I just got back yesterday from a short 3-day trip to nearby Bintan – and from a sobering near-accident.
My friends and I decided to rent All-Terrain Vehicles for the dirt trail tour the resort offered. Only they didn’t have enough motorbikes, so my girlfriend and I decided to ride the 2-seater buggy.
Everything started fine as we revved our engines and enjoyed the ride. Halfway through I switched to a motorcycle with another friend of mine while my girlfriend stayed in the buggy’s passenger seat.
The dirt trail was mostly smooth, with occasional fake obstacles placed in the way. One of the obstacles was a rolling ditch in the ground. Our motorcycles cleared the ditch safely and we stopped to watch the buggy catch up from behind.
The moment the buggy hit the ditch, something went wrong. It jumped into the air, and – my heart stopped – I watched as my girlfriend nearly flew out of the buggy and worse, the buggy looked like it was going to tip, right onto my girlfriend.
It happened in a few seconds, but those sickening few seconds was a frightening eternity for me.
To my relief, my girlfriend caught her arm on the side of the buggy and stayed inside, and the buggy righted itself after it bounced for a couple more times. After that, I took back the driver’s seat and drove – slowly – the both of us back.
Later that evening, I was looking at my girlfriend…and I couldn’t believe she might not have been there with me that night, safe and sound as she was, if just one little thing had been different – if the angle of the steering wheel had veered a little bit off or the buggy had been a little bit faster.
And there, earlier that morning, we had been snug in each other’s arms, enjoying each other’s company.
It made me realize – we can never take too much for granted.
We can never take the people we love for granted.
And it is never too late to show the ones you love how much you care.
October 1st, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Wow, thank God you guys are ok! Hmm… there’s a purpose for everything…so it looks like she could be “the one”? *wink*
October 1st, 2007 at 11:09 pm
We’ll see
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:15 am
it’s a sign, she’s the one, get the ring
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:09 am
Hey dude! When you are going to marry her?
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:28 pm
You guys are so gossipy!
And Dom, that ring thing – sure sounds familiar doesn’t it?
October 21st, 2007 at 9:30 am
After the sudden, unexpected death of several friends over the past 10 years, I have learned to tell the people close to me that I love them. Death can come so quickly, without warning. Give more hugs and say I love you as often as you can then when death comes, you have no regrets.