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'A little girl was lying on the ground,' then tears

By Audrey Marie Westcott
Published March 2, 2005

Editor's note: Fourteen-year-old Audrey Marie Westcott, a seventh-grade student in the journalism program at John Hopkins Middle School, was aboard Bus No. 279 the day that 8-year-old Brooke Ashlee Ingoldsby was killed crossing the street. Some students on her bus - which was not Brooke's bus - witnessed the accident. Here is an account she wrote for her class.

Sometimes I get these weird feelings that something bad is going to happen, and I got one that morning.

The day at school went by like a snail. Finally, it was over, and on the school bus on the way home my music played in my ears. My mind was out to lunch. But as we got close to my bus stop, my feelings that something was wrong got stronger.

Then I heard someone yell. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that my bus driver was crying and trying to call someone on her cell phone. I was getting my things together, and I really didn't bother looking up to see what had happened.

The kids on my bus were running to the left side of the bus. I looked up very fast. A little girl was lying on the ground, half on the curb and half on the street. I also saw a lady saying, "Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh." I think a couple of people went over to the little girl and were trying to help her out.

My face was at the bus window and I started to back up. I quickly grabbed my things, but my driver would not open the doors so I pried the doors open and ran home crying.

When I got to the front porch, I ran inside the house out of breath. I tried to talk to my family, but the words wouldn't come out.

I sank into the couch on the front porch and tried to stop my tears. I told my family what I had seen, and the rest of that day my mind would not stop thinking about that girl.

Around 8 p.m. a family friend called and said that little girl had died in the hospital. That's really all that happened. It was so sad.

[Last modified March 2, 2005, 00:46:17]