Floating through a blanket of soft velvet. That was the best way to describe what he was feeling as he drifted through the gentle currents of sleep. The warmth enveloped him like the womb from which he came as he glided through the darkness and into the... He was jolted awake as the car hit the curb. As soon as he regained his bearings he realized that no, he was not gliding, but sliding down the slick grass which bordered the rain-swollen creek, only minutes from his home. "Please God don't let this happen, Please God don't let this happen..." Over and over he repeated this phrase, hoping, by some wild miracle, that the brakes would take hold as he pumped them along with his frantic prayers. Obviously God had other plans, since the prayer remained unanswered as the car rolled into the creek.
Darkness... "Open your eyes, it's wet, Open your eyes, it's wet, Open your eyes." He opened his eyes in time to see the water rising up to his mid-torso, his body contorted in a strange pretzelesque shape. Still in partial shock, he focused on the music, still playing from the car stereo. When the music stopped with a static hiss, though, he realized, as his arms and torso began to float higher towards the floorboard, that this was not the best listening room in town. By now, the water had risen up to his chest. He attempted to turn himself, fully, right side up. He soon realized, as the water rose to the level of his chin, that his seatbelt was still fastened and that the emergency release was across the seat from him and would require even more contortion than he had been forced into already.
Again, he awoke from the darkness. Somehow, in his brief respite, the seatbelt had come loose, but the water had now risen high enought that there was scarcely room for his head. In fact, in order to breathe, he was forced to tilt his head back and raised to the point that his nose made contact with the floorboard above him. He attempted to open the door, but that would not become a possibility until the water had risen even more. In the state that he was in, he knew that there would be no holding his breath in anticipation of a change in the balance of pressure which would allow the door to be opened under water. He instead grabbed his bag of cd's, which he valued more than all of his possessions, wrapped the strap twice around his wrist, and went under water, in attempt to roll down the passenger side window which seemed, at the time, the most likely escape route out of the car. After rolling the window down, the inflow of water increased exponentially. He took one final breath, dove under water, and swam towards the window, towards salvation, and his last hope at ever seeing daylight again.
The Johnson's, who lived in the house across the street had no idea what it was that had caused the disturbance in front of their home. They heard little more than a pop and a brief splash and Mr. Johnston was quite sure that it was all in his wife's imagination. It was surely something imagined, what would have made such a noise at 6:30 in the morning. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that Mr. Johnson, urged on by his persistent wife, called the police to investigate the situation. After calling the police, he decided to go outside and investigate a bit himself. The first thing he noticed was the remnants of the tire that had popped when the car hit the curb. He quickened his pace as he realized that there were parallel tracks running down from the dark spot on the curb to the flowing creek down below. He arrived at the bank of the bank of the creek in time to see what appeared to be a pair of legs and the lower torso of a person rising from below the surface of the creek, next to what was obviously an overturned car.
"Oh my God! NO! Don't let this happen to me!" He struggled violently in an attempt to escape the icy tomb which was once his car. "Why can't I get my hand loose? What's happening to me? I am out of the car! Why is the bag not coming with me?" He jerked, violently, at the bag, but his hand was caught in the double twisted clutch of the leather strap, as if a pit bull had grabbed hold of him and clamped on with the intent to kill. "It's getting harder to hold my breath! There's no more air! No more air, no more...no more..." In a final attempt to break free from the grasp he had so foolishly invited, he pulled his arm with all his strength. This action, instead of freeing him from the bag of cd's, slammed his head into the car door with such a force that he was rendered unconscious immediately. This simple action allowed the water to flow freely into his mouth, down his throat, and into his lungs, expelling any trace of air that may have remained.
As the police attempted to pull the body out of the creek, and away from the car, they realized that it was stuck on something. After diving under the water and into the car, it became evident that the opposite strap of the bag had become entangled with the unfastened seatbelt, which had in turn been wrapped around the arm rest of the chair. After the seatbelt and the strap of the bag were cut, the body naturally floated fully up to the surface of the creek, where it was subsequently retrieved by the officers on the bank.
The tow truck operator had to stand on top of the bottom of the car in order to strap the chains to the front axle. He found it a bit amusing, in spite of the situation, that although the car was almost totally submersed in water, the radio continued to play loudly, as if totally unaffected by it's abrupt submersion into the cold grave that was the final breathing place of the resting young man.