Happy Birthday

They had survived.

The car rolled three times,

or maybe it was four,

and landed upright

as a mangled pile of metallic blue,

like a wad of paper sailing to a wastebasket.

The cracked radiator hissed quietly.

They were fragile.

They had been heading to a birthday party,

for a little blonde haired girl.

She was turning three,

and excited for them to arrive.

They were there.

The rescue squads only took

maybe, 10 minutes

Though, it could have been

10 hours, or 10 days.

All felt valid.

The back seat door,

where they had been,
was being opened by men with gloves.

As the door swung open,

three balloons floated out.