What if I had...

...... died at 8.53pm?


I'm a cautious pedestrian, and even more so after obtaining my license. But being cautious isn't enough when you have motorcyclists and taxi drivers who ignore red lights and the green man sign. At 8.53pm, I stepped onto the road when the green man lit up, and after I checked that the traffic on the lane closest to me had stopped; I had a motorcycle zoom past me just couple months back when I was preparing to cross at the green man. Upon approaching the centre divider, I noticed a taxi speeding down the road, towards the crossing, and this nagging feeling in me told me to slow down and wait for the taxi to stop before I continue walking. And I was right; the taxi had apparently forgot about the traffic lights and had to brake abruptly, stopping halfway across the pedestrian crossing, and 1 metre away from me. 2 seconds faster in my stride and I'll be at NUH now.



And all the way home, I was pondering over the most obscene thought: What if I had died, there and then, and left this world I haven't got time to say goodbye to?

What if I had died on the spot, and never got to spend this Christmas with my loved ones?

And never got to visit Granddad?

...

And never got to grow old with you?



And I took out my lucky stars and counted them all over again.