I've always wanted to... (820 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.76 on 25 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by polanaka (View user info) at 2004-11-07 10:50:21 EST
I've always wanted to touch a moving train. The power of the train can take you down, take your breath away. Walking alongside it, one misstep and you're gone. One finger reaching to feel it is overwhelming, knowing the power. It's a test of fears- taking on a train. I was driving on a highway and got spun and pushed sideways by a Mack truck. The intensity of the truck at my side still gives me nightmares, but it's nothing like the force of a train.
I watched a man die. After two hours trapped in his car, his body was removed, but his spirit was long gone. I watched a dozen people try to save him, to get him out of the wreckage before it was too late. Either they didn't know or they didn't want to accept it, but it was too late long before help arrived. The only way he could have been saved was to stop the woman in the Ford from drinking. She survived.
The man was a painter, and after the firemen cut the roof off his van, I could see the paint stains. A few cans of paint had spilled open, covering the mangled mess with bits of yellow and puddles of blood red. Was it all paint? Perhaps it was paint mixed with the man's blood, combining his passion and his life.
I returned home briefly, on the other side of the hill. Along the horizon hovered a purple mist, the combination of the fog with the flashing blue and red lights. It was all so surreal, like a sunset in the dark. The shade was so beautifully horrific, I was waiting to see the man's soul float up through it into the sky.
I never knew this man in life, but in his death, I seem to know now. He will always be in my thoughts as I drive, as my family drives, and my friends drive. I've known many people who lost their lives in cars, but those are only memories of the aftermath. This time I was there, I saw for myself how short life can be and how quickly it can end.
I wondered if he ever wanted to touch a moving train. Just in case, yesterday I touched a train for him.
User Reviews
Submitted by lisist (user info) at 2005-02-07 19:10:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm not just saying this because, well, ya know. But Mr. Anka, this is some great writing. Powerful imagry, I never knew you saw a guy die. Wow, I can see it now....the next Dorothy Parker, with all the wit and talent, and none of the tragedy of course.
Keep it up kiddo
Submitted by CJRipley (user info) at 2005-02-05 13:27:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-02-05 13:10:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This is great.
Submitted by TheSpook (user info) at 2004-11-08 00:13:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Every 90 minutes there's a train wreck.
People are fucking stupid, it's a train! GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!
Submitted by purringbubbles (user info) at 2004-11-07 21:23:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
i AM paul anka.
no, i'm not old or canadian.
Submitted by ShatteredDreams (user info) at 2004-11-07 15:30:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by kai070169 (user info) at 2004-11-07 14:14:41 (#)
Ranking: 2
Polanka, you are my destiny. Actually, no, that's Paul Anka...
________________________
Good to see the Canadian pride showing up in Kai. :)
Submitted by tuesdaydelay (user info) at 2004-11-07 15:02:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I got bollocked in Liverpool Central for palming the trains as they came through. Makes you spin. The guards swore at me.
Submitted by coley (user info) at 2004-11-07 14:38:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
PLUS 2
Submitted by kai070169 (user info) at 2004-11-07 14:14:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Polanka, you are my destiny. Actually, no, that's Paul Anka...
Submitted by Chinaski (user info) at 2004-11-07 13:24:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Really good.
Submitted by Sepsis (user info) at 2004-11-07 13:18:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Istaros (user info) at 2004-11-07 12:58:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
pretty good
with some renfinement you could become great
Submitted by SundanceKid (user info) at 2004-11-07 12:45:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Poetically Sublime... or something like that.
Submitted by Feijuada (user info) at 2004-11-07 12:44:26 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
I want to erase this from my mind.
Submitted by heimdall at 2004-11-07 12:21:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"Perhaps it was paint mixed with the man's blood, combining his passion and his life."
love it
Submitted by AlwaysAnEagle (user info) at 2004-11-07 11:46:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Sofa_Ace (user info) at 2004-11-07 11:33:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
oh man, I just tried that international delights coffee creamer shit in my coffee, I got Butter pecan. You speak of having your faced rocked off!
Hmm, I think I liked this post because when I used to live in Tacoma with my sister her dog would always try to chase the train, and I always wondered if he ever got free if he would actually try to catch the train, or if he knew it would hurt him.
Submitted by Tigre (user info) at 2004-11-07 11:23:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Sideburns (user info) at 2004-11-07 10:55:38 (#)
Ranking: 2
Made absolutely no sense, but it rocked my face off.
Submitted by Genko (user info) at 2004-11-07 11:20:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
There's a kid named Cadillac that I watched die.
His eternal parking spot in on the corner of 16th St. and S. Homan Ave. in Chicago.
I know how you feel.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2004-11-07 11:19:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Well roll me in shit and call me Daisy!
(Well, not really. I mean, who would want to be rolled in shit and called Daisy? Fucking sicko.)
Submitted by purringbubbles (user info) at 2004-11-07 11:11:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
i think i just fell in love with b2d, thank you lojope :)
Submitted by lojope (user info) at 2004-11-07 11:04:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Awesome. Reminds me a little of the user B2D's writing. Check him out, I think you'll like him.
http://www.ubersite.com/u/b2d
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2004-11-07 11:01:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This was good in a "what the fuck" kind of way.
Submitted by mikethescottish (user info) at 2004-11-07 10:58:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You're strange.
Submitted by Sideburns (user info) at 2004-11-07 10:55:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Made absolutely no sense, but it rocked my face off.