The Present...

The sun shone brightly on a cloudless Saturday afternoon. My family and I went on a road trip to Ipoh. At the start of the journey, we were all animated that we could go on a little vacation in a long time. However, we were not expecting this trip to get a little 'rough'.

It all started when we were approaching the midpoint of journey. All the vehicles started to mysteriously slow down. I strained my eyes to see what the cause of this scenario was. Slowly, the cause showed itself. It was a horrible accident. I winced and my heart skipped a beat. My mother was utterly horrified. My father, on the other hand, parked the car at the road-shoulder; then he alighted, and rushed to the scene of the accident to lend a helping hand. My mother pulled herself together and went after my father.

As I peered out of the window, I observed many people rushing to, in whatever way they can, help the victims. All of the victims were very badly injured. One of them was even saturated in blood. I felt sorrowful. My father and mother made a few trips to the car to get some supplies such as towels and water. The victims' car was upside down; hence, some men turned the car right side up and moved it to the side of the road. It was a terrible fiasco. Soon, the ambulance arrived (I have to say that the ambulance came very quickly). My family decided that we should probably leave and leave the rest to the professionals.

While my family and I drove away, I incessantly observed the accident until it disappeared into the horizon. For the rest of the journey, I began to ponder on the disastrous accident. My father told me that some of the drivers saw the victims' car suddenly went out of control. The cause of that was still obscure. For the whole journey, I could not take my mind off that incident. The whole accident felt so surreal. How can an accident take place as quickly as a blink of an eye? I was in state of disbelief. Can life be so unexpected?

Glancing out of the window, I saw the palm and rubber trees whisked away out of sight. The sky was still bright and cheerful; a total antithesis of the recent accident. It dawned on me that life, generally, is journey of unexpectedness. Life is full all changes that we can never control. Having reached our destination, I resolve to appreciate the present more as I can never predict future and what happen in the past cannot be undone; in other words, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.