This is a story in a magazine distributed by road safety officers to
Year 6 pupils (11 year olds). It is produced by Sandwell Metropolitan
Borough Council.
MY BEST FRIEND
Nobody expects to have a road accident but they happen all the time...
often with tragic results.
Where I come from we do things a bit differently. Instead of having
infant, junior and secondary schools we have lower, middle and upper.
That means we don't go to our last school until we are 13. Some
places just have to be different.
When I was 13, we had just started Upper School in the September Term
and by Christmas we just about knew are way round. It was three weeks
before the Christmas holidays and everyone was excited about the
Christmas production, Carol concerts and parties that were planned.
You know how it gets at that time of year. All the nastiness had
vanished, everyone was friends with everyone else, peace and goodwill
and the real Christmas spirit was everywhere. In the middle of all
this happiness came the worst day of my life. I suppose because
everything else was going so well that made it worse.
Like I say, it was three weeks before the holiday. We had spent all
afternoon practicing for the production, we were doing Godspell, and
singing carols. Finally the bell went and it was time to go home.
Everyone piled out of school, it was dark already. The grass in front
of school was covered with kids trying to find their friends,
brothers, sisters, people to walk home with. I spotted a group of
people I knew and went to join them. There were six of us altogether.
Two of the lads had their bikes and were fooling about, weaving in and
out of the crowds of people, pulling wheelies, that sort of thing.
The road by our school was not very busy so I suppose what happened
next must have been fate.
The lad who lived over the road from me, my best friend, Ben, rode off
the pavement and across the road. At that moment a car came over the
hill and ploughed straight into him. I remember standing there just
looking at him just lying in the road, half under the car, his bike
mangled underneath him. I wanted to scream but my throat was frozen.
I heard people around me running back to school to phone for an
ambulance, but all I could do was stand and stare. My best friend was
lying in the road and I couldn't move.
The teachers came out and then made us go home. We walked down the
street in silence. I couldn'r believe what had happened. The day
before Ben and I had had a massive row about picking on my little
brother. We hadn't spoken since and now this had happened to him.
When I got home I saw Ben's mum driving off down the road. I knew
where she was going. I went into the house and told my mum what had
happened. She gave me a hug and told me not to worry, she was sure
everything would be alright.
I hardly slept that night. Every time I closed my eyes all I could
see was Ben lying there under the car. The next morning there was a
knock at the door. It was Matthew, Ben's brother. He said he was
sorry to bother us but he had some bad news. Ben was dead. His brain
had stopped working so his organs had been donated and all the
machines turned off. I can't tell you how I felt at that moment. I
sat down on the stairs and cried. I would never be able to say sorry
for the silly fight we'd had, his Christmas present would stay
upstairs under my bed, I would have to go to school on my own.
I can't remember walking to school that day. I must have done because
I can remember walking through the school gate. As I walked past his
office, the head called out of the window to me. He asked if I'd
heard how Ben was. What could I say? I know I started to cry again
and I think I managed to get a few words out. "Ben's dead." I ran to
my classroom and hid at the back. Telling the head was the first of
many times I had to say those words that day. Ben's dead. Nobody
seemed to know. It was a terrible day. When I got home I looked at
Ben's house. All the Christmas decorations had been taken down.
There was no reason for them to celebrate that year.
The worst bit about it was that if Ben had been wearing a cycle helmet
he would have been here today. Christmas would have been the happy
family time it is supposed to be, and I would still have my best
friend living across the road.
www.stars.sandwell.gov.uk
The story is not online.