Prompt: "The most recent song you heard that made you stop in your tracks"
Selected by Gary
"Blackbird"
The Beatles
The White Album, 1968
The clock read 9:03. I had just gotten through the stop sign. Gia was nestled in the back seat, fast asleep. My Android Auto was quiet as a mouse. The wind was blowing furiously through the cracks of my windows. I was only five minutes from dropping off Vincent to preschool. Little did I know my day would be forever changed in a few seconds.
Bucks County roads are long and winding. There are trees everywhere. At any moment you could come across an entire family of deer just walking in the middle of the road. It's something I'm still not used to. People love to jog in the street. Again, something I will never understand. But it has kept me a little more alert to making sure I'm always focused.
Gia never sleeps in the car rides back from taking Vincent to school. We have a routine. We get home, go for a walk, get back home, and then I work until Vincent is out of school. Daylight Savings really kicked her ass. In fact, it kicked all our asses. Everyone was exhausted this morning. No one slept. But we did get to spend the night together in a bed, all together.
My car slowly crept up the top of the hill. I'm not a fast driver. I've always driven like a bit of an old man. I've never gone passed ten miles an hour over the speed limit. Today was no different. And far in the distance I saw it. An animal was in my lane. But there was so much time to spare.
I didn't even really pay any mind. I knew by the time I was even somewhat close the bird would have flown away. The wind was blowing furiously. There was no way something wouldn't have spooked the crow by then. And then I started getting closer.
I noticed nothing else on the ground. Nothing was around the crow. It just kept looking around. I remember wondering if it was deep in thought. What was it doing? Why would it just stay in the middle of the road? Why are there no other crows around? There is always a pack together. And then I got even closer.
This is when the decision making starting to happen. Should I sway away? This crow was huge, probably the biggest I've ever seen. There was a turning lane right next to the crow, but surely it would fly away right before I got to it. And then I got too close.
Did the crow have a family? Was it injured? I even starting singing "Blackbird" to myself. I thought maybe it would even fit under my car. I didn't know what to do. It would have to fly away. Right? Right?
And then... I swayed at the last second. The crow never moved. It was unphased. I looked back in the rear-view mirror. I thought I would be focused on the crow, but instead I just stared at Gia's sleeping face. Oblivious to the world. Unphased. Unbothered by anything in the world around her.
Bucks County roads are long and winding. There are trees everywhere. At any moment you could come across an entire family of deer just walking in the middle of the road. It's something I'm still not used to. People love to jog in the street. Again, something I will never understand. But it has kept me a little more alert to making sure I'm always focused.
Gia never sleeps in the car rides back from taking Vincent to school. We have a routine. We get home, go for a walk, get back home, and then I work until Vincent is out of school. Daylight Savings really kicked her ass. In fact, it kicked all our asses. Everyone was exhausted this morning. No one slept. But we did get to spend the night together in a bed, all together.
My car slowly crept up the top of the hill. I'm not a fast driver. I've always driven like a bit of an old man. I've never gone passed ten miles an hour over the speed limit. Today was no different. And far in the distance I saw it. An animal was in my lane. But there was so much time to spare.
I didn't even really pay any mind. I knew by the time I was even somewhat close the bird would have flown away. The wind was blowing furiously. There was no way something wouldn't have spooked the crow by then. And then I started getting closer.
I noticed nothing else on the ground. Nothing was around the crow. It just kept looking around. I remember wondering if it was deep in thought. What was it doing? Why would it just stay in the middle of the road? Why are there no other crows around? There is always a pack together. And then I got even closer.
This is when the decision making starting to happen. Should I sway away? This crow was huge, probably the biggest I've ever seen. There was a turning lane right next to the crow, but surely it would fly away right before I got to it. And then I got too close.
Did the crow have a family? Was it injured? I even starting singing "Blackbird" to myself. I thought maybe it would even fit under my car. I didn't know what to do. It would have to fly away. Right? Right?
And then... I swayed at the last second. The crow never moved. It was unphased. I looked back in the rear-view mirror. I thought I would be focused on the crow, but instead I just stared at Gia's sleeping face. Oblivious to the world. Unphased. Unbothered by anything in the world around her.
1 comment:
Shout out to our guest writer today, Gary, with his beautiful piece about empathy that he graciously allowed me to repurpose into a Song Challenge entry.
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