asked urgently. I looked to my left and saw a man with golden tousled hair. His hazel eyes were striking in the dim light. "We need to get an ambulance down here."
For a moment I was speechless. "Yes," I said, "I think I need an ambulance." I uncurled my fingers from around my cell phone and began punching in the numbers. It was a lot harder than I had anticipated. My fingers were numb and cold, paired with the increasing pain of not only the glass in my skin but the bruises that already seemed to be forming. I stumbled over the first two numbers and ended up having to redial it again.

"That won’t work, there’s never any signal down here," the man said, looking past the car towards the ditch where the deer had disappeared to. "I’ll be right back. Will you be okay?"
I nodded slightly and the man was off, just like that. His arms swung back and forth and his legs were nearly invisible at the speed he was going. I watched him run up the road, my headlights shining on his hair, until he ran around a bend and I could no longer see him.
I closed my eyes, but the image of the deer’s blue eyes burned in my vision. I opened my eyes and looked to my left where the deer had run after we collided. I hoped it was okay. Oddly, I was more concerned about the deer’s well being than myself. Or my wrecked car.

I reached over and clicked off my seatbelt; the one thing that had prevented any serious injury. The ditch was black, completely obscured from my vision. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I just felt that I needed to do something. As I began to climb out of my van, the sound of sirens broke through the still air. It wasn’t until the ambulance stopped right in front of my van that I realized it was for me. Two men in navy blue attire ran to my side, carrying a large first aide kit. It reminded me of my dad’s tool box. The quickness of the ambulance’s appearance startled me. It had only been a matter of minutes.

"Are you okay?" one of them asked.
"Yes, I’m fine, but you need to call a veterinarian or something. A deer crashed into my windshield and it must have run over into the ditch. I’m sure it’s more badly injured than I am," I blurted out.
"We’ll take care of the deer later. First let’s make sure you’re all right. I’m going to give you some oxy--."
"No," I interrupted, "The deer."
"Come on, ma’am. We really don’t have time for this."
The man with the golden hair suddenly appeared next to the two paramedics.

"I’m a trained veterinarian. I’ll make sure the deer is okay," he said. His hazel eyes held a startling look of concern and worry. He gently pushed the paramedics out of the way and leaned closer to me, his mouth inches away from my ear. "I’ll tow your van, come to this address when you’re healed to retrieve it," he whispered, tucking a folded piece of paper into my jeans pocket. He held my gaze for a split second and then he was off. I watched him run towards the ditch and become swallowed by the darkness.. The last thing I saw before truly blacking out was a red rose on my dashboard.