Your Title, Here

I was on the sidewalk when it happened. Standing by the curb, a breeze came sweeping through the avenue, and I closed my eyes, tasting its sweet smell. It smelled of a flower, perhaps a tree – I did not know. But the smell had a taste to it, and I opened my nostrils and ran the tip of my tongue around the rims of my mouth. Then, with its taste within me, I opened my eyes, moving them lethargically around the buildings on both sides, as if I was – at that point, being born for the first time.

The buildings stood happy and not too tall. Perhaps they were sitting – lounging under the white cotton of the clouds. Their paint, once bright, was now chipped. But they smiled at me nonetheless, and I smiled back. Several people, waiting for the tram on a small strip of asphalt in the middle of the avenue, saw me and smiled as well.


The ambulance did not yet turn its sirens on when it turned the corner. Having gone into the corner with excessive speed, its tires screeched over the cobblestones and bounced over the tram rails. But that’s not when it happened.

Racing down the avenue, the ambulance headed straight for the tram stop. Not to the left, where trams passed it, and not to the right, where cars where to go. It headed for the middle, over gassing and heaving like an out-of-breath horse. That’s almost when it happened.


The ambulance swerved to the right, then to the left, and then back to the right, as if unsure where to go. Catching the curb, its right tire screamed against the pavement and suddenly sideways, the ambulance began its descent towards me. But I simply stood. You do not think in these moments. You just stand, still tasting the sweet smells that were there just a moment ago. And so I stood.

But the ambulance did not come over me. It flopped as soon as it took off, sliding on its side, shaving the painted marks off the street, screaming and heaving. Its back doors suddenly popped open and bodies flew out over the street like toys from a crowded closet. They bounced around and became still. Close to me lay the ambulance. A thin stream of smoke began to rise from its hood. Its taste filled my nostrils with a metallic aftertaste.

For a moment the street was completely silent. Or perhaps I could not hear anything. The lights on the roof of the ambulance suddenly lit up, and began to circle around without a sound. I heard nothing.


On the sidewalk lay the bodies. They were bent out of shape and dirty and beaten. I wanted to pick them up and clean them. I wanted to play with them. I would return them to the closet, I promised myself then. Moving closer to the bodies, I began to feel the heat of glances behind me. People again regained their movement, and began to crowd around the wreck. They looked at the young man sitting at the curb with his toys. They shook their head, passed their hand over their mouths in thought, and scratched the back of their necks. But the young men did not see them. He had now lain down next to the bodies, feeling their last warmth. It was then that he finally knew.

It was then that it happened.