text: The smell hit first, even before my mind’s eye could grasp that I was, in fact waking up from something...when had I fallen asleep? I don't remember feeling at all tired.... in fact, I had been enjoying bouncing around on the back seat. Urg..that smell, acrid, overpowering. It’s tickling the back of my throat. I want to cough but my throat is just too dry. What happened? I remember being on the back seat. Window down. Enjoying the sun. Mum playing that noise she calls music, loudly, it hurt my ears. I remember her singing too, also loudly, and badly! Mum could not sing, even I knew that, but I didn’t complain. There had been a different smell in the car then as well, but not as strong. Something unusual, sweet yet chemical... Mum sometimes had that smell when she came home from work, or shopping, or, actually, anytime she left the house and came back. But this smell, bugging me now, this is different. This is strong. This is the smell of the stuff mum puts in the car. What is it doing outside of the car? I'm pretty sure my eyes are open now, yet it is really dark, and something is pricking in my eyes. Blinking makes it worse. I can feel tears welling every time I blink. My back hurts and I can’t feel one of my feet. It's not responding as it should. I think its wedged or weighted down. I can’t seem to move. I think at some point; up was down and down was up? I feel sick. I cry out “Mum?” “Mum?” Nothing. “Help Me!” “Help!” “Mum!” . Nothing. Mum doesn’t respond. Usually, Mum would say something, anything, even yell at me for being too loud sometimes, but not now. Mum is silent. I can't hear her moving. I can’t even hear her breathing. Usually, when she’s asleep, she breathes very noisily. Not me, I’m a light sleeper. Anything wakes me. Any sound. It's like my superpower! Sometimes I jerk myself awake with my dreams. This doesn’t feel like a dream though. That smell is getting worse. What’s that noise? is that new or was that there before? It’s a drip drip drip sound. Its near my head, somewhere but where? Drip... drip... that’s really annoying. And it's making the smell stronger. “Mum!” “Muummmm!” I don’t like this game! “Mum answer me!” I can hear a stranger’s voice. Its far away but it’s coming closer. It’s a man’s voice and he’s yelling something, but he’s not yelling at me, that’s good. Should I call out? What if he’s a bad man? Mum’s always warning me to stay away from bad men, actually, all men generally. He’s coming closer, and there’s yes, there is another voice, a woman’s voice, not like Mum’s voice. Mum’s voice is quite deep and scratchy, and she mumbled a lot. She used to confuse me as I would think that she was talking to me, when in fact, she was talking to herself. This new voice, this is high pitched and screechy. Oh I don’t like this woman’s voice, she sounds frightened. She needs to stop being so loud. She’s starting to hurt my ears! Why can’t I move!! If I stretch my head back and look over my shoulder, yes, that’s it, yes, I can see one of Mum’s feet! She’s above me, or I’m under her? I'm under her chair! Yes, that’s it, I'm wedged under her chair! They’re banging on the car now! What are they doing? They’re going to break the windows if they’re not careful! “Mum” “Mum” “Wake up!” “There are strange people at our car!” “Mum!” “Mum, I can’t help you, I’m stuck!” Oh my god, the man is in the car now! “Leave my Mum alone!” Leave her alone!!” He’s, He’s dragging her! I can see her feet disappearing out the car! “Mum!” Where is he taking her? How dare he touch her! If I could, just get.. ‘Sshh’ “There's a good girl” it’s the screechy woman, I can’t see her, but I can smell her perfume. She’s on Mum’s chair, I can feel the seat hitting the side of my face . “It's ok, we are going to help your Mum, then we are going to help you” “Sshh, calm down now”. “Why don’t you calm down! And get off my face!” I'm trying to move. I'm using all my strength to try to move, but it is as if my body is not fully attached and working, and I now cannot feel my foot at all. I'm trying to manoeuvre my chin around so I can see out of Mum’s open door. I can just see her shoe with her foot in it, on the grass just outside the car. What is he doing to her! He’s hurting her! “Mum!” I can hear a new noise. Sirens and they’re getting close. That’s good, help is coming! I like watching the vehicles whizz by with their sirens blaring and their flashing lights. Whenever Mum and I went for a walk around our neighborhood, we would always stop and watch the police car or ambulance go flying by, blue lights flashing off all the shop windows. The fire trucks were my favorite though, big, loud and fast, racing off to save the day. I always felt very excited, but Mum was never keen to follow after them. She always seemed a bit sad, our walks always a bit rushed, that was probably why she was always very thirsty when we got back to the house. I hear the tyres on the ground next to the car. Two doors open and close at almost the same time. More voices now, another man and woman. They sound calm and commanding. “What do we have?” “Female, non-responsive, not breathing, CPR for about 7 minutes” “Okay, we’ll take it from here, is she the sole occupant?” The screechy woman joins in here, “no, we have this sweet girl back here, but she’s ended up jammed in tight under the front driver’s seat. She’s been crying a lot so she’s breathing but likely in a lot of pain”. “We’ll need the fire crews to cut her out, the roof and door are completely crushed around her, shall I make the call?” “Mum I’m Scared” “Don’t let them take me!” “Please Mum” “Nah, not worth their time. We’ll get her put out of her misery. Give the local vet a call”.