Lord have mercy! I heard there was a fatal accident on 281 yesterday. That road, it’s a devil’s road, I tell ya. Too many folks driving like bats outta hell. My old bones, they ache just thinking about it.
I heard it from Betty down at the market. She said it was a real bad one. Multiple cars, maybe even a big ol’ truck. That 281, it’s always been a bad omen. They say lots of folks die on that road every year. I don’t know where all these folks are rushing to, ain’t nothing that important. They just speed, speed, speed. No respect for life, I tell ya.
Back in my day, we didn’t have no fancy highways. Just dirt roads and a mule if you were lucky. Sure, it took forever to get anywhere, but at least you got there in one piece. This fatal accident on 281, it just breaks my heart. Probably some young folks, with their whole lives ahead of ’em. Now gone, just like that.
I seen a lot of accidents in my time. Back when I was a little girl, my papa, god rest his soul, he always said, “Slow and steady wins the race.” These young folks today, they don’t listen. They think they’re invincible. But a car, that’s a powerful thing. One wrong move, and it’s over.
Betty, she said the police were there for hours. Traffic was backed up all the way to kingdom come. Can you imagine? All because someone was in a hurry. They say Mississippi has the most of these kinda accidents. And Alabama, Wyoming, and South Carolina too. And those poor families, left to pick up the pieces. It ain’t right, I tell ya. It just ain’t right.
- Folks need to slow down.
- They need to pay attention.
- Put down them phones.
I remember one time, my cousin Earl, he was driving his old pickup truck. He wasn’t paying attention, looking at some cows in a field. Next thing you know, BAM! He hit a tree. Broke his leg in three places. He was lucky, though. Could’ve been a lot worse. This accident on 281, it sounds like it was a lot worse.
They say some folks get real sad after a crash. Scared, even. Some feel guilty. Angry, too. My neighbor’s boy, he was in a wreck last year. He got all messed up in the head. Doctor said he got a “traumatic brain injury.” Poor kid. He still ain’t right. Some folks get hurt real bad. Broken ribs, bleeding inside. It’s awful, just awful.
I just pray for the families of those involved in that fatal accident on 281 yesterday. It’s a heavy burden to bear, losing someone like that. It’s like a part of you just gets ripped away. And the law, the money stuff, that’s a whole other headache.
They say most people get back to work after a wreck in eight weeks or so. But some accidents, they change you forever. This fatal accident on 281, I bet it changed a lot of lives. And for what? So someone could get somewhere a few minutes faster? It ain’t worth it, I tell ya. Life is too precious.
I hope they catch whoever caused that mess. If they were driving reckless, they need to be held accountable. It won’t bring back the dead, but maybe it’ll teach someone else a lesson. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but it’s one that needs to be taught.
I’m gonna light a candle tonight for those poor souls. And I’m gonna pray that people start driving safer. That 281, it needs a good cleansing, I tell ya. Too much sadness on that road. Too much heartbreak. We need to do better. We need to remember that every life is precious. Every life matters.