We drank a little, we drank a lot
Daddy told me not to, but I forgot
"I've never drank before," I said.
I tried not to let them get in my head.
I finally gave in, and took the beer;
Daddy's warnings, I did not hear.
After a while, and too much to drink,
I found it difficult to even think.

"I'll give you a ride," I heard him say.
"Don't go," they pleaded, "please stay."
I ignored my friends, and got in the car;
He seemed okay, and I didn't live that far.
We got to my house, and I went inside;
Not knowing how lucky I was, just to be alive.
I went to bed not feeling too well,
And got up in the morning, how awful I felt.

I walked downstairs to see my parents sad faces,
Sitting alongside a couple of strangers.
"What's Wrong?" I asked as the strangers started to cry.
"I'm sorry I drank, Daddy. I'm sorry I lied."
"What happened?" I asked, my voice barely a squeak.
Daddy took a deep breath, and started to speak.
"These are Matt's parents, the boy how gave you a ride.
You may not have known, he was too drunk to drive.

After he left, he got in a wreck.
He hit another car, and broke his neck."
"Is he alright?" I asked. I started to feel sick.
"No, I'm sorry honey. He didn't make it."
"And the people in the other car?" I asked.
"They didn't make it either, he was going too fast."
I could have been with him, it could have been me.
I should have listened to Daddy, and not taken a drink.

If he hadn't given me a ride.
If I'd taken longer to say good-bye.
Maybe all their lives would have been spared.
To those other people, it just isn't fair.
So I was wrong, and Daddy was right.
But Daddy's warnings didn't reach me that night.

BriAnna Lynne Shannon