Scratches and Dents

Last Saturday, at around 11:50 p.m., on the way to a local cinema to catch The Village, I met an unusual accident.

Flashback several hours before the incident.

I came from a party of a high school friend, which was about an hour's drive away from the city. The area is very remote considering that I am used to traveling only within city limits. After spending some time watching a Korean movie, My Sassy Girl, which gave all of us a headache, we decided that it was time to leave.

On the way to the movie house, I had to pick up my brother, who was out with his girlfriend the entire day but had no idea how to get back home. I should have given him some bread so he could leave bread crumbs on the road. Unfortunately, I got too caught up in traffic that I decided to turn around and proceed to the cinemas instead, telling him to just sleep over at our cousin's house.

From the traffic, I careened all the way to the heart of the city, traveling at an unusual speed of 100 to 120 kilometers per hour under torrential rains. Slippery when wet, indeed. A few blocks away from the cinema, I decided to slow down, since I had enough time to park and buy the ticket for the movie. Surprise, surprise! Another vehicle hit me on the side!

As I was cruising at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour (talk about cruise control), a vehicle emerged from a hotel parking lot and positioned itself on the center lane. As I was going to turn right, I was on the right-most lane, logically. As I was about to turn right, this vehicle turned right as well, hitting me on the door of the driver's seat. Apparently, the guy driving didn't notice I was there. We spent about an hour waiting for the traffic management bureau personnel to arrive. But we waited in vain. So we went to the station instead to file a police report.

Blessing of blessings, I just renewed my license, which had been expired for five whole months without my conscious knowledge, just last Tuesday. Imagine, I was driving for five months without a valid license, and nothing happened. It was a good thing that the one who hit me was good, and he was man enough to admit his fault. And the police officer who took charge of our case was kind enough to process the papers despite the fact that I was missing the cars registration.

A comic relief for the night. While narrating to the police officer his side of the story, me and my companions overheard him say how he "sidesweeped" my car. And my companion, being the feisty girl that she is, proudly corrected him, saying that we were not "sideswiped" but rather rammed on the side.

I didn't get to see The Village. However, I am still thankful that no one was hurt during the incident. God is REALLY VERY GOOD! And I have the scratches and the dents in my car to prove just that!