In Prudence

    -"Joseph Greenwood, the forensic investigator, just arrived, I'll guide you to the scene, be careful, firefighters said the zone is still prone to fires"

    As I walk through this scene that I've seen so often before, I can already deduce so many things, skid marks, must have lost control, the wrecked car on the ditch says everything, what was the cause this time? Drunk driving? Speeding? A moose? We'll see.

    I've done it many times before, I've grown used to it. I'm looking at evidence in the car, on the highway, it's so dark, only flashlights and floodlights iluminate the scene. The accident happened around 9 PM, the car flipped over several times before resting on that ditch, a single occupant, deceased on the scene, nothing that I've never seen before, however, this case struck me with curiosity.

    The driver was examined, not a single drop of alcohol, no visible animals or obstacles, everything concludes that the driver lost control on its own, I can already conclude that it was a case of speeding, as sleeping on the wheel woudn't leave this marks on the asphalt, but I wait my fellow investigators to do their job. The result is that he was doing 120 km/h on an 80 km/h zone, lost control on its own and crashed. Something I've seen dozens of times already, but I feel awkward looking at the personal belongings of this 32 year old man.

    As I walk on the scene, so many things catch my eyes, a small glimpse and I see a book on a bag, opening it on the marked page, it's 237, halfway, I've read this one before, too bad he will never know that the woman on the book manages to escape the abusive relationship she's living and finds a fulfilling life with that other guy that no one noticed from the beginning. That story is amazing on the last chapter, but he was shy of it by about 130 pages.

    Next thing I see is the GPS, still showing his destination, about 1 km away from here, near the exit. At 80 km/h, he would be there in 45 seconds, at 120 km/h he was supposed to be there in 30 seconds, but I guess now he will never be. A half eaten burger is sitting in the ground, probably due to the impact, he didn't have time to finish his last meal. Next, his ID was given to me by a police officer, "Adam McNelson", that sure was a good name, birthdate in 2 months. 

    On his personal bag, near the book I found earlier, there's a folder, inside of it, several documents, a few works of calculation and some drawings, the last one is unfinished, half the face of a pretty woman, some sketches where the rest of the face should be, so many things left undone. I can see his case with pencils of varying sizes and tips, erasers, sharpeners, all waiting eagerly to be used.

    A family picture, how touching, a wife and two kids, I bet they're there still waiting for their beloved father that will never enter that door again. I've never been emotionally moved by a scene like this before, normally, I feel no simpathy for them because they were reckless and careless, but this guy was different. A tear rolled down, I felt unease knowing that he died halfway such a wonderful life, achieving all a man would need, just to die saving a few seconds of said precious time, in that effort, he lost a couple of decades, was it worth the gamble? Even more ironic is that he died just outside the County of Prudence.

Toinho Stark do Cangaço, 09/11/2024 (dd/mm/yyyy)

(What to add in the text: The half read book, GPS showing 1km or so to the destination, might use burgers as a unit, doing 120km/h on an 80km/h zone, half finished drawing, half eaten burger, family waiting at home, half a lifespan, not under the influence)

(Died, ironically near the county of Prudence)