A Story Told In Four Perspectives:
Thomas
Today's our first ever trip to the Great Ocean Road. We had to get up early. We were traveling on a freeway when I asked: “How close are we to the Great Ocean Road?”
Dad, who was on the steering wheel, was quick to reply. As if almost forgetting the road was even there, he turned around. Dad's dark brown hair was shining in the sun.
“We've got a couple of more hours to-”, suddenly he stopped. There was a loud crunching noise. Way before dad could even turn his head, he pressed on the brakes and turned on the hazard lights. Dad had always had good reflexes. One day mum had told me that when I was a baby, one of my aunties accidentally dropped. She said that dad, who was nearby caught me in without a second thought. Those reflexes didn't help today though. Mum suddenly screamed. An unconscious body was flung onto the windscreen.
Damien
Police sirens were wailing. I couldn't believe I turned around from the road. The person was not dead, only unconscious. The driver of the car that the now unconscious person jumped out of told the police that the person was talking about committing suicide all day. The unconscious person was being driven to a mentally disabled home when she jumped out of the car and started to walk on the road. That was when we hit her. After a lot of investigating, the policeman at the scene said that we were free to leave because there was not much evidence against us and the lady was trying to commit suicide anyway. I opened the door of the car and sat down relieved. We had escaped with only a cracked windscreen. I recounted the decision to my wife as I waited for the road to open again.
Mandy
I was still remembering the collision with that crazy lady as we were driving to our destination. We're running a bit later than planned, but we're going to get there anyway. Damian is concentrating on the road a lot more than usual. We were only an hour's drive away from the start of the Great Ocean Road. Thomas is also being quiet; probably to make sure no more mishaps happen. Suddenly there was a crash. I quickly turned around to see a car crashing into ours. Damien suddenly put on the brakes. I was jerked from my seat into the dashboard. Suddenly all went black…
Damien
Our car went sliding through the road, breaking through the barrier and stopping on the cliff.
I saw a glimpse of the car that crashed into us falling down off the cliff when suddenly the air-bags turned on. I turned around to see Mandy unconscious on the passenger seat, her brown hair messed up all over her face. There was a loud crumbling, as if the cliff itself was giving away. I quickly told Thomas, who was not unconscious, to come into the front. I quickly opened the door with no time to loose to let my son out. Now the problem was to get Mandy out. I quickly got out of the car and ran around to Mandy's door. The car was moving off the cliff ever so slowly. I quickly opened the door and grabbed hold of her arm. Just when she was about to be pulled out, there was a loud creak and the car fell. I was holding onto Mandy who was dangling dangerously over the edge. Thomas ran to help me pull Mandy up. I was not going to let her die. She suddenly woke up from her unconsciousness. She looked down and screamed. With Mandy awake it was easier to lift her up. Finally, we lifted her up it was a close call.
Phone operator at Victorian Taxi Association
Another day, another thousand calls. But this call took my fancy. The guy who was on the line sounded desperate for a taxi.
“Hi, you have called the Victorian Taxi Association, what service do you require?” I said as usual.
“Taxi, and quick!” the guy on the other side said.
“Yes sir, one will be coming straight away.”
I turned the phone onto intercom. I told Bob that a family were waiting for a taxi. I checked the computer and saw that the call from the family came from the entrance to the Great Ocean Road. I also told Bob the locations of the family. After a couple of minutes I saw Bob passing by in the taxi uniform. I saw a shiny object jerking out of his pocket.
“What's that?” I asked, pointing at the object.
“Oh, nothing,” he mumbled as he stuffed the object in his pocket and walked out of the building.
What if that was a weapon? I thought, but I dismissed the notion as immediately as it came.
Thomas
We waited for the taxi driver to come. After a while we saw him coming from the distance. We hopped in and told him the destinations for home. We had no intentions of going to see the Great Ocean Road, not after what we had been through. But instead of the driver turning around to the direction of home, he kept on driving into the Great Ocean Road.
“Er…your going the wrong way” pointed out dad who was in the passenger seat.
“Don't tell me what to do ya' stooge!” shouted the taxi driver insanely.
“We don't want to see the Great Ocean Road; we want to go home”, mum stopped short when suddenly the driver pulled out a revolver from his pocket and held my dad at gunpoint, all while driving.
“Shut up or I kill him” he ordered.
I could not bear to see dad die. As my mum watched in shock, I sneakily took off my seatbelt and crawled over to behind the insane driver. I suddenly pounced, grabbing the gun off the driver. Suddenly the gun accidentally went off. The driver's head was on the steering feel in a pool of blood. Oh God! I killed the man I thought. The car was skidding and sliding across the street. Before we could do anything the car had flung off the cliff to our deaths…
