I have this expression when (almost) accidents happen--when I trip over, almost got hit by a car, or skip a step. It was Muntikan na 'kong/tayong/silang mamatay! and then it morphed into I almost died/I could've died!
Obviously, it's a form of exaggeration. Cham would say it for me when I forget. But I never got to fully appreciate what it meant until two near-death experiences.
First was when I was walking along Grove, the street right in front of our university gate, at around 2 pm. It was the field trip season so numerous schools visited our campus. (In high school, we unbelievably had our trip to the Museum of Natural History. Seriously, the Botanical Garden was so close then.)
And so there I was, walking dreamily when this imported huge Korean bus went straight through an electric wire and cut it in half. I saw it break before my eyes and I heard it crackle. A few seconds later and there was the wire, fiery and sparkly in front of me. It stopped sparkling in a few.
If I had walked three more steps, I could've been hit by the wire and ended up electrocuted. I'm not sure if I could've died--if the amount of electricity generated then was enough to stop my heart--but the mere sound of electrocuted chilled my bones. A few seconds were all it takes.
The bus stopped and then went on as if nothing happened. What a prick and lucky driver.
The second instance happened yesterday. Now, I know how to cross roads: I just so often forget to look right or left and end up almost always hit by cars, trucks, buses, whatever. But yesterday, yesterday was different.
I went out of the house feeling frustrated because Mom kept telling me not to buy an umbrella (my brother had mine) because it would be expensive, blah. I had not a second of sleep, it was seven in the morning, and my head was practically floating, my mind still bent on frustration and hormonal madness, and my eyebrows met. I knew it because this time I felt my eyebrows meet. (Ash said she'd know if something was bothering me because of my eyebrows. I wasn't aware I was making The Face).
To the right I saw a woman hold a baby, what a cute baby, and then I crossed the road. For my last step I felt a gust of wind pass by my right leg. A jeep suddenly appeared beside me and there were passengers obnoxiously looking at me. My brain registered what just happened a little too late. I almost got hit, sugar honey iced tea!
The jeep remained unmoving as if the driver wanted to scold me. Thank God our driver seat are on the left side. I didn't even see his face but his passenger said, 'Miss, muntikan ka na!' and I acted as if they weren't there, as if I was still lost in thought as I was a few seconds ago when I crossed a one-way road haphazardly.
I fudging felt it. If I were a step behind I would've ended up lying down on the ground, blood and all. The jeep was fast, I felt by the wind, by the effort of the driver to stop five seconds than usual if he just ignored it. We both must've felt it. And I did see myself on the ground if I had been a step behind. That was not my ideal death. My ideal death would be a gunshot through my brain.
On the way to school, I realized we all could've been dead one way or another. We could've been on the airplane that crashed, the building that was bombed, or the locked house flooded to the roof. Every second of our lives we could've died.
I've nothing left to say than to thank God for His countless chances and saving grace.
