Accidental Hero

Gretchen waited for the light to turn green. Then she heard a scream. Then another. Then another. She looked to see the source of it and found it. A van was barreling down the street backwards on the cross street. She could not be for certain, but the way the van was moving indicated that there was nobody in the driver's seat, or if there were, he or she was currently not in the land of the conscious.

In the crosswalk, a couple of kids had dared to cross against the Don't Walk sign. They froze when they saw the van.

In a split second decision that Gretchen could not explain with any specificity later on, she ran the red light and screeched to a halt, making her compact an improvised barrier between the children and the runaway van. She couldn't get out; there wasn't any time. Her door opened up towards the oncoming van anway. She heard another volley of screams before taking one quick look at a bumper heading straight for her door.

When she woke, the van had pushed her tiny car up at a thirty degree angle. He door was crumpled in wedged against her side. A fine dust filled the cabin and the air bag cushioned her head against the headrest. Surprisingly, she could feel all her arms and legs. Other than a headache, she seemed to be in once piece. She could hear machinery outside as emergency workers started ripping her door apart with the jaws of life.

Gretchen got out of the car without aid and heard another roar of screaming, but not of horror and surprise. It was the sound of a sea of people cheering and clapping.