Young Nikolas was still tired. He was up late the night before, intently researching the the ancient mythologies of the Greek, Roman, and Norse cultures for work. He was hoping to start drafting up the story line to his companies next strategy game today. Furthermore, in his research, he had stumbled upon an article by someone, that he swore on the grave of the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte, was someone he knew. He was not entirely sure why the name Dr. Gregory Blinkenlichter sounded familiar, but deep inside, he felt he knew this man. Unfortunately, he was unable to determine from his disjointed memory where he knew the doctor from. With all of this on his mind, his ability to safely navigate from home to work was compromised. And due to his relaxed state of mind, he did not notice the metallic silver sedan slowing down in front of him and signaling to take a left-hand turn. He also was not aware that Blinkenlichter lived in the area, nor that he had just returned home from a mysterious trip Luxemberg, and was now returning home from the airport, or for that matter, was in the car waiting to turn in front of him.
It was probably fate that ensured the two would meet. However, it's hard to say whether fate intended the two to meet under such circumstances. The sun was slowly rising from its nightly slumber, but dawn had not yet cut through the twilight to ignite the morning sky, and brake lights gently warmed the darkness in front of Nikolas. Unfortunately, Nikolas' mind was focused elsewhere until it was too late.
Screech. Crash. The rear end of Dr Blinkenlichter's car was pounded with great, loud thud. Moments earlier, Nikolas' conscience snapped back to reality, but unfortunately, with only a hair of a second to react to the sudden realization that a car was stopped in front of him. At the moment of impact, Nikolas' body jolted forward, while his car just stopped. In that same moment that Nikolas noticed the stopped car, the doctor glanced in his rear view mirror, and noticed the car behind him showing no signs of slowing down. He braced for impact, and let the impact come.
Dr Richard Blinkenlichter was dazed, but felt okay. No cuts, no scratches. Maybe a bruise or two, but those were the least of his concerns right now. He took another quick look around him, and the inside of the car. Satisfied that nothing looked too damaged, and that he was alright, he unclipped the seatbelt, and pulled on the handle to open the door. The door refused to move. Stuck. He pulled the handle again, and gently shoved his shoulder into the door. After a couple tries, hitting the door with his shoulder, each time with a little more strength and speed behind the hit, he was finally able to get the door to creak open. The doctor sighed, and slowly got out of his car.
Nikolas sat stunned. He could not comprehend or understand what just happened, or why. He didn't feel hurt, at least, not physically. He noticed the man in the car in front of him move a little. Nikolas was fixated on the car, and the person in front of him. He was worried. This was his first car accident. Ever. He was frightened. Terrified that the man in the car in front of him would hurt him, or worse. After several moments, he saw the man get out of his car. In the early, pre-dawn light, neither of them could tell, but they were looked directly at each other, and their eyes met. The doctor started walking towards Nikolas, looking at the result of car crash. The cars themselves, surprisingly, looked to be in relatively good shape. Both cars had negligable damage. The doctor guessed the person that hit him was not going very fast. As he got closer, both Dr Blinkenlichter, and Nikolas could actually see each other. The doctor saw immense fear on a young man sitting in the car that hit him. Nikolas, on the other hand, saw a medium sized, not quite middle-aged man with a look of concern on his face.
The fear in Nikolas began to subside, and he began to recover from what had just happened. He reached over, unbuckled his seatbelt, and tried to open his door. Unfortunately, Nikolas had the same problem the Doctor had, his door was stuck. He pushed on it with his shoulder, and was able to get it to open. By this time, the doctor was standing just in front of his door.
Putting his hand on the now open car door, the doctor asked, “Are you alright?”
Nikolas looked up at the concerned man that he just rear ended. “I... I think so.” He wasn't sure what else to say. He was no longer dazed, but he was still slightly confused, and definitely worried. “I... I'm terribly sorry, I don't know where my head was.”
The doctor stepped around the door, and put his hand out, motioning for Nikolas to take his hand, so he could help him out. “It's alright. I'm not hurt, and you look alright physically. Mentally, you may need some help, but you'll be alright.” The doctor winked with a smile, and Nikolas felt a little bit better.
The doctor surveyed the area. Both vehicles looked in good shape, and it would be safest to move the cars off the road. There wasn't any traffic on this road, but the doctor felt it was best to be safe.
Nikolas sighed. The doctor walked about to his car and got in, and Nikolas did the same. The doctor finally took the left hand turn and pulled off onto the shoulder of the road; Nikolas followed.
The two talked for several minutes, exchanged insurance and contact information. They both felt fine, physically at least, but the doctor knew that injuries do not always show up immediately. After about ten minutes of chatting, they shook hands, Nikolas apologized one last time, and they parted ways. The doctor got back into his car and drove away. Nikolas returned to his car and sat for another five minutes or so, thinking about what happened. During this time, a light bulb appeared over his head, and suddenly, he was wide awake. The man he just ran into, was the man who wrote the article that inspired the entire plot line for the game he was to begin planning later today.
