Dreams to Never Come True
By Karina, age 17, Texas
That night was fun. People I knew and some I didn't know partied all night. There was beer surrounding us - everywhere we turned was a new bottle calling out to us, wanting to be opened. My friends and I drank the whole time, getting very wasted. We hopped into the car to go home, not thinking of the consequences. Unfortunately, this was the worst decision I made in my entire life.
Driving down Highway 71, we were purposely swerving in and out of our lane. This road is unimaginably curvy if someone has never been on it before. Joined with the fact it was pitch black and we had been drinking, it was us just asking to be in a wreck. On the tightest curve, we were driving like crazy and ran head on into another car. None of us had our seat belts on, but since we had been drinking our bodies didn't tense up, making us less prone to broken bones. The people in the other car weren't as lucky.
A mother, only 32 years old, was driving her two young girls, ages eleven and seven, home. They were driving a little car, while we were in a big truck. After the crash, I'd become more alert and immediately called 911. However, it was too late. By the time the ambulance came, the mother and two young children had died. I couldn't even look at the wreck. The other car was crushed so badly it just looked like a pile of metal. How could something like this happen?
We were taken to the hospital for minor cuts and bruises. My family came in to see me. My parents couldn't even look me in the face. My younger brother and sister weren't old enough to know what had happened. The only thing they could say was that they loved me and hoped I would get better. How could they say that? Three people just died because of me. My sister was the same age of the one of the girls. What if that had been her in the car? These two girls would never make it to their 16th birthday, high school, prom, or college! Why would I ever drive drunk?
The people in the car and I went to the funeral of the three we had killed. The three who would never be able to see another day because of us. We learned all about the young girls and how they excelled at school and sports. We learned of the mother's trials and triumphs. I cried uncontrollably. The girls' father went to the podium. Getting up to the microphone, he glanced over towards me and my friends. That was the worst part of everything. This father would never see the three most important people in his life ever again. Cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, brothers and sisters of the deceased couldn't contain their anger. I could feel their hateful stares. Why me? Why did I ever drink in the first place?
Today, I cannot walk down the streets without people whispering, glaring, and even saying hurtful things to me. It was my fault. All my fault. If only I could go back and change my decision.
