Every 15 Minutes

The cracked shards crunched beneath my feet, the blood dripped from my hair onto my awestruck face. This is all seemed so real, so completely real. I walked around the cars, examining the wreckage, my sight vibrating from the pure adrenaline rush. Here it was, Every 15 Minutes, and I was the drunk driver. Beer cans scattered around the pavement; every step I took felt like an eternity, a lurch through some kind of dark matter. I kept thinking “this didn’t actually happen, this didn’t actually happen,” but, the experience was all too real. I had killed someone. Metaphorically, of course, she’s fine. I took a seat in my car, and mixed the soon-to-be puke, a concoction of granola bar and water in my mouth.
The waiting began. Five minutes, ten, twenty, I lost track. The crowd began to multiply, my friends, my colleagues, my best friend, my boyfriend, and my mom. They were all there, watching this crash unfold. They had the look of utter desperation on their faces. The act began.
It all came down to a crashing halt. I kept a straight face as everything: my life, my own sanity unraveled before me. I had killed someone all because of alcohol. I’ve taken a vow never to drink and drive. I’ve also taken a vow to never again put myself through the pure emotional horror that is Every 15 Minutes.
My life, for 2 days, completely ended. I was marched through the prison in shackles, I was laughed at, and I was mocked. (PAUSE) I was hated. All because I’m an actor, I never was drunk, I never did kill someone, this never actually happened. It was all an act, an act to teach people the horrors of drinking and driving - and the consequences thereof. I still get the shakes from thinking about it. Thinking about how real everything was, the pain, the suffering, the tears, the fear. I’ll never forget how Every 15 Minutes changed me, and how it made my life just a little bit different - by that I mean, it gave me a new outlook, to really appreciate the here and now, rather than fret