Purple Shirt

"Stop the car!"

I yelled at my mom completely out of nowhere. It took her by surprise.

"Stop the car!"

"What?"

She answered confused, yelling back at me. I motioned towards the wheel and kept yelling,

"Stop the car! Stop the car!"

I've always had strange dreams that turned to reality. However, it was always something small that didn't matter much. I would remember the dream, and then I was able to predict small things the following day. I would know where my mom misplaced her keys, or what my dad would be wearing the next day. I would somehow know the terrible day my little sister had at school, or that the delinquent kids in my neighborhood would break one of the mailboxes at the end of my street. It was never anything worth being fascinated about. It always seems like deja vu, which I knew everyone got every once in awhile. But this dream was different. Every detail was so vivid. I replayed in my head over and over again since I woke up that morning.

Getting into my mom's car, I wondered if I would see the woman in my dream or if I was just crazy. From the second I got into my mom's car, I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I bit my nails as my mom pulled out of the driveway. I must have looked nervous because my mom asked me if I was feeling alright. I nodded my head yes without looking at her, focused on the road. I could feel her staring at me, but I stayed looking out the window, waiting to see if my dream last night had become reality.

"Pull over! Pull over!"

I unbuckled my seatbelt in the middle of the busy highway and smacked my hands against the window of my passenger side door. I moved my hands to the handle of the door as I looked back at a woman with a familiar face who stood on the sidewalk by where a crossway was. I remembered the roads being exactly as they were, the busiest I've ever seen. Cars sped back and forth across the highway and all you could hear was the wind from the speed of the cards, and angry drivers honking their horns. Drivers were downing cups of coffee and eating their breakfast while rushing down the street to get to work or school. The woman looked exactly as I remember. She had long brown hair, similar to mine, tied up in a pony tail. She wore tight jeans which was odd considering it felt like it was a hundred degrees outside. And of course, she was wearing a purple Shirt. As soon as I saw the shirt I recognized her from my dream.

I could feel my mom's arm on mine, trying to keep me inside of the car. She finally began to pull over. Still moving, I swung open the car door. My mom screamed, still holding me, confused. I was not letting anyone in the way of me saving the woman in the purple shirt. I pushed my mom's arms off of me as she slowed to an almost complete stop in the middle of a Dunkin Donuts parking lot. I could hear her yelling, “What are you doing? What is going on?” at the top of her lungs. I was too focused to even answer her. She kept trying to grab me and I continued to push her arms away until I could get loose.

I remember the woman as she began to cross the busy road while talking on the phone. Strolled across the street, hardly paying attention to her surroundings. Her phone call must have been an important one. Little did she know a car would run the red light she stood waiting for. Why anyone would cross this road to begin with was beyond me. Cars raced down the highway, rushing to get to their destination. I would have never stepped foot on the pavement if it wasn't for the task at hand, to save a life. My heart was beating out of my chest as I hopped out of the car and began to run down the side of the highway. I could hear my mom yelling, unaware of what she was saying. I was too distracted by the woman. I saw her in the distance already on her phone call and sped up, knowing I had little time.

The wind blew my hair in front of my face as I ran in the hot sun. I chose the wrong day to wear sandals, however I was still running faster than I ever had in my life. I hoped it was fast enough. I dodged other people walking on the side of the street. They stared at me in confusion, wondering why I was sprinting down a main road. Sweat was dripping down my face and through my shirt. All I could think was 'don't let the light turn red yet.' If it did, I would be too late.

I tried to remember the ending of the dream once more. I had been thinking about it all day, and somehow my mind had forgotten the ending. The horrible scene of the car accident that would not leave my brain all morning had disappeared. I just remember waking up abruptly, in a panic. Why couldn't I remember the end of the nightmare that became reality. Maybe I had been able to save the woman in the purple shirt. Maybe I had been able to change the ending. I gained a great amount of confidence and continued running to the woman, knowing I would get there just in time. I ran at full speed down the sidewalk to catch up to the woman. I was a close distance from her as the light flickered to yellow, then to red. My heart began to sink. I tried to yell to her, "Stop! Stop! Don't cross!" However, the woman was too distracted by her phone call. She began walking across the busy street. Panting, I finally caught up to her. With sweat dripping down my face, I ran in front of the woman. I tugged on her arm so hard that her phone flew out if her hand and hit the street. Rather than watching out for her life, she yelled at me for hitting the phone from her hand.

"What the hell?"

She got close to my face and began to reprimand me,

"What's your problem?"

My adrenaline was pumping,

"Just move! Move! Get out of the way"

I pushed her to the side of the street as she looked at me with disgust. Too focused on saving the woman, I forgot to even look for the car.

The dream flashed before my eyes for the last time. The ending That I could not remember came back to me in reality. I saw the car race in front of the lady in purple, heading right at her. I looked to the woman, only she was not wearing purple anymore, I was.