Hello dA.

As most are aware there are fractals everywhere around us in the world. They pop up everywhere when you look for them. Sometimes, even when you don't want to see them, you don't even need to look, they are just there.

Monday morning, my daughter and I set out to her school bus stop just as we do every school morning. We were right on time and watched while a bus for another school stopped to pick up the little boy from across the street. The bus pulled away and headed off down the road, just like it always does. My daughter and I stopped and waited to cross the road, just like we always do and that is when we heard the sickening thud.

If you have never heard the sound I am talking about, you might be surprised to learn that heavy metal objects colliding do not crash and grind as you would expect. It is closer to a liquid popping crunch sound. It is a sound you will never forget once you hear it.

A block away, the school bus we had just watched pick up the little boy across the street had collided head on with an SUV.

The next few moments were a blur. My daughter ran back home to get my cell phone (I have never left home without it, not even for a short walk like this, but that day I did). I called my fiancée to come and wait at the bus stop with my daughter and then I ran. At some point during the short run, I remember all feeling just turning off. I went into a state of numb reaction. My first concern was the children on the bus.

I vaguely remember asking the bus driver as he stepped shakily off the bus if anyone was hurt. I checked anyway and got a chorus of quietly whispered "no" from the children on the bus, then I turned my attention to the SUV.

A woman in hospital scrubs was already by the drivers window and she called to me that 911 had already been called but she could use some help. I don't remember the next few minutes very clearly. I remember the blood and asking the driver of the SUV her name, and if she could tell me where she was feeling pain. I remember when it became evident that she had broken her leg, and her nose and that something was impaling her left foot and pinning it to the floor.

The next clear memory I have is of asking the driver to please try to hold as still as possible while checking for any injuries caused by the steering wheel that was now mangled and folded up against the steering column under the fractured and mangled dashboard.

Other bits and pieces of clear memory are burned into my mind now as well. Thinking how odd it was that the children on the bus were so quiet. Wondering where the front wheels of the SUV had gone because they were clearly not visible only to realize they were under the bus. How eerily quiet the children, still on the bus, were being. The realization that the window I was leaning through to hold the drivers hand and talk to her to keep her conscious had not been opened but had broken. I remember looking over my shoulder to see my old elementary school principal he was asking me how the driver was doing.

And I remember the fractals.

The fractals in the pattern of the smashed windshield. The fractal formation of the folded metal that was once an engine hood right beside me. Even how the blood on the drivers forehead that I was so relieved when I had managed to get it stopped had dried in an unmistakable pattern of fractal trees.

It wasn't until later I realized I had spent almost half an hour hanging through the window of the SUV while emergency crews worked to extract the driver. I didn't notice that I had cut myself a few times on the broken glass, but I remember the fractals.

Fortunately, none of the children were hurt, and I found out this morning that the driver of the SUV will make a full recovery. She was under treatment for cancer and had an unexpected reaction to the medication causing her to black out and not turn the corner putting her directly in front of the oncoming bus.

The children on the bus are receiving counselling. As it turns out the collision took place in the driveway of my former elementary school principal who is now the principal of the school the children on the bus attend. He is very good and had trauma counsellors waiting at the school before the children had even been checked over by the EMTs.

My daughter received an award at school for helpfulness in an emergency. At 8 years old she stayed calm and was already running to get my phone before I had even asked her.

I am glad I have had First-aid training my entire life, first from my parents, First-aid instructors themselves when I was too young to even realize what it was I was learning, and then later as an adult I got my certification. The training really does kick in when you need it.

All is well that ends well?

I can not get those fractals out of my mind.

I had signed up for the Round Robin 3 Treasure Hunt [link] This afternoon I sent a note withdrawing from the challenge. I keep seeing those images that are now burned in my mind in every fractal I try to do.

I will be taking a break from dA and fractals for awhile, at least until the sight of a newton formula doesn't immediately bring to mind the cracks in the mangled steering wheel and the smell of blood, steam and engine oil.

All will eventually be well, and I am glad everyone involved will be okay, I just need to take some time.

In the mean time, please, drive carefully, be aware that medication can cause unexpected reactions even if you have been taking it for years, and always, if you have one, remember your cell phone no matter how quick the trip out will be. You never know when you just might need it.