another gift from 2020

I've been going forward and backward to write about this. I'm still thrilled everytime I remember it. But maybe I can focus on the good thing.

It was Saturday night, two weeks ago. We were on our way home after having dinner. Only about 1 km away from our house, we were in queue to turn right across the road, into the street heading our home.

I sat beside Dan at the front seat. The kids were behind us. Suddenly we felt a hard bump.

"Allahu akbar!"

And another bump.

I was sleepy then. I woke up realizing stuffs from the dashboard drawer spilled on my lap.

"Ar Ir? Ibit? Aik? Mbak Siti? Everyone okay?"

I heard everyone replied. Only Aik didn't. He was sitting between Dan and I. No sound.

I told everyone to save wallets and phones and quickly get out. We had to help Aik because he could hardly move. I checked everyone was okay. I brought Aik and Ibit aside to a quite space. Ar and Ir helped Dan saving stuffs from the car.

We were hit by a truck from behind, and continued with another hit by a car from the opposite direction. We needed a tow truck to move both cars because the front axle were broken.We saw the truck stopped for a while then ran. But a brave man ran after it with his motor bike.

It was a chaotic situation. People, and tow trucks, and police. We called our neighbor to bring us back home while Dan take care of the car and negotiate with all that were involved.

I thought it was a miracle that we were all safe. Ir got some scratches. Ar got a deep one that needed to be sutured. A neighbor that was happening to be there rode him to the nearest hospital. The rest were only some bruises and pain we found the next day in the morning.

May be it looks okay that Aik was so quiet during and after the accident. But it actually terrified me. He usually gets tantrum every time a little thing is not okay. Spilled water, dropped spoon, would trigger his tantrum. I often need hours to calm him down. This time is so quiet. Too quiet.

We have planned to go for a picnic and ride a boat in Waduk Jatibarang on Sunday. I asked Aik if he still wanted to go. He did. At the spot he said he didn't want to ride the boat. I and Dan slowly led him to the dock and he finally got on the boat.

He was still quite until we got home that afternoon. Later in the evening, he sat on my lap and started crying, quietly but deep.

"The car is broken."

"Yes..."

"Can we fix it?"

"Sure. Bapak has sent it to repair shop."

"What day it finish?"

"It needs long time. May be next month?"

He started to cry overflowing.

The next day he started to talk more. But needed few days to see him back to his normal condition.

Ar and Ir didn't look shocked but who knows what's happening inside?

Ibit told her friends to get down of her car if they refused to fasten seat belt.

That night and nights after, Dan couldn't sleep at all. I cried remembering what happened every time before bed. Not because our car was broken, but because we are all safe.

I guess that's all that matter now. We are all safe. God still protected us.