An Unforgettable Accident

I met a beautiful white girl as I was leaving my first English lesson. She radiated radiance and brilliance, like a gem. She had flowing blonde locks that touched the floor and eyes as blue like the moon. Her one-of-a-kind narrative was one of her most impressive virtues. Stefanie, the 18-year-old high school student with whom I had no interaction. Stefanie was too cool and collected to engage in conversation with someone. However, after she revealed her story of what happened in 2010, everyone's opinion shifted and they knew she had a much better person than they have previously understood. After the violent incident, Stefanie re-discovered her hidden potential of challenging odds. At the time of the incident, Stefanie was an 11-year-old girl who loved going to school. She had a limited number of friends and was very shy and withdrawn. Most of Stefanie’s friends had labeled her as a recluse person on multiple occasions. In class, she would attend lectures, but during breaks, she would gaze at the playground. Although some of her friends invited her to play with them, she would rather stay distant and detached. Her only constant companion has been her sister with whom she would never experience the kind of social awkwardness she faced with others. A violent incident made Stefanie powerfully aware of her surroundings and more concerned about her family.

On a strangely calm Saturday evening, Stefanie was happily chattering with her 2-year-old sister, who barely communicated with the indistinct words. While Stefanie’s mother and aunt were laughing at the meaningless conversation that Stefanie indulged in with her sister, Stefanie found immense pleasure in spending quality time with her baby sister in the car. She was having a great time with her sister, and she was not expecting anything to happen.

“I am going to get down here and come back in a while fetching milk from Fiesta,” said her mother, as she stopped the car and parked it nearby. “Take care of Camry, Stefanie, I will come back in a while,” she added in a tender voice. Stefanie remained calm, and she maintained her silence. As the mother was leaving, Stefanie’s eyes kept on gazing at her mother until she took one of the bi-lanes, and disappeared for the time being. Stefanie was very calm and composed; she took much time to break through the shell and establish a connection or initiate conversation with people close to her. As the mother remained absent, Camry was becoming more restless. Stefanie could do little to manage her sister screams and cries. However, Stefanie’s Aunt helped her with that. The 50-year-old aunt was experienced enough in handling children; she took Camry on her lap and started cajoling her. When she noticed the infant’s mother is coming back, she carried Camry to see her. Camry’s eyes sparkled with joy when she saw her mother.

As the mother was about to get inside the car, Stefanie yelled, “Mom! Pay heed to the truck.” A blue truck rushed towards their car with a cacophony sound. Stefanie’s mother was unaware of the man that was coming out of the truck while she was about to get in the car. She heard a high-pitched voice saying, “Give me what you have, or else I’ll shoot you with this gun.” Stefanie’s mother started panicking at the very sight of this rogue. The 40-year-old scamp, whose very countenance reflected his mischievous and boorish nature of criminality. The man was long and skinny like a bamboo shoot, and he had a dark trench coat that looked sickening. He walked up and said, “Give me the purse, right now, or I will shoot you, lady.” Stefanie’s mother could barely utter a word; normally she could easily retort wittily to any mischievous person. Her feet became numb as if she was standing a few inches away from the Grim Reaper himself. “Oh wait, give that cell phone to me as well,” the man hardly waited for anybody’s reaction before he was taking everything as his own. Stefanie’s aunt had fainted, and her sister started screaming at the top of her voice, realizing something wrong was happening. Although Stefanie knew the palpitation that she was having inside, she remained silent and composed. A security officer noticed what was going on and rushed to save the family. However, the merciless rogue immediately shot dead the officer on the spot.

The man rushed towards Stefanie’s sister and tried to snatch away the diamond ring that Stefanie’s aunt had gifted her. The daunting caused by the frightening sight of this man-made Camry to screaming louder. While her mother kept on crying and asking for help with her meek voice, the monster man was trying to reach Stefanie’s sister and pull her from the car. Being panic-stricken as well as furious at the moment, Stefanie could not control her emotions, and she came out of the car in utter desperation.

Stefanie’s mother was astonished and perplexed when she saw her calm and composed daughter furiously confronting a stranger. Stefanie’s mother exclaimed in fear, “Someone help us; this man will shoot my daughter.” Stefanie did not pay any heed to what her mother was saying and was not even mindful of her desperate cries. She was trying to do something to save the family. Stefanie’s eyes burned with the determination to set ablaze and ravage anything that would try to harm her family. She was experiencing the feelings of her turning point.

After biting hard on the man fingers, Stefanie took the gun away from the rogue. As the blood started rolling from the man’s fingers, he tried to exert all his power to take back his weapon from her. Desperately trying to control the gun, Stefanie shouted and asserted “I won’t give you the gun. I will stoop to the level of killing you if I need to protect my family.” She added, with equal fierceness, “I will shoot you right here if you try to move.” She kept on pointing the gun at the man and focused her eyes on him. Holding the gun in one hand, Stefanie called up the police with the other hand after forcefully taking the phone away from the criminal. When Stefanie felt that the crowd was surrounding them, she realized that her mother was becoming more unnerved. Stefanie remained steady and focused. She ought to fight for her family. The police came and immediately arrested the man. They told the family that he was a notorious convict who escaped from prison a few days ago. Now, thankfully the man is back where he belongs.

While Stefanie narrated the entire story, she was as poised and self-controlled as ever. However, I shall always remember how she was able to rise to the occasion and battle all the odds that came the way of an 11-year-old girl. I have come across many of my friends who always openly proclaimed their courage, and yet barely exhibited any. However, here is a girl who was so tranquil, her eyes so serene, and yet she had the ability to fight the odds for her life. This violent incident influenced her personality. She became powerful and self-assured in her life. Stefanie’s story stays with me most, probably because it presents the lessons and the morals of the incidents that people face throughout their lives. She taught me how I should react to the incidents that I would see throughout my life. Being shy will not help anyone to survive in this world. Most of us will have an incident that will be a turning point in our lives. In order to learn from it, we should react wisely. Most of our incidents will determine our future actions and our way of thinking.