somehow they got home: a suburban fairy tale [v2]

Some left the house early, only to get sidetracked and then, once back en route, come across a spectacular accident scene. As two police cruisers blocked one side of the busy intersection, a car was being towed away, its front end crumpled, among glass and debris strewn along at least the next fifty feet of road. Another tow truck waited, but no other car could be seen.
To the left, a large wooden three-posted land development billboard on the corner stood half-demolished -- tire tracks in the grass led from the intersection, past a flock of election signs and one large rock, and through the billboard itself. The other car was at least a hundred feet into the grassy field beyond.
A fire crew was finishing laying down the powder used to soak up anything that leaked from cars onto the pavement. Near the bus stop, next to the ambulance, a small group had gathered. Friends they'd left behind at the house.