I Nearly Killed You

I almost ran you over—but I didn’t. It wasn’t you, but the person who was walking across the street in that strange way that you used to walk looked just like you.

I only had a moment to look at that person’s face as I quickly rounded the street corner in my car extremely late for work. That person had no idea what thoughts ran through my mind.

That person was oblivious to how close I was hitting them. They looked back to me just as I looked back at them through my rear-view mirror, and all I could think in that swift glance was that I almost ran you over—but I didn’t.

But, what if it were you? I couldn’t say that I would have stopped to chat even if I wasn’t so late for work. It has been years since the last time I spoke to you over the phone or in person. I’m not sure if you are alive or dead or if you’re even in the country right now. You could have a new life, a new family, and could even be sitting in a cubicle in the office next door to mine for all I know.

There are some people who still escape social media’s connective ropes which attempts to tie us together. Those people fade into the background abandoning their posts and only leaving their digital footprints on the Internet behind like ghosts. Those people fall into the cracks which lead into the abyss and leave us wondering about their whereabouts from time to time in such a fleeting and passive manner that we don’t even think to try picking up the phone to reach out.

There are those who move on without a thought to those they leave behind, and you are one of them. I almost ran you over—but I didn’t. It wasn’t you, but the image of that person’s face was embedded in mind in such a way that made me briefly think of you.