The man who was not hit

The following is not a dream. This actually happened.

I was walking to my car tonight having locked up Decades Arcade. It was a busy night, lots of families, and I missed the one I used to have.

I'm close to my car. I notice a Prius or some kind of hybrid, with little noise, drives north on Carlton, but turns into the shopping center's northernmost entrance.

I think, oh, it's someone else looking to use the dumpster. So many people use the dumpster who have nothing to do with the shopping center. I love working there, and when the pandemic is over, I hope you come and talk to me at the arcade.

Anyway, tonight, this car doesn't stop at the dumpster like I expect. It just keeps on going, like it's doing a U-ey.

You-ey? Ewe-y? How do you spell that?

Anyway, the car rolls silently. I can't see the driver, but I'm not even looking because I notice there's a man walking south on Carlton. The car is on a direct collision course to hit him, and he can't hear any of it because the vehicle is silent. The driver has not stopped and appears to not have noticed the man.

I have just left Decades Arcade on a night when I was incredibly sad about missing my children. One day I'll write about that, but not now. It's too difficult. I'm questioning everything about my life, holiday-haze throwing doubt into my vision of what I want do for the time I have left.

"Hey! Stop! You're going to hit that guy!" I yell.

The man, who I believe was just getting off at Beer Run, turns around, sees the car, jumps back.

The driver thankfully hits the brakes. I don't know if he heard me, or saw the driver suddenly jump back, but catastrophe is averted. The vehicle was rolling at maybe 15 miles an hour, but we don't have to worry about any of that because there was no interaction between two bodies in motion.

The driver rolls down his window, apologizes profusely. And then hits the electric juice or however those things work.

The man and I stare at each other, and I don't think he speaks English because he doesn't seem to understand anything I say.

What if I hadn't been there? A third body in motion, heading back to my car on a night that wasn't a happy one at work.

I don't know. My job is not to speculate. It is to observe and notify others of my observations. The hope is that I will help people take actions to save other people.

Tonight at the right place at the right time, I may have helped save someone from getting injured in a vehicular collision due to total neglect.

In my dreams, I often take control and stop bad things from happening.

Isn't that what journalism is? I am no one special. Just a person who is always aware of what time it is, what's happening around me, and who I want to be. And fully aware that I am a human being who has made many mistakes. I hope not to make more, and hope others will adopt that mindset.

I want to improve. I want to get better. I want to live, to see a face that isn't there.

The man thanked me. I still don't know if me shouting had anything to do with it or not, but had he been hit, the night would have been very different. I would have been an eyewitness.

But I shouted.