Smile,
Camera is on ...
short story
Joe Miller looked at his watch. Uh-Oh! it is already 5:30pm, it
is time to leave the work.
He
quickly started arranging the papers on his table while reviweing
his today's to-do list. It is nice that he could complete 8 out
of 10 items today, but he got 9 new items today which means he has
to complete 11 items tomorrow.
"Hmmm..
I can never complete a to-do list within the alloted working hours.
It is always more than the time available", said Joe to himself.
Planning to come an hour early tomorrow, he started shutting down
his computer .
As
he was walking towards his car, his phone alarm went off reminding
him of his daughter's dance class at 7pm. He switched off his alarm
and went into the car. After navigating through the internal roads
he ramped on to the express way. The talking heads on the radio
were debating about the probability of a double digit recession
for the country. Joe was mentally walking through the things he
needed to do as soon as he reaches home. Ring, Ring...the phone
interrupted him. It was his wife.
"Yes,
honey", he said.
"Can
you please grab a gallon of whole milk from a convenience store?",
pleaded the voice on the phone.
"Sure",
he replied and disconnected the phone and brought his focus back
to the road.
Another
5 more minutes to go before he can reach his town. The sun has set
and the darkness has set in. Joe switched on the head lights to
see the road better. He observed someone parked on the brake down
lane little upfront. A women was standing by the side of the car.
"Is this Mrs.Wilson?", Joe was wondering. Mrs.Wilson was
his son's music teacher last year. As his car approached closer
he could clearly notice that it was Mrs.Wilson.
Immediately,
Joe pulled over his car and parked right behind Mrs.Wilson on the
brake down lane. As he was attempting to get out of the car, he
saw Mrs.Wilson waving and saying something frantically at him. Before
he could make sense of what Mrs.Wilson was saying, he was outside
the car and stepped on to the brake down lane.
"Nooooooooooooooooooo",
Mrs.Wilson screamed.
A
car which came at a high speed smashed on to Joe and threw him many
feets ahead on the brake down lane. The car lost control and crashed
into the woods by the road side later. Mrs.Wilson did not know what
to do. She panicked. Her whole body was trembling. She somehow reached
out to the phone and pressed 911 (emergency) and blurted out, "there
is this worst accident on expressway I73 near exit 7" and fell
unconsciously near the car.
Mrs.Wilson
did not know what happened later. The paramedics came and rushed
every one to the hospital.
3
days later Joe came to consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he
could realize that he is surrounded by doctors and nurses.
"Mr.Miller,
are you able to see me and hear me?", one of the doctor queried.
Joe
could not speak and so he nodded his head. He could see a glow of
smile on every one's face. Joe tried to raise his arm to ask "What
happened to me?" but realized that his hand was bandaged and
left secured to the neck.
Understanding
his facial expression, the doctor explained, "Mr. Miller, you
got hit by a fast car and was thrown into the sky. You landed 120
feet away from where you were standing. However you are one lucky
person as it just resulted in multiple fractures on your hands,
legs and back. No head injuries. You should be recovering within
next 6 to 9 months. Mrs.Wilson and the driver of the car which crashed
on you recovered too!"
Suddenly
the entire future looked painful to Joe. As he turned his head,
he saw his family being both happy and sad on seeing him. He saw
couple of camera operators setting up cameras near the bed.
As
he was trying to comprehend what was going on, the camera operators
looked at him and asked "Are you ready, Mr.Miller?" Joe
was puzzled with that question.
Before
he could express anything, the camera operators continued, "Mr.Miller,
Smile please, Camera is On!"
The
camera operators took the picture and later packed away. Understanding
the puzzle on his face, the doctor chirped, "Congratulations,
Mr.Miller. You now own a Guinness record! The longest distance ever
thrown in an accident is 118 feet and you were thrown 120 feet in
this accident, so you now own the new record."
Joe
was stunned to hear it. He did not know whether he should smile
or get mad. Does someone record these worst accidents for a register?
But he ended up smiling seeing the human behavior and whispered
in his mind, "Let god help the humans!"
[The
End]
Just for your smile ...
 "Before
you criticize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way
when you criticize them,
you are a mile away from them and
you have their shoes."
-Jack Handey
* The characters, settings and happenings are fiction only. |
