We were out on a date in my daddy's car

We hadn't driven very far

It started out like any other night.

Link and Amber had decided to go to the movies that night, to see Paul Newman (Amber's celebrity crush) in a movie called Hud. Link hadn't really wanted to go see it, but Amber had insisted, and Link had given in.

He had had to borrow his father's car, seeing as how he hadn't been able to buy a car of his own yet. His father had let him borrow the car on the condition that Link would take very good care of it. Link had agreed hurriedly and snatched the keys to his father's new car from his father's hand.

"Have a good time, son," his father had yelled as Link had rushed out the door.

He had picked up Amber, who looked beautiful (as always). The rain started falling as soon as they had left Amber's house.

When out in the road, straight ahead,

A car was stalled, the engine was dead

I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right

I'll never forget the sound that night

The screaming tires, the busting glass

The painful scram that I heard last

Link would have ordinarily driven slowly, under the conditions, but, because Amber was with him, he decided to go faster. For some reason, Link had found that Amber was always most impressed with him when he was acting like a daredevil.

Link had gotten up to the speed of about seventy miles an hour when he saw a dark hulk sitting out in the middle of the road. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see what the hulk was. He eventually saw that it was a large van, sitting out in the middle of the road. Panicking, Link did the first thing that leapt to his mind. He slammed on the brakes. The car immediately started skidding, completely out of control. Panicking, Link tried everything he could think of to do to stop the car, only making matters worse with every effort to make them better. Link looked over at Amber for a split second. She was frozen in her seat with terror.

It was exactly at the moment that he looked over at Amber that the car skidded. Unfortunately, the area at which the car went off the road was not flat. Rather, it was a steep drop-off, heading down onto a large incline. The car flew off the drop-off and hit the incline.

All Link could see as the car flipped over and over again down the incline was swirling darkness around him and the headlights still beaming. It was really the sounds that informed him of what was going on, the metal-crunching crashes, the busting glass, and the blood-curdling scream he heard, which was cut off when the car finally stopped, resting on its top.

It was at that moment that Link passed out.

When I woke up, the rain was pouring down

There were people standing all around

Something warm was running in my eyes

But I found my baby somehow that night

Link didn't know how long he had been out of it when he woke up. He shook his head, trying to shake the cobwebs from his head. It was then that he realized that he was outside the car, lying on a stretcher. He moved his head so he could see behind him, and he saw a police car with the lights on behind him, along with a crowd of people.

The police officer emerged from the crowd and walked toward Link. "You awake, son? Good. We were wondering when you were gonna wake up."

Link, still disoriented, said, "Where am I?"

"You're on Clearwater road. Your car's in the drainage ditch down there. You know, you're lucky to be alive."

Link, suddenly remembering what had happened, sat up quickly and blurted, "Where's Amber?"

The police officer's face suddenly turned ashen. "She's over there, in the ambulance," the officer replied, beckoning in the direction of the crowd.

"Is she all right?" Link asked.

The police officer shook his head. "It doesn't look good, son," he replied.

I raised her head and then she smiled and said

Hold me, darlin', for a little while

I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss

I found the love that I knew I would miss

Now she's gone, even though I hold her tight

I lost my love, my life, that night

Link rushed to the ambulance, burst into it and found Amber, lying on a stretcher. She smiled weakly at him. Her hair and dress were completely matted in blood.

"How much longer does she have?" Link asked the nurse.

"Not much longer," the nurse replied.

Link stood next to Amber. "Hi, baby," he whispered.

"Hi," Amber replied. She smiled and said, "I guess we're not going to the movies, huh?"

Link shook his head, smiling.

Amber's face suddenly shadowed, and she said, "I know I don't have much longer, Link. I just want you to know that I'll miss you."

Link, tears forming in his eyes, leaned down and kissed Amber. He kissed her in the way that he had always wanted to do, but had always been afraid to. When he unlocked his lips from hers, he whispered, "I love you, Amber."

"I love you, too, Link," Amber replied. It was right after that that the heart rate machine stopped beating rapidly and just let out the final, long beep, and the line went flat.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said. "I truly am."

Link nodded slowly. "There's only one thing to do now. I've got to keep breathing, keep living. I've got to try my hardest to do all I can well, and then maybe, someday, I'll be able to see her again."

With that, Link walked out of the ambulance and into the streaming rain.

Oh, where, oh where can my baby be?

The Lord took her away from me

She's gone to heaven, so I've got to be good

So I can see my baby when I leave this world…