每天读一篇英语小故事：The Dead Pedestrian

英语自学网

　　She was 31 years old, a seamstress and the mother of two children. Her
husband is a mechanic. On a sunny morning, Vicky was walking to work. While in
the crosswalk at Wilshire and Hamilton near Koreatown, Vicky was run over by a
yellow school bus. An eyewitness said that the driver was laughing and talking
on his cell phone. The bus was empty. Instead of stopping, the driver continued
driving as if nothing had happened.
        　　“How could he just drive away?” said the witness. “I ran over there to help
the woman. She was quiet and still. There was a little blood under her nose. I
thought she was just unconscious. The paramedics arrived; they tried to revive
her, but then they just covered her body with a sheet. One of them said that she
probably died instantly.”
        　　Police had to notify Vicky’s husband. He and Vicky had been in love since
they were 16. His parents are dead; Vicky’s parents live in her home country. He
is now without his wife and his best friend. Their tenth anniversary was only a
week away. Their plans for a house and a future were now finished. After dealing
with his own grief, he had to somehow present the terrible news to their two
children.
        　　The police found the bus parked a few blocks from the accident scene. The
driver was gone. He had been transporting people to the annual Earth Day
festival in Koreatown. About 30,000 people usually attend this event. A police
spokesman said that the driver would be charged with murder. “If we could charge
him with ‘destroying a happy family,’ we’d do that, too,” the spokesman
said.