On the way to my usual destination this morning, I passed by the scene of an accident. The two vehicles, an owner-type jeep and a blue sedan, were both horribly wrecked. It looked like a head-on collision. I craned my neck, wondering what happened to the passengers, if anyone had died. Suddenly, a flash of memory.
There had been this show on TV called Tales from the Dark Side many years ago. In one episode, entitled “The Crowd”, a man had died in a car accident. As his spirit was leaving his body, he saw the faces of the people who had gathered around his broken body to look at it. Since his own spirit was restless, he wandered around, trying to remember something he couldn’t recall, and observing those who still walked around following their own regular routines. But he stayed on that street where he sort of remembered that something important had happened. As he stood there watching and waiting, another accident happened. He rushed to the scene, joining the crowd of other curious onlookers. Then he noticed that the faces of the people around him were the same faces of those who had looked at him as he himself lay dying on the concrete road. That’s when it became clear to him: he was dead. And the people around him were the ghosts of the people who had also died in similar circumstances. He was now one of the crowd.
As I was there looking on, I realized that a crowd of onlookers had indeed formed around the scene of the accident, observing, whispering among themselves. And I was one of them.
(posted elsewhere 17 Aug 2005)
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