West Side Story - Journal of a First Responder

The gray and blue motor coach sat motionless; one halogen eye popped from its socket: Steam belching from the amputated radiator. The remains of a small two-seater sports car lays crumpled against the buses’ face. An eerie silence momentarily blankets the air before giving way to the loud screams and moaning of those on the bus.

Sirens screech through the gathering rush-hour traffic, fire-trucks and ambulances make u-turns before pulling up behind the remnants of the furrowed coupé which is now silent. Blue tinted glass crunched beneath the heavy boots of the gathering rescue personnel. Trooper-one, just one of Maryland State Police’s Medical-evacuation (Medivac); helicopter, hovers like a giant dragon fly just before it lands upon Emerald-green grass.