S6E4- Seven Minutes

Summary

---

I Witness: Ride to Freedom

Episode S6E4 – "Seven Minutes"
Date: May 29, 2026
Host: Northwest Christian School, Red Five Media

---

Episode Overview

This emotionally charged episode of “I Witness: Ride to Freedom” immerses listeners in the aftermath of a traumatic event involving a group of young people and a violent confrontation on a bus. Set in a hospital waiting room, the main characters—Sarah, Alex, and Miles—grapple with the tension between action and restraint, the weight of survival, and the complexities of forgiveness and trauma. Through introspective dialogue, they confront what it means to carry a story honestly, explore the nature of strength, and rekindle connections fractured by misunderstanding. The audio drama’s signature style—intimate, raw, and richly sound-designed—draws listeners into the heart of its characters’ struggles.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Aftermath of an Incident: Guilt, Restraint, and Strength

• The episode opens in a hospital as Sarah, Alex, and Miles reflect on their experience during a bus attack. The narrative highlights the dissonance between outward calm and inner chaos.
• Miles and Alex focus on their perceived inaction during the event, wondering if staying seated was enough, and questioning if there was more they could have done.
• Sarah admits her confusion and guilt over not responding physically, voicing a common trauma survivor’s dilemma—was restraint strength, or just fear?

Notable Quotes:

• "I hated how normal the bus sounded. Even when it was not normal anymore. The engine kept running like it didn't care."
  — Miles [00:53]
• "It's just a hospital. It's just doors. It's just lights. It's a place where people wait. But it's never just that."
  — Sarah [01:29]

---

2. Guidance from Reverend Carter: Moral Perspective and Validation

• Reverend Carter enters to provide comfort and perspective, acknowledging the visible and invisible wounds left by the event.
• He affirms that their refusal to respond to violence with violence “held a mirror” up to others, describing restraint as “strength under control.”
• The reverend underscores the importance of bearing witness and the legitimacy of their actions.

Notable Quotes:

• "You proved that the law can be correct and still be refused. You prove that people will call cruelty righteousness if it lets them sleep at night."
  — Reverend Carter [03:53]
• "Restraint is not weakness. It is strength under control. That is rare on a young man."
  — Reverend Carter [04:16]
• "Most strength does not feel like strength when you're doing it."
  — Reverend Carter [04:24]

---

3. Personal Trauma and Coping: The Conversation Between Alex and Sarah

• With the room cleared, Alex and Sarah share a deeply personal exchange. They reflect on the nature of literary fiction as a way to process trauma.
• Sarah describes the paralyzing effects of fear, admitting she hated herself for doing “nothing,” believing it was passivity, not protection.
• Alex reframes her actions: “You chose to keep the story honest. If you had stood, they would have said, this is what happens when order is challenged. And the blood would have meant something else.”
• The conversation shifts, revealing Sarah’s history of hospital trauma related to her mother's illness, and how that legacy of keeping calm has marked her emotional life.

Notable Quotes:

• "Restraint is a fight you have in silence. I wanted to stand."
  — Alex [06:43]
• "My hands were covered in your blood. ...This is how you cross a line you can't uncross. ...restraint is just fear masquerading as something else. That people who do nothing are just people who are afraid to act."
  — Sarah [07:37]
• "You chose to keep the story honest."
  — Alex [08:39]
• "I learned how to be the calm one. Not because I was calm, but because someone had to be."
  — Sarah [10:21]
• "Don't let this hospital take her from you again."
  — Alex [12:28]

---

4. Reconciliation, Forgiveness, and Growth (Post-Hospital)

• After visiting Alex, Sarah and Miles have an honest conversation about what it means to really participate in life and be vulnerable.
• They discuss their perceptions of strength—contrasting the ability to stay open versus keeping distance as self-protection.
• The episode culminates in mutual forgiveness among friends, acknowledging past grievances and admitting personal failings.

Notable Quotes:

• "Some people don't protect themselves by closing off. They protect themselves by deciding what they're willing to carry."
  — Miles [14:24]
• "Watching Sarah today, it just showed me how much I've been calling my bitterness wisdom. I don't want to be that person."
  — Miles [15:45]
• "Then maybe. Maybe we can just forgive each other."
  — Sarah and Miles [16:30–16:38]

---

5. The Reveal: The Simulation Twist

• In a surprising development, Alex reveals the experience only lasted "seven minutes"—it was part of a malfunctioning program or simulation.
• Despite the digital context, the characters’ emotions and insights are real, raising questions about the boundaries between experience and data, memory, and personal growth.
• Sarah expresses a desire to “go back in,” convinced that the feelings were not mere programming, signaling both courage and curiosity for what’s next.

Notable Quotes:

• "How long you were in?"
  "Seven minutes."
  — Miles and Alex [17:13–17:18]
• "Because I don't think what I felt was an accident. And I don't think it was just data."
  — Sarah [18:20]

---

Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• The Sound of Normal Amid Crisis — Miles describes the haunting normalcy of the bus [00:53]
• Reverend Carter’s Moral Compass — Affirms that restraint and nonviolence have meaning [03:53–04:24]
• Sarah’s Admission of Guilt and Strength — A conflicted explanation of why she stayed seated [07:27–08:39]
• Sarah’s Hospital Memories — Connects past trauma to present vulnerability [09:17–11:57]
• Mutual Forgiveness Discussion — Friends reconcile over hurt and misunderstanding [15:45–16:38]
• Simulation Twist Revealed — The entire experience lasted seven minutes [17:13–17:18]
• Sarah’s Resolve — Decides to revisit the program, suggesting new beginnings [18:11–18:39]

---

Closing Thoughts

“Seven Minutes” stands out as an intense, introspective episode that unflinchingly examines trauma, the challenge of bearing witness, the hard work of forgiveness, and the enduring impact of compassion and friendship. With multi-layered storytelling and immersive sound, it bridges personal suffering with hope—and, through its simulation conceit, blurs the boundary between memory and experience. As listeners await the next installment, the episode leaves them with the pressing sense that recovery and growth are possible, but never easy.

---

Transcript

[Narrator]

Northwest Christian School Online provides online Christian education for any students ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade. The tuition is fully covered through the State of Arizona's ESA program and is affordable for families out of state. You can count on NCS Online for a rigorous, proven online program that establishes a robust biblical worldview for all students. For more information, go to ncsonline.org that's ncsonline.org.

[Alex]

Your attention, please. Hospital visiting hours will be ending in about 15 minutes. Once again, hospital visiting hours will be ending in 15 minutes.

[Miles]

We should have been able to do something. We did. We stayed seated.

[Alex]

That's what we did.

[Miles]

That was the assignment. Yeah, well, it didn't feel like an assignment. No. I hated how normal the bus sounded. Even when it was not normal anymore. The engine kept running like it didn't care.

[Sarah]

The driver didn't even look back.

[Miles]

He was told not to.

[Sarah]

Everyone was told something. Some people followed it.

[Miles]

You talking about yourself?

[Sarah]

I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Miles]

Hey. You're here. And you're safe.

[Sarah]

I'm here. It's just a hospital. It's just doors. It's just lights. It's a place where people wait. But it's never just that.

[Alex]

Alex.

[Sarah]

Sorry.

[Miles]

You don't have to be sorry for Sarah Thompson.

[Alex]

How is she?

[Miles]

She's awake. She's okay. But she's asking for the three of you.

[Alex]

Emily.

[Miles]

I'm here.

[Alex]

Hey, Alex.

[Sarah]

Hey.

[Alex]

You stayed.

[Sarah]

You too.

[Alex]

Didn't have much of a choice. How bad is hurts? I can feel my heart beat in places I don't want to. But it could have been worse. Much worse.

[Sarah]

I'm so sorry.

[Alex]

Don't be. Don't give him that. Don't let what they chose turn into what you carry.

[Miles]

Looks like Reverend Carter is coming.

[Reverend Carter]

Sarah. How are you feeling?

[Alex]

I'll be okay.

[Miles]

You three, we're here.

[Reverend Carter]

I can see that. I won't waste any time. What happened today will travel. It will travel farther than that bus did.

[Alex]

So it mattered.

[Reverend Carter]

It mattered because it was seen. It mattered because you did not answer violence with violence. It mattered because you held a mirror in front of people who do not like their own reflection.

[Alex]

And the others?

[Reverend Carter]

Some are injured. Some are shaken in ways that will not show up on a doctor's chart. One young man has a broken wrist. A woman has stitches along her scalp. And another is refusing to speak.

[Miles]

Refusing?

[Reverend Carter]

The mind protects itself in the way it knows how.

[Miles]

Were any arrested?

[Reverend Carter]

Not today. Not yet. The road does not end because a bus stops.

[Alex]

Did we prove what we needed to prove?

[Reverend Carter]

You proved that the law can be correct and still be refused. You prove that people will call cruelty righteousness if it lets them sleep at night. You prove that when a person claims God as an excuse, it does not make the act holy. It only makes it louder. And you, Alex, you prove something else. That restraint is not weakness. It is strength under control. That is rare on a young man.

[Sarah]

I didn't feel strong, sir.

[Reverend Carter]

Most strength does not feel like strength when you're doing it. Visiting hours will end soon, and Sarah needs sleep. And if you three are still wondering whether you belong in this story, you're already in it. I'll be nearby if you need me.

[Alex]

If you don't mind, I'd like to have a minute with Alex.

[Miles]

We'll be right outside.

[Sarah]

Are you sure you want them to leave?

[Alex]

Yes.

[Sarah]

Okay.

[Alex]

So we didn't finish our conversation.

[Sarah]

What conversation?

[Alex]

Books.

[Sarah]

I did not think you'd bring that up.

[Alex]

Why not?

[Sarah]

Because you're laying in a hospital bed.

[Alex]

And yet I'm still myself.

[Sarah]

I don't know what the next part was.

[Alex]

The next part was you telling me you don't trust novels because they promise resolution. I was going to tell you that. Some novels don't.

[Sarah]

Do you have one in mind?

[Alex]

I do.

[Sarah]

What is it?

[Alex]

I'm not gonna tell you. Why? Because you'll do that thing you do.

[Sarah]

What thing?

[Alex]

Well, you'll read it like you're trying to win.

[Sarah]

That's unfair.

[Alex]

It's accurate.

[Sarah]

Are you really okay?

[Alex]

I'm not in danger.

[Sarah]

That's not what I asked.

[Alex]

No, but I'm here.

[Sarah]

Me, too.

[Alex]

You were shaking. I heard you breathing. I'm not saying it to shame you.

[Sarah]

It felt like I couldn't get enough air.

[Alex]

That's what fear does. Makes the world smaller. It already felt small when the door opened. When they came on. There's a moment before it turns violent and everything in you says, stand, move, run, do something.

[Sarah]

And you can't. You can, but you aren't supposed to.

[Alex]

That's the part people don't understand. They think restraint is just sitting still. It isn't. Restraint is a fight you have in silence. I wanted to stand.

[Sarah]

You told me not to.

[Alex]

Yeah?

[Sarah]

Why?

[Alex]

Because if you stand, they get what they came for. They came for chaos. They came for a reaction that they can point at and say, see? They came for any excuse.

[Sarah]

And if we give it to them,

[Alex]

then we help them pretend they're justified. But he stayed seated.

[Sarah]

I didn't feel like I chose it, though.

[Alex]

You did. You could have stood. You could have Shouted. You could have lunged at that man. You could have made yourself the story.

[Sarah]

I wanted to. My hands were covered in your blood. I could feel it soaking through my fingers. I kept thinking, this is how it starts. This is how you cross a line you can't uncross. I've spent a lot of time convincing myself that restraint is just fear masquerading as something else. That people who do nothing are just people who are afraid to act. And that I was sitting there and everything in me was screaming to stand, to grab something, to hit someone hard enough that the noise would stop. And instead, I stayed. And I hated myself for it. Because it felt like choosing passivity over protection, like choosing obedience over truth. And when I saw the blood, I thought, maybe this is what I deserve for sitting down.

[Alex]

You didn't choose nothing.

[Sarah]

It felt like nothing.

[Alex]

It wasn't. You chose to keep the story honest. If you had stood, they would have said, this is what happens when order is challenged. And the blood would have meant something else.

[Sarah]

I still feel it.

[Alex]

But that does not mean it owns you.

[Sarah]

I was afraid I would freeze. I was afraid I would become someone I wouldn't recognize.

[Alex]

You didn't. I'm here because your hands didn't move.

[Sarah]

I don't like hospitals. My mom spent so much time in them that I learned the sound of those machines before I could drive. She used to make jokes. Not big jokes, little ones. The kind you tell when you're trying to keep someone else from falling apart. She would point at the bad coffee and say, at least it's consistent. Like consistency was a gift. My dad would come in wearing a suit like it was armor. He would ask the doctor questions like he was negotiating a deal. He wasn't cruel. I need to say that he was just somewhere else. He was always somewhere else, trying to

[Alex]

fix it,

[Sarah]

trying to pay for it. He thought if he could keep everything funded, he wouldn't have to feel anything. So I sat with her. I was 16. And I learned how to read a face that was pretending to be fine. I learned how to be the calm one. Not because I was calm, but because someone had to be.

[Alex]

That's a lot for a son.

[Sarah]

It didn't feel like a lot in the moment. It just felt like any other day. And then the days started stacking. The room got smaller. Then I realized the adults were not going to save her. So I did what I could. I listened. I brought her water. I adjusted her pillows. I sat there while she slept. Watched her breathe like it was a job. People would walk in and talk about God as if God was a nurse on the schedule. They would say she was brave. They'd say she was chosen. They would say it was part of a plan. I just never knew what to do with that.

[Alex]

You don't have to do anything with it.

[Sarah]

Yes, I do.

[Alex]

Why?

[Sarah]

Because it stayed. It stayed in the room. It stayed in the hallways. It stayed in the way the nurses avoided my eyes when they already knew the news. It stayed in me. I hated this place before we even walked in.

[Alex]

And you came anyway. Alex. Thank you for staying with me.

[Sarah]

I didn't want you to be alone.

[Alex]

Neither did I.

[Miles]

I'm sorry, but visiting hours are ending. We need to let her rest.

[Sarah]

Yeah. Sorry. I'll come back.

[Alex]

I know. And, Alex.

[Sarah]

Yeah?

[Alex]

Don't let this hospital take her from you again.

[Sarah]

Okay.

[Narrator]

Northwest Christian School Online provides online Christian education for any students ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade. The tuition is fully covered through the state of Arizona's ESA program and is affordable for families out of state. You can count on NCS Online for a rigorous, proven online program that establishes a robust biblical worldview for all students. For more information, go to ncsonline.org that's ncsonline.org.

[Miles]

How is she?

[Sarah]

She's steady. Not pretending. Not dramatic. Just there.

[Miles]

Is she hurting?

[Sarah]

Yeah. But it's not the loud kind.

[Miles]

She didn't scare you off, then?

[Sarah]

No. I don't understand how someone stays like that after what happened. I keep waiting for the edge, the armor. The part where you can tell they've decided the world isn't worth trusting anymore. But she doesn't have it.

[Miles]

She isn't naive.

[Sarah]

I know. That's what makes it worse.

[Miles]

Worse how?

[Sarah]

Makes me realize how often I mistake distance for. For strength. I always thought staying measured meant staying untouched. Like if you never fully enter something, it can't take anything from you. Watching her today, it felt like she entered fully, knowing it would cost her. And she did it anyway.

[Miles]

Some people don't protect themselves by closing off. They protect themselves by deciding what they're willing to carry.

[Sarah]

That sounds exhausting.

[Miles]

It is. I think I finally understand why I needed to see that. Why Miles wanted me here. I've been holding something against you, Alex, that didn't start with you. There was a time in my life when someone showed up when I needed them. And I built a lot on that moment. And they didn't keep showing up. I didn't know where to put the disappointment. So when you pulled away from Nya, when you questioned things that mattered to her, it I don't know. Just felt familiar. And instead of dealing with that, I let you carry it. I know you didn't cause it, but I let you absorb it anyway. Watching Sarah today, it just showed me how much I've been calling my bitterness wisdom. I don't want to be that person. So I'm just gonna say this out loud, even though it scares me. Will you forgive me?

[Alex]

For what?

[Miles]

Because I judged you and held onto things in ways I shouldn't. For things that you don't deserve to be hated for. I don't want to keep you frozen in that moment.

[Sarah]

You don't need to ask for forgiveness.

[Miles]

I do.

[Sarah]

No, because I treated you and Nya so poorly. I was a jerk. I let my own insecurities get the best of me, and I took them out on both of you.

[Miles]

Then maybe. Maybe we can just forgive each other.

[Sarah]

I'd like that.

[Miles]

Thank you, Alex.

[Sarah]

You too.

[Miles]

Do you hear that? We're out.

[Alex]

That's it.

[Sarah]

No, no. That doesn't make sense.

[Alex]

I am so sorry, you guys. That was not supposed to happen like that. I couldn't get the program to load, so after a minute, I just aborted it. I'm sorry.

[Miles]

How long?

[Alex]

How long you were in?

[Miles]

Yeah.

[Alex]

Seven minutes.

[Sarah]

That's not possible.

[Alex]

It is. The program didn't fully initialize. It spiked and then shut itself down.

[Miles]

Miles.

[Alex]

What?

[Miles]

If anyone broke it on purpose, it was him. And if anyone can fix it, it's him.

[Alex]

I guess I'll talk to him. I'm really sorry. That shouldn't have happened.

[Miles]

It's okay.

[Alex]

Alex.

[Miles]

Hey.

[Sarah]

I don't know why this feels unfinished.

[Alex]

Because it is.

[Sarah]

I can't stop thinking about her.

[Miles]

She stayed with you.

[Sarah]

I'm not ready for what you believe.

[Miles]

I know.

[Sarah]

But I want to go back in.

[Alex]

You do?

[Sarah]

Yeah. Not to fix anything. Not to prove anything.

[Miles]

Then why?

[Sarah]

Because I don't think what I felt was an accident. And I don't think it was just data.

[Miles]

That's how it starts.

[Sarah]

I figured.

[Miles]

Okay.

[Sarah]

Okay.

[Miles]

I know exactly which program comes next. Of course you do.

[Sarah]

I'm not promising anything.

[Miles]

I'm not asking you to.

[Sarah]

Thank you. Thank you for joining us for this season of Eyewitness. Alex's journey continues this July in Eyewitness. See Billow's role. Be sure to come back then.

[Alex]

Sa. Sam.