KJ2031L
A nondescript street lamp, KJ2031L is the number stenciled on the side of the lamppost. The white paint, eroded by the wind and rain, aged by the rays of the sun, started to give way to a small layer of rust building up where a small piece of the metallic street lamp had sheered off.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PjQduof9I
KJ2031L was installed in 1986. The stenciled white paint, applied over and over house and over again. Beneath the layer of shoddily applied paint, the cracks in the lamppost started to develop. Within months, the cracks opened up, and a thin layer of dull bronze formed under the lamppost. This was never fixed, but the paint was occasionally replenished and reworked.
KJ2031L had seen more than most in this town. A civil revolution in the early 80s, a brutal crackdown in the late 80s, several economic collapses through the 90s and in 2008, a global pandemic in 2020, and countless storms along the way. On the 18th November 2024, it witnessed a deadly car accident.
Jessica was on her way home from the hospital. Her shift had ended later than expected as an emergency required additional manpower. She was physically and emotionally drained. She cracked open the window, the chilly Autumn air blew in. Her eyes were drooping and she struggled to concentrate.
Katie was on her way home from the office. Unappreciated and unrewarded, berated and embarrassed daily by her superior, she had made her mind up. Her month's notice, written a year ago was already in the glove box of her 2019 Mini Cooper, would be delivered tomorrow to HR.
Jessica glanced down and turned up the radio. "Hey Google, play my EDM playlist," she said. Perhaps the fatigue called for some more upbeat music. Not before long, progressive house was blaring through the speakers of her 2006 Honda Civic.
Katie recalled her heated conversation with her manager. She knew she wasn't going to get a raise anytime soon after what she had said. "Corporate Restructuring, that's just codeword for 'we're going to try and get you to resign by putting you somewhere else.'" She quickly glanced back at the backseat, her boxes had fallen from the seat onto the floor. The blade of her silver pocketknife reflected the warm glow from the street lights.
Jessica was physically still driving the car, but she wasn't controlling it. Her hands gripped the contours of the artificial leather on the steering wheel, her eyes drifted in and out of consciousness.
In the corner of her eye, Katie spotted a dog running towards the road.
In the corner of her eye, Jessica spotted a dog running towards the road.
Katie slammed onto the brakes and flashed her high beams towards oncoming traffic to warn them of the dog. She frantically waved her arms to further attract attention.
Jessica, blinded by the high beams, reacted and slammed on the brakes, her tyres locking up as the brakes fail to slow the car down enough.
Silence. A close call.
Katie catches her breath, takes her foot off the brake.
Jessica, now fully awake, reaches for her phone in the cup holder. As she grabs her phone to stop the music, she hears a massive crash, her body snapped back into her seat as her car is hit hard on the driver's side.
The high beams were now nowhere to be seen, in its place, a black pickup Ford pickup truck, with the front assembly crumpled like a can of soda, ready to be discarded. Somewhere in the middle of the mess, a trashed Mini Cooper, and a life on the verge of being lost. Darkness fell on the road directly in front of KJ2031L.
Bryan was the first person to ever read out this combination of numbers. According to the police reports.
Or rather, Bryan shouted it out.
In the background, coolant flowed down the tarmac, hydraulic fluid spewed from the wrecked Mini Cooper as Jessica, dazed but alert, rushed over to the green Mini Cooper. Inside, lay a conscious but distressed Katie, blood dripping down onto her white button-up blouse. She was screaming incoherently for help.
Jessica navigated the wreckage, forcing open one of the destroyed doors.
"I can't feel anything!"
"Calm down, help is on the way!"
"Hi, there's been a car accident, 3 injured, 1 serious. We think she maybe paralysed?"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEghlOnop81
"Please help me!!!! Please help!!! HELP!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11dMyWHzuY
"You need to calm down."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeeYxaA7Vi
"I CAN'T MOVE ANYTHING I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4m8gVKKSZP
"Fuck! I don't know, the paint from the first part is smudged. It's down highway 20!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJgqFpfgMA
"I can't move, I'm stuck!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh76DyTpD0K
"Ok I'm going to need you to calm down."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DZAQuQ3Oi
"Send help!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3oCa7XX1e
"I don't want to die!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnm1kOqO1wW
"Thirty-one L, three one lima!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2Uc8VJk17
"Can you feel or move your legs?"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkdSfe6FsU
"I can't feel anything!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGF0Kr68XtP
"Hey!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4kdkhiA9J
"HEY!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfiTwkRJX2
"Yes, yes, please, come quick."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20fx5yhb1P
"Hello?"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBT5VA2UrZ
”I called, they're sending an ambulance."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGuN5TBX1f
"Check my car, there should be a first aid kit in there, I need to stop the bleeding."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEZGrssLDZ
"I can't move my arms!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWp40Suy2sA
"It's in the trunk!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcNrffjyKY
"YES! THAT ONE."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyCfkEsfqG
"This?!"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTddXWtNjrG
"YES! She's losing blood."
Katie suddenly went quiet. She was still conscious as Jessica attempted to stop the bleeding from her forehead. While holding gauze with her right hand, she lightly tapped Katie's inner thigh.
"Can you feel anything?"
"No..." Katie's voice trembled in fear. Tears trickled down her face. She had lost the energy to panic.
Jessica poked the bottom of Katie's rib cage.
"Anything?"
"No."
Jessica sighed. She knew that Katie was facing a life sentence. She turned to Bryan.
"Did they say how long?"
"No. But they're on the way."
On this stretch of road, there was no one but three troubled souls. The smell of hydraulic fluid and smoke filled the air.
A Letter
Jessica arrives on crutches to record her statement, on her right ankle was in a protective boot. She gives an account of what happened at the police station, and leaves. The officer gave her a letter, addressed from the university hospital just out of town.
It was determined that Bryan couldn't have done anything. His car couldn't have stopped. Katie's rear lights had malfunctioned for a month already but she had neglected to fix them. He couldn't have seen anything until it was too late. KJ2031L was the only light source in the area but it was deemed "not sufficiently bright during the night".
Jessica stepped out into the waiting area. relatively content with the decision. After all, there's not much that anyone could've done. The scent of instant coffee wafted through the air conditioning vents as the ringing of phones drowned out the voices in Jessica's head.
Room 15, Bed 3
Jessica opened the curtains. There was no one on the plastic waterproof sheet lined bed. Katie was supposed to be here. A handwritten sign stuck onto the wall just above the bed read:
Katie C.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjP9Ozgr1jd
DOB: 03-Aug-199917Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUixHF8Ashq
T2 SCI, Compound Fracture Both Legs17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzX0OFkKfwZ
Foley Cath, No Bowel17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMsEWcXPR5
Food OK17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFnRKKfNg7
Right Eye Vision OK
Some paperwork was left on visitor's chair, it looked like insurance documents. She moved the paperwork onto the bedside table and sat down. The smell of detergent and bleach filled the stiff air. She sat down and looked to the opposite of the room. A young girl, no older than 20, was lying on the bed alone, eating lunch. The other 4 beds in the room were empty.
Jessica's eyes started to close as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Right as she fell asleep, the familiar sound (to her) of a wheelchair brake being engaged woke her up.
Sat in front of her was Katie, and her mother. A rigid plastic brace immobilised her head and neck, extending down over her chest. Her previously long dark brown luscious locks were cut short, and a short but deep scar ran along her forehead just above her right eye.
Her hands rested on the armrest of the wheelchair, her fingers curled up, seemingly uncontrollably. A thick plastic tube extended from her blue hospital gown onto the bottom of the wheelchair. Both her legs contained scars from the multiple surgeries.
Jessica knew Katie's fate. 2 fractured legs, a cut just above her right eye, 3 broken ribs and worst of all, a spinal cord injury. She had no feeling below her chest.
The letter she received addressed to her, wasn't written by Katie herself, but by her mother, asking that she visit her in hospital - after all, she was the one who saved her. She initially did not want to go, but exactly one month later, here she was.
"Your ankle healed... Nice..." Katie said in a feeble voice.
"Yeah... It wasn't fractured that badly," replied Jessica.
"And to think you came running towards me with a broken ankle," Katie lifted her arms up and tried to adjust her body in the wheelchair. But her body was uncooperative. She slumped further forwards. Her mother held her by the armpits, and hoisted her back up the chair.
"I think it's probably better if you get back into bed," her mother said.
"Yes please."
Katie reached from under the seat of the wheelchair and grabbed the plastic tubing, attached to it was a large bag filled with urine. She held onto the bag tightly. Her mother grabbed her from behind her knees and her lower back, and lifted her up. Katie was completely limp.
The swishing noises of the gown rubbing onto the plastic backing of the mattress pained Jessica's ears and soul.
"I'll go get some water for you sweetie," her mom said in a stuttering voice, tinged with grief. She left the room to find a nurse.
A life lost, a life ruined forever.
All because of a small mistake, a misunderstanding of sorts.
"I guess I'll come visit more often," Jessica said sheepishly.
"Yes... please, I'd love some company, it does get a bit lonely in here" said Katie, while she struggled to hook the catheter bag to the railing of the bed.
Jessica took the bag from Katie, and hung it on the side of the bed, just below the mattress.
"Never put your collection bag at a level above your bladder, it can be dangerous if the contents flow back into the bladder. You can get a kidney infection."
"Thanks nurse. I'll be fine. Feel free to visit, you made my day today." gleamed Katie.
Jessica showed a wry smile, held Katie's malfunctioning and deformed hand for a few seconds, turned around and left the room.
She didn't even know if Katie could feel the touch of her hand.
EAT ME
2 days after her first meeting with Katie, Jessica drove back to KJ2031L. Not used to driving a manual, she forgot to depress the clutch before stopping. Her car sputtered to a halt, the engine warning light and buzzer of the car mockingly beeped. She restarted the car, right in front of lamppost KJ2031L.
Where the stenciled white paint used to be, a tear-off flyer was stuck on with some duct tape. The first three digits of the stenciled paint were smudged by a hand print. Perhaps by the person who was distributing this flyer. There was only one tear-off left. The white flyer read, in black text:
Need a reset?17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xkenjVXkZ
Not feeling your best?17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQv7CKoCj3s
Tear a piece off,17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9P5gZbiUvG
and we'll do the rest.
The tear-off part had only two words: "EAT ME", while the top of the piece of paper contained a picture of a squirrel.
Memories came flying back into Jessica's head. The squeal of the brakes. The bang of the first impact and the glass smashing during the second. Katie's screams of panic, Bryan's yells of desperation.
She tore off the last tear-off, and ate it.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
