Extensive Reading Programme

2b – “Once More to the Lake” by EB White
Recall a time your parent brought you to a place that holds a lot of memories. Describe how it felt then and its impact on you now.
I stood there, rooted to the ground. I feeling of anguish, guilt and sadness swept over me as I wept silently. My Dad was next to me. He tried so hard to comfort me, but I couldn’t get a grip of myself. I couldn’t control the overwhelming emotion in my heart.
I remember that faithful day some years ago, where I lost someone so dear to me. My heart aches till this day. The day before, I stayed up playing computer games and chatting online with my friends. The next day, when I woke up and took a look at the clock, I startled and rushed out of bed. It was seven fifteen in the morning! I usually took the bus to school, but I shook my mother out of bed and requested for her to send me to school. This action would change my life forever. She got up, half awake, and walked towards the car half asleep.
We set off, unaware of the drastic consequences. About halfway through the journey, I realized that I was going to be extremely late and I might even miss my first lesson of the day. I hurried her and she complied. I don’t know what had gotten over me, but I pushed her to rush her even more. I should have been more patient. I kept rushing her, for fear of being even later than I actually was. She got really angry as I was getting extremely rude, and demanding. From that point on, she was scolding as she drove. I was getting very irritated and ignorant, and my teenage angst was kicking in. I started answering back at her. This made her even angrier, and her voice went louder and her tone changed. She was enraged. The incident was about to happen in a few seconds, yet both of us were unaware. She stared at me, yelling in my face. I felt so angry at her then. I then turned to face the road. We were going to have a head on collision with a truck! I shouted for her to stop and tried to warn her, but to no avail. It was too late. Immediately after the collision, I blacked out.
My eyes opened slowly, and painfully. Wires were coming out of me. Bandages and Casts were on my body, cover every place imaginable. I suddenly realized what had happened and I recalled the incident. I startled. “Where’s mum?” I shouted to my dad across the room. His face turned pale. “She...She...s gone.” He had trouble finding his words. “No it can’t be!” “It’s true son. She’s really gone.” I started crying profusely. My father came over to hug me and comfort me. It was all my fault. My mother was gone because of me. I couldn’t come to terms with that.
Today, I am standing next to my father at the site of the crash. We are feeling exactly what we felt in the hospital ward. We steal one last glance at the spot. We lay down some flowers and turn around. The hole in my heart can never be cured.