Summer is the stereotypical feeling of sand between my toes,
Summer is the songs we sing for the glory of God,
The fourteen passenger vans, filled with teenagers,
The early sunrises and late sunsets.
Summer is lightning bugs and music,
Filling the thick night air,
Summer is four square and bug spray,
Summer is tan lines.
Summer is memories captured in photographs,
Early morning practices and days spent at the pool,
Summer is hand games and laughter,
Lazy days and days packed with fun.
Summer is childhood,
Summer is the sweetness of lemonade,
The innocence of tiny hands and two wheeler bicycles,
Summer is believing in fairies and pixies,
As the sun goes down.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
The Final Farewell
And it was with tears in her eyes that she turned to walk away, “I just can’t do this anymore. I have to say goodbye.” She said before gently kissing his cheek and leaving. When Justin could no longer see her face, Alexa finally began to cry. Alexa hadn’t wanted to make this decision, oh no, she never had, but it needed to be made. Justin just wasn’t a good person to be around.
The hallway seemed never ending, but as she finally turned the corner, memories came pouring over her. The first conversation Alexa and Justin had ever had, each of the moments that they had spent taking care of each other, they’re first and only true kiss, the minute that the tides had turned, the second that things had gone wrong. Oh it all rushed back into her mind, and it took over her. Alexa couldn’t hold herself up, and gave in to her shaking knees, sat against the wall, and let her head fall into her hands. What happened to the friendship that they shared? Why had so much gone wrong?
Justin used to be her best friend. The one person who she knew that she could always turn to. He was the one who was always there, in every memory, when she cried, always offering a dry shoulder and a listening ear. Their friendship was so strong, so pure. Then what? Things had taken a sharp turn for the worst. Suddenly there was a motive behind everything, and every word spoken was like walking on eggshells, waiting for them to crack. And Alexa fought it all. She pulled back, she held on desperately to the memories, as if living in the past could save her from the pain. But it had only hurt her more when she had to snap back into reality.
She had considered giving Justin an ultimatum, but that would have been much too hard for her to deal with. Anything that he did with her would be halfhearted, the friendship no longer true to color. No, Alexa had to say goodbye. Maybe she was being melodramatic, but it was this final farewell that gave her the strength to look into a future without her best friend.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
TGIS! (Thank Goodness It's Summer!)
Ella flew up the stairs, taking them two, three, sometimes even four at a time. She was running away from her older brother, come home for a summer vacation after his first year of college. Her breathing was heavy from sprinting through the house, but she wore a huge grin on her face. Kyle had been gone for six months this time! She had missed him so much, even though most people thought she was crazy, she was a sixteen year old girl after all, shouldn’t she fight with her brother all the time? Well, yeah, the two of them had had their share of arguments when Kyle and Ella were little, but once Ella got passed elementary school the two became best friends. Kyle’s freshman year of college had been difficult for Ella to get through, it was such a drastic change, but now he was home for three months!
Ella looked behind her once she reached the top of the stairs, giggling as she saw that her brother was so far behind that he wasn’t even in view. She ran into her bedroom, and shut the door. When she turned around Ella found Kyle sitting on the edge of her bed, in the dark, and she let out a half mock, half real scream. Kyle jumped off of the bed and picked Ella up, swinging her over his shoulder. She laughed, and playfully punched his back, telling him to put her down, but of course he didn’t.
Kyle walked all the way down the stairs and into the back yard with Ella, and when the two reached their pool, he climbed up onto the diving board, and through his sister in.
“Kyle!” Ella squealed after resurfacing, “You are so lucky my phone wasn’t in my pocket!”
“How could it be? It’s in mine!” Kyle laughed, pulling her phone out of his own pant pocket and placing it on the patio table.
“Wait. Do you have your phone on you right now?”
“Nope, it died on the way here, so I just put it in my suitcase. Why?”
“Good.” Ella climbed out of the pool and ran over to her brother, giving him a big hug, “I missed you so much!”
“No, no!” Kyle protested, not wanting to get wet. When it was too late he laughed and said “I’ve missed you too, El-El.” After a few moments Ella let go of Kyle, and turned to go back inside, but before she got very far, she spun around and ran back towards her big brother, shoving him into the pool. As he was falling in, Kyle grabbed Ella’s wrist, and she came in too.
“Gotcha!” She shouted when they had both come back up.
“You’re so in for it now!” Kyle laughed, and sent a huge splash of water in Ella’s direction. The two siblings spent all afternoon in the pool, splashing each other and having a good time. It had been a long school year.
Ella looked behind her once she reached the top of the stairs, giggling as she saw that her brother was so far behind that he wasn’t even in view. She ran into her bedroom, and shut the door. When she turned around Ella found Kyle sitting on the edge of her bed, in the dark, and she let out a half mock, half real scream. Kyle jumped off of the bed and picked Ella up, swinging her over his shoulder. She laughed, and playfully punched his back, telling him to put her down, but of course he didn’t.
Kyle walked all the way down the stairs and into the back yard with Ella, and when the two reached their pool, he climbed up onto the diving board, and through his sister in.
“Kyle!” Ella squealed after resurfacing, “You are so lucky my phone wasn’t in my pocket!”
“How could it be? It’s in mine!” Kyle laughed, pulling her phone out of his own pant pocket and placing it on the patio table.
“Wait. Do you have your phone on you right now?”
“Nope, it died on the way here, so I just put it in my suitcase. Why?”
“Good.” Ella climbed out of the pool and ran over to her brother, giving him a big hug, “I missed you so much!”
“No, no!” Kyle protested, not wanting to get wet. When it was too late he laughed and said “I’ve missed you too, El-El.” After a few moments Ella let go of Kyle, and turned to go back inside, but before she got very far, she spun around and ran back towards her big brother, shoving him into the pool. As he was falling in, Kyle grabbed Ella’s wrist, and she came in too.
“Gotcha!” She shouted when they had both come back up.
“You’re so in for it now!” Kyle laughed, and sent a huge splash of water in Ella’s direction. The two siblings spent all afternoon in the pool, splashing each other and having a good time. It had been a long school year.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Real or Costume?
They had nothing more to say to each other. Nothing at all. Emma and Elizabeth stood glaring at one another for a few more moments before each girl turned on their heal and marched in opposite directions. Emma couldn’t believe that Elizabeth would stab her in the back like that. Elizabeth didn’t understand why Emma was so angry about something so trivial. What was going on here?
“And then she had the nerve to ask me why I was so angry!” Emma said into the phone receiver a few hours later, talking to one of her other friends. “Like, seriously? That was the locket from my mom, from before, you know, the accident! And Elizabeth lost it! She knew how important that was to me. That girl didn’t even have the nerve to ask to borrow it, and then she just loses it! Ridiculous!”
“Mom! I don’t even know why she’s so mad!” Elizabeth cries to her mother, trying to hold back her tears. “She just started yelling at me! I only borrowed her show necklace, it wasn’t like it was expensive or anything! I could go to the costume store and buy a brand new one to replace it. I didn’t lose anything like the one that her mom gave her before she died! How could she do this to me?”
These two fourteen year old girls were in the middle of a Junior High School crisis. Maybe I’ll revisit their story later, maybe not. This idea came off of http://www.creativewritingprompts.com, number 161.
“And then she had the nerve to ask me why I was so angry!” Emma said into the phone receiver a few hours later, talking to one of her other friends. “Like, seriously? That was the locket from my mom, from before, you know, the accident! And Elizabeth lost it! She knew how important that was to me. That girl didn’t even have the nerve to ask to borrow it, and then she just loses it! Ridiculous!”
“Mom! I don’t even know why she’s so mad!” Elizabeth cries to her mother, trying to hold back her tears. “She just started yelling at me! I only borrowed her show necklace, it wasn’t like it was expensive or anything! I could go to the costume store and buy a brand new one to replace it. I didn’t lose anything like the one that her mom gave her before she died! How could she do this to me?”
These two fourteen year old girls were in the middle of a Junior High School crisis. Maybe I’ll revisit their story later, maybe not. This idea came off of http://www.creativewritingprompts.com, number 161.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Dabbling in Poetry
Written today during English class...
Written a while ago (I need to start putting dates in my journal)...
Written even a longer time ago...
For someone who's so hesitant to love,
You're quick to hate.
Open you're eyes and look all around you,
You are surrounded by suffering and pain.
We've all got lessons to learn and people to meet,
And for some uknown reason our paths have crossed.
See the people holding back tears,
Watch the girl trying to be strong.
We're all in the midst of sorrowful times.
Please, learn to love, please,
There's no more room in this world,
for your hate, like daggers.
Written a while ago (I need to start putting dates in my journal)...
Taking control of her life again,
She holds her head up high and smiles,
daring life's challenges to try and destroy her.
She will not give up,
She will not allow herself to be hurt.
Once again she will lead her life,
She will be the rock for so many others,
She will no longer let life slip through her fingers.
The visions of depression all but a sad memory,
reminding her of the past.
Never again will she allow that to happen,
Never again will she quit the battle,
Never again will she lose control.
Written even a longer time ago...
Snow, falling ever so lightly,
Winter, creeping so quietly.
I close my eyes,
letting it all dissappear.
I stop and listen,
memorizing all of the sounds.
The cold bites my fingertips,
And I hold back tears
as I walk away,
Leaving it all behind.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Friday the Thirteenth
It was kind of chilly out for late Spring, and the wind blew lightly all around us, but as the four of us pulled our sweatshirts on we continued to laugh and make our way to “the spot”. Theresa, Liz, Nate, and I had been going to “the spot” since we discovered it on one of our exploration expeditions when we were eight years old. It was this really neat tree in the forest behind central park, really easy to climb, and perfect to sit in and hang out. It seemed like there was a curtain of leaves surrounding us, from the top of the tree to the forest floor. We almost always waited until after dark, or close to it, to go on the arduous hike to our special tree, mostly because that’s what made it special. The leaf curtains seemed to shut out anything that could be lurking in the dark.
“Oh c’mon, Carmen, you can’t be serious! You know we won’t make fun of you!” Liz said, trying to get me to do the dance that I had learned a couple of days ago in gym class.
“No, no way! You guys will totally make fun of me! You always do!” I laughed, this was our usual group banter, laughing about one thing or another.
“Oh my goodness! Do you guys remember the dance from that party at the beach last Summer?” Theresa asked us all.
“Oh yeah! Carmen, there is no possible way that you could look any more ridiculous doing this dance than you did dancing at that party!” Nate pointed out.
“Ugh! Don’t remind me. How in the world did you guys let me do that! It was horrible.” Even though I was trying to sound angry, the words came out between bursts of laughter as my mind recalled the horrid dance that I had done. I was in that phase where I thought that I could make anything I did look great. It’s too bad that I realized that that wasn’t possible about three days after that party.
We finally reached “the spot,” and Nate held the branches out of the way as we climbed underneath and into our refuge of eight years. It was pretty late out, around eleven thirty or midnight. Since it was a Friday night we had all been hanging out with people, but the four of us had decided that we’d go to “the spot” afterwards anyway. Our parents weren’t always happy when we made these decisions, but since we were sixteen they had all allowed us to do pretty much what we wanted when we wanted, so long as the four of us were together. Through the years everyone’s parents began to trust us all, and they all liked each of us a lot.
Theresa began nimbly climbing the tree, to the highest sitting spot that we figured we could reach and still be safe; I followed, sitting on the rather large branch just below where Theresa was perched. Liz sat beside me, since the branch was so big, and Nate, being the daredevil that he was, decided that he was going to try something new. He climbed a couple of feet about Theresa, and made himself comfortable.
“Nate…” I warned, ever the cautious one.
“Chill, Carmen, you know I’ll be fine.”
“Well, yeah.” I had no choice but to agree. Nate had never fallen from any of the trees we climbed. Never.
“You better be careful, though, bud. It is Friday the thirteenth.” Theresa joked.
We sat in the tree for an hour or so, laughing and having a good time. We reminisced our best memories, our biggest mistakes, and we realized that now it all seemed so funny with the perspective of a few years.
“Wait. Guys. Shh….” I said after a particularly loud bout of laughter.
“What?” Liz asked.
“I heard something,” Everybody grew silent, “There! Did you hear it? There it is again!” It was a kind of popping sound that I was hearing; it reminded me of the fireworks on the Fourth of July. Or, as I thought about it, it sounded a whole lot like the noise of a gunshot. It didn’t come from nearby, and it was probably nothing to worry about, but I grew anxious and restless anyway.
“Oh that’s nothing! Relax. It’s probably just some of the seniors playing late night basketball again.” Theresa said after a moment.
“I don’t know…maybe we better head back to the park,” I suggested. Everybody seemed kind of reluctant, but as the noise started again, this time seeming closer than before, I began to rush everybody. “Please, let’s go. Now.” I quickly climbed off of the tree, jumping a little higher than I usually would in order to speed up the process. I looked back into the tree. My friends hadn’t moved.
“Carmen, seriously, it’s fine, don’t get too keyed up,” Nate said. I wasn’t a very superstitious person, but I had kind of been a little bit creeped out since Theresa pointed out that it was Friday the thirteenth earlier.
“No, please,” I begged, “Please, before I have an anxiety attack and pass out.” My worrywart side was beginning to show, and I began to breathe heavily and unevenly. “Guys,”
“Alright, alright, relax.” Theresa said, and she began to climb down, Liz following closely. “C’mon, Nate, Carmen is really freaking out.”
“I would, but, well, I’m stuck.” I groaned, and began to repeat “It’s alright” over and over under my breath as Theresa and Liz guided Nate down.
“Okay, let’s go!” I said the minute Nate jumped out of the tree. I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but I didn’t want to go first. Theresa led the way, and we left “the spot” and walked back into the forest. “Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness,” I muttered, trying to keep myself semi-calm.
I felt a tap on my right shoulder and screamed. When I whipped my head around to see what had just tapped me, nothing was there. Whimpering, I turned back to face my friends, only to find Nate laughing hysterically. “Was that you?!” I slapped his arm, “That wasn’t funny!”
“Sorry, Carmen,” He said, still laughing.
We continued through the forest, and I began to think that maybe it was a bad idea to come here so late. It was far enough away from anybody else that even if we screamed out during the day for help it would be difficult to hear us, but at night with everyone asleep it was all but impossible. I heard a rustle in the bushes and jumped, but my common sense told me that it was just a bird or rabbit or something. Well, that is, until it was accompanied by a loud growl.
I screeched and grabbed Liz’s arm, but she began to laugh, along with Nate and Theresa. The three of them exchanged high fives. “I hate you guys!” I was kind of laughing, kind of hyperventilating, but they knew that I didn’t seriously hate them. I picked up speed, and the other three soon followed suit.
After about three or four minutes, there was another tap on my shoulder. “Nate, that isn’t funny anymore!”
“What are you talking about?”
“You tapped my shoulder!”
“That wasn’t me…” He said, and the four of us stopped dead in our tracks.
“Then what was it?” Theresa asked, her voice quavering. We all turned around, there was nothing but the darkness of the forest surrounding us, or so we thought.
Something, or someone, was running towards us, we could hear the twigs and dead leaves being stepped on. Theresa, Liz, Nate, and I began to sprint, completely terrified. Whatever was chasing us, though, was much faster, and after a few minutes we could hear it right on our tracks. None of us wanted to turn around to see exactly what we were running from, because it would slow us down.
It turned out that it didn’t matter though, there were a few moments when our attacker stopped running, and then suddenly there was a huge impact that sent the four of us flying towards the ground. It was a wolf-like thing, but about three times bigger, with claws longer than my forearms. Werewolf, was the first thought that came to mind.
The werewolf charged back at us, attacking me, and clawing at my skin. It tore my flesh open, and I could see blood pouring from my body. Liz, Theresa, and Nate recovered as quickly as possible and tried to pull the thing off of me, quite a courageous thing to do. I kind of wished that they would just run, because as scared as I was for my own life, I was terrified for theirs. The werewolf merely snarled at them and went back to attacking me, though. Liz began searching around, for what, I did not know.
She finally came back with a rather large tree branch in her hand, and smacked the werewolf right on its head. It didn’t appear to be super hurt, but boy was it angry. The wolf charged Liz and knocked her to the ground. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t, I actually felt kind of dizzy. Nate ran over to me, saying that everything was going to be alright, telling me not to move, but in all honesty, I was more worried about Liz. Theresa was trying to distract the werewolf, but it was to no avail.
Shortly after the creature had turned on Liz, I began to hear those gun-like popping noises from before. I whimpered, not willing to take anymore adventure, though it isn’t like I really had a choice. Then, all of a sudden, the werewolf was gone. It had just disappeared, poof!
“What the heck?” Nate muttered.
“Are you kids okay?” A voice said from just beyond where we could see.
“Errr…not really.” Theresa replied. Then there was a middle aged man carrying a gun who came through the trees. He had salt and pepper hair, and laugh lines on his face.
“Holy…” The man said when he saw me and Liz. Liz though hurt did not seem to be in as bad a condition as I was. She was standing up, and it didn’t look like the werewolf had hit her in that many places.
“Please, call 911, or anything. Please do something!” Nate pleaded with the man, glancing down at me.
“Right, okay,” He flipped open a cell phone and dialed 911, “We need an ambulance at central park, now. I’m not quite sure, but please hurry!” He clicked the phone shut and turned to look at the four of us again. “Who are you kids anyway, and what are you doing here so late?”
“Who are you?” Liz replied, defensively.
“I’m George Willowberg. I live a mile or so in that direction.”
“Did you, shoot that thing?” I managed to say.
“Yes, I did. It comes around here every Friday the thirteenth, and each time I shoot it and it disappears until next time. Now, are you all going to answer my questions?”
“Oh, well, I’m Theresa, this is Liz, Nate, and Carmen. We hang out here a lot, and usually nothing happens, it’s just this time, well, you see,” She gestured to me. I was beginning to get blind spots in my vision, and I could still feel blood dripping from the many gashes in my skin. I moaned.
“We need to get her into the park, where the ambulance will be able to get to her.”
“How?” Nate asked helplessly.
“We’ll have to carry her. But we need to use the utmost caution, do you see how much blood she’s lost, it’s surprising that she hasn’t already passed out.” My three friends and George circled around me, trying to figure out how to transport me without causing any more damage. Somewhere between then and actually being put in the ambulance, I passed out.
Waking up in a hospital room surrounded by my family, Theresa, Nate, and Liz was kind of disorienting at first, but then the events that had occurred began to replay in my mind. Liz had her arm in a sling, but other than that looked okay. Everything came back to me, like a horror film.
“Oh my gosh.” I whispered before passing out again.
“Oh c’mon, Carmen, you can’t be serious! You know we won’t make fun of you!” Liz said, trying to get me to do the dance that I had learned a couple of days ago in gym class.
“No, no way! You guys will totally make fun of me! You always do!” I laughed, this was our usual group banter, laughing about one thing or another.
“Oh my goodness! Do you guys remember the dance from that party at the beach last Summer?” Theresa asked us all.
“Oh yeah! Carmen, there is no possible way that you could look any more ridiculous doing this dance than you did dancing at that party!” Nate pointed out.
“Ugh! Don’t remind me. How in the world did you guys let me do that! It was horrible.” Even though I was trying to sound angry, the words came out between bursts of laughter as my mind recalled the horrid dance that I had done. I was in that phase where I thought that I could make anything I did look great. It’s too bad that I realized that that wasn’t possible about three days after that party.
We finally reached “the spot,” and Nate held the branches out of the way as we climbed underneath and into our refuge of eight years. It was pretty late out, around eleven thirty or midnight. Since it was a Friday night we had all been hanging out with people, but the four of us had decided that we’d go to “the spot” afterwards anyway. Our parents weren’t always happy when we made these decisions, but since we were sixteen they had all allowed us to do pretty much what we wanted when we wanted, so long as the four of us were together. Through the years everyone’s parents began to trust us all, and they all liked each of us a lot.
Theresa began nimbly climbing the tree, to the highest sitting spot that we figured we could reach and still be safe; I followed, sitting on the rather large branch just below where Theresa was perched. Liz sat beside me, since the branch was so big, and Nate, being the daredevil that he was, decided that he was going to try something new. He climbed a couple of feet about Theresa, and made himself comfortable.
“Nate…” I warned, ever the cautious one.
“Chill, Carmen, you know I’ll be fine.”
“Well, yeah.” I had no choice but to agree. Nate had never fallen from any of the trees we climbed. Never.
“You better be careful, though, bud. It is Friday the thirteenth.” Theresa joked.
We sat in the tree for an hour or so, laughing and having a good time. We reminisced our best memories, our biggest mistakes, and we realized that now it all seemed so funny with the perspective of a few years.
“Wait. Guys. Shh….” I said after a particularly loud bout of laughter.
“What?” Liz asked.
“I heard something,” Everybody grew silent, “There! Did you hear it? There it is again!” It was a kind of popping sound that I was hearing; it reminded me of the fireworks on the Fourth of July. Or, as I thought about it, it sounded a whole lot like the noise of a gunshot. It didn’t come from nearby, and it was probably nothing to worry about, but I grew anxious and restless anyway.
“Oh that’s nothing! Relax. It’s probably just some of the seniors playing late night basketball again.” Theresa said after a moment.
“I don’t know…maybe we better head back to the park,” I suggested. Everybody seemed kind of reluctant, but as the noise started again, this time seeming closer than before, I began to rush everybody. “Please, let’s go. Now.” I quickly climbed off of the tree, jumping a little higher than I usually would in order to speed up the process. I looked back into the tree. My friends hadn’t moved.
“Carmen, seriously, it’s fine, don’t get too keyed up,” Nate said. I wasn’t a very superstitious person, but I had kind of been a little bit creeped out since Theresa pointed out that it was Friday the thirteenth earlier.
“No, please,” I begged, “Please, before I have an anxiety attack and pass out.” My worrywart side was beginning to show, and I began to breathe heavily and unevenly. “Guys,”
“Alright, alright, relax.” Theresa said, and she began to climb down, Liz following closely. “C’mon, Nate, Carmen is really freaking out.”
“I would, but, well, I’m stuck.” I groaned, and began to repeat “It’s alright” over and over under my breath as Theresa and Liz guided Nate down.
“Okay, let’s go!” I said the minute Nate jumped out of the tree. I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but I didn’t want to go first. Theresa led the way, and we left “the spot” and walked back into the forest. “Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness,” I muttered, trying to keep myself semi-calm.
I felt a tap on my right shoulder and screamed. When I whipped my head around to see what had just tapped me, nothing was there. Whimpering, I turned back to face my friends, only to find Nate laughing hysterically. “Was that you?!” I slapped his arm, “That wasn’t funny!”
“Sorry, Carmen,” He said, still laughing.
We continued through the forest, and I began to think that maybe it was a bad idea to come here so late. It was far enough away from anybody else that even if we screamed out during the day for help it would be difficult to hear us, but at night with everyone asleep it was all but impossible. I heard a rustle in the bushes and jumped, but my common sense told me that it was just a bird or rabbit or something. Well, that is, until it was accompanied by a loud growl.
I screeched and grabbed Liz’s arm, but she began to laugh, along with Nate and Theresa. The three of them exchanged high fives. “I hate you guys!” I was kind of laughing, kind of hyperventilating, but they knew that I didn’t seriously hate them. I picked up speed, and the other three soon followed suit.
After about three or four minutes, there was another tap on my shoulder. “Nate, that isn’t funny anymore!”
“What are you talking about?”
“You tapped my shoulder!”
“That wasn’t me…” He said, and the four of us stopped dead in our tracks.
“Then what was it?” Theresa asked, her voice quavering. We all turned around, there was nothing but the darkness of the forest surrounding us, or so we thought.
Something, or someone, was running towards us, we could hear the twigs and dead leaves being stepped on. Theresa, Liz, Nate, and I began to sprint, completely terrified. Whatever was chasing us, though, was much faster, and after a few minutes we could hear it right on our tracks. None of us wanted to turn around to see exactly what we were running from, because it would slow us down.
It turned out that it didn’t matter though, there were a few moments when our attacker stopped running, and then suddenly there was a huge impact that sent the four of us flying towards the ground. It was a wolf-like thing, but about three times bigger, with claws longer than my forearms. Werewolf, was the first thought that came to mind.
The werewolf charged back at us, attacking me, and clawing at my skin. It tore my flesh open, and I could see blood pouring from my body. Liz, Theresa, and Nate recovered as quickly as possible and tried to pull the thing off of me, quite a courageous thing to do. I kind of wished that they would just run, because as scared as I was for my own life, I was terrified for theirs. The werewolf merely snarled at them and went back to attacking me, though. Liz began searching around, for what, I did not know.
She finally came back with a rather large tree branch in her hand, and smacked the werewolf right on its head. It didn’t appear to be super hurt, but boy was it angry. The wolf charged Liz and knocked her to the ground. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t, I actually felt kind of dizzy. Nate ran over to me, saying that everything was going to be alright, telling me not to move, but in all honesty, I was more worried about Liz. Theresa was trying to distract the werewolf, but it was to no avail.
Shortly after the creature had turned on Liz, I began to hear those gun-like popping noises from before. I whimpered, not willing to take anymore adventure, though it isn’t like I really had a choice. Then, all of a sudden, the werewolf was gone. It had just disappeared, poof!
“What the heck?” Nate muttered.
“Are you kids okay?” A voice said from just beyond where we could see.
“Errr…not really.” Theresa replied. Then there was a middle aged man carrying a gun who came through the trees. He had salt and pepper hair, and laugh lines on his face.
“Holy…” The man said when he saw me and Liz. Liz though hurt did not seem to be in as bad a condition as I was. She was standing up, and it didn’t look like the werewolf had hit her in that many places.
“Please, call 911, or anything. Please do something!” Nate pleaded with the man, glancing down at me.
“Right, okay,” He flipped open a cell phone and dialed 911, “We need an ambulance at central park, now. I’m not quite sure, but please hurry!” He clicked the phone shut and turned to look at the four of us again. “Who are you kids anyway, and what are you doing here so late?”
“Who are you?” Liz replied, defensively.
“I’m George Willowberg. I live a mile or so in that direction.”
“Did you, shoot that thing?” I managed to say.
“Yes, I did. It comes around here every Friday the thirteenth, and each time I shoot it and it disappears until next time. Now, are you all going to answer my questions?”
“Oh, well, I’m Theresa, this is Liz, Nate, and Carmen. We hang out here a lot, and usually nothing happens, it’s just this time, well, you see,” She gestured to me. I was beginning to get blind spots in my vision, and I could still feel blood dripping from the many gashes in my skin. I moaned.
“We need to get her into the park, where the ambulance will be able to get to her.”
“How?” Nate asked helplessly.
“We’ll have to carry her. But we need to use the utmost caution, do you see how much blood she’s lost, it’s surprising that she hasn’t already passed out.” My three friends and George circled around me, trying to figure out how to transport me without causing any more damage. Somewhere between then and actually being put in the ambulance, I passed out.
Waking up in a hospital room surrounded by my family, Theresa, Nate, and Liz was kind of disorienting at first, but then the events that had occurred began to replay in my mind. Liz had her arm in a sling, but other than that looked okay. Everything came back to me, like a horror film.
“Oh my gosh.” I whispered before passing out again.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
No Matter What
It was the first concert that I’d been at since my best friend, Rachelle, had died about seven months ago. My other friends who had been dealing with the grief of her sudden death at sixteen years old much better than I had convinced me that the annual town concert would be great. All of our families would be there, though most of them tended to stay by the picnic tables mingling while us teens made our way through the mob in front of the stage. Each year was a new band, and they were always awesome, and usually a great up and coming band!
Even though it seemed as though my heartache over Rachelle’s death would never go away I eventually was able to shove my sadness to the back of my mind for brief periods of time. Everybody from town was going, even Rachelle’s parents and younger sister would be there, and if they could do it, then so could I. Jared, the son of my parents best friends who had been like a brother to me since I was born, had promised to stay with me the entire time. Our friends Sydney, Alyssa, and Mark sat with us during the picnic too.
There was so much hype about this year’s picnic and concert that when the day finally arrived I was actually somewhat excited for it. My parents, my twin kid brothers, and I loaded up in the van and drove down the street to pick up Jared and his parents before setting off on the half hour long ride to the festivities. My mind wandered, and I wasn’t too sad for the majority of the day.
The afternoon was awesome. My family, friends, and I all played the usual games like the three legged race, the sack race, water balloon toss, and so many others. There was an abundance of food, as there is every year. Hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, coleslaw, watermelon, brownies, the works. I felt such a great sense of nostalgia, and though there were a few times throughout the day that I would look over my left shoulder to say something to Rachelle and a sudden swoop of misery would descend on me for a few moments before I was able to recompose myself, it turned out to be great.
Around the time the sun began to set everybody started to clean up the mess from dinner, the band began to start setting up on stage.
“Here, Mom, let me get that,” I said to my mom who was trying to carry six or seven dirty plates and a potato salad bowl in the same hand.
“No, no, no, you go on to the front of the stage with your friends, we’re fine here.”
“Are you sure, Mrs. Hale?” Jared asked.
“Yeah, we could stay and help if you wanted,” Sydney offered, sounding reluctant, but willing to help anyway.
“Oh it’s fine, you five go ahead down, have a good time. I’m going to keep the twins up here with us. Why don’t you meet us here after the concert is over?”
“Thanks, Mrs. Hale!” Mark and Alyssa said at the same time.
“Thanks, Mom,” I smiled and we all headed towards the stage.
A huge crowd had already formed, and we had to push and shove our way towards the front. It was nothing new, the same thing happened every year, the difference this year being that we didn’t have flamboyant Rachelle here to lead us through. We were usually pretty lucky, though, almost every year we had been able to push our ways to the very front of the crowd, and this year was the same. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as the band began to play. This year’s band wasn’t as well known, but from the start of the concert they sounded awesome. The band name was Fatal Formation. It was such a cool event. The stage was full sized, with camera screens on both sides and camera men in every direction to capture the faces of everyone in our town.
The first few songs were original songs written by Fatal Formation, and they were fist pumping, jump up and down songs. Already we were in love with the band. Throughout the whole concert they went back and forth between original songs and covers of popular songs. When the lead singer announced that this next song would be the last there was a collective groan from the entire crowd.
“Hey everyone! You all have been such an awesome audience tonight! We’d like to leave you with a cover of “Open Arms” by Journey. We know it’s kind of old, but we hope that you like it!”
My breathing started to come heavily as they played the first few notes of the ballad. This had been Rachelle’s favorite song, and even before she died I had always connected it to my memories of things we did together. Tears welled up in my eyes, and by the time that the first line of lyrics had been sung I was sobbing.
Jared turned and looked at me and immediately he embraced me. I buried my face into his shoulder and continued to cry.
“I miss her so much,” I managed to say between gasps. Jared murmured something in my ear that I’m sure was meant to be comforting, but I couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying over the volume of the speakers. I cried and cried, even after the song was over. As the Fatal Formation began to leave the stage the crowd cheered “One more song!” over and over again until the band started back up.
“This one is to you,” the lead singer said, “To that girl on the screen who’s been crying into her guy’s shoulder since the beginning of “Open Arms”. It’s going to be alright, especially when you have friends like him who are going to be there no matter what.” I looked up from Jared’s shoulder to see my tear streaked face on the camera screens as the band began to play “The Heart of Life” by John Mayer.
I was shocked that they had seen me, and somewhat embarrassed, but most of all I was thankful. Thankful that I had people like Jared in my life, who were there whenever and wherever I needed them. Thankful that I had what time there was with Rachelle, and thankful that the memories of her will never fade. I was thankful for the abundance of good things in my life, despite the blindness that I oh so often have to it all. As this blanket of thankfulness enveloped me, I buried my head into Jared’s shoulder once more, and let out a few more tears. I still missed Rachelle, I would no matter what, and in addition to the heartache I was feeling, the sudden wave of emotions that flowed through me brought tears to my eyes. I’m not quite sure what exactly the tears were for, but I do know that they weren’t tears of grief.
That was the most amazing town picnic and concert ever. I’m not quite sure if I can say that it was the best, since Rachelle was missing, but I do know that it’s what caused me to be able to start the healing process of losing her. Rather than beginning to cry whenever I hear “Open Arms” now, I’m filled with my wonderful memories of my best friend, and great thoughts of the people who care for me always.
Even though it seemed as though my heartache over Rachelle’s death would never go away I eventually was able to shove my sadness to the back of my mind for brief periods of time. Everybody from town was going, even Rachelle’s parents and younger sister would be there, and if they could do it, then so could I. Jared, the son of my parents best friends who had been like a brother to me since I was born, had promised to stay with me the entire time. Our friends Sydney, Alyssa, and Mark sat with us during the picnic too.
There was so much hype about this year’s picnic and concert that when the day finally arrived I was actually somewhat excited for it. My parents, my twin kid brothers, and I loaded up in the van and drove down the street to pick up Jared and his parents before setting off on the half hour long ride to the festivities. My mind wandered, and I wasn’t too sad for the majority of the day.
The afternoon was awesome. My family, friends, and I all played the usual games like the three legged race, the sack race, water balloon toss, and so many others. There was an abundance of food, as there is every year. Hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, coleslaw, watermelon, brownies, the works. I felt such a great sense of nostalgia, and though there were a few times throughout the day that I would look over my left shoulder to say something to Rachelle and a sudden swoop of misery would descend on me for a few moments before I was able to recompose myself, it turned out to be great.
Around the time the sun began to set everybody started to clean up the mess from dinner, the band began to start setting up on stage.
“Here, Mom, let me get that,” I said to my mom who was trying to carry six or seven dirty plates and a potato salad bowl in the same hand.
“No, no, no, you go on to the front of the stage with your friends, we’re fine here.”
“Are you sure, Mrs. Hale?” Jared asked.
“Yeah, we could stay and help if you wanted,” Sydney offered, sounding reluctant, but willing to help anyway.
“Oh it’s fine, you five go ahead down, have a good time. I’m going to keep the twins up here with us. Why don’t you meet us here after the concert is over?”
“Thanks, Mrs. Hale!” Mark and Alyssa said at the same time.
“Thanks, Mom,” I smiled and we all headed towards the stage.
A huge crowd had already formed, and we had to push and shove our way towards the front. It was nothing new, the same thing happened every year, the difference this year being that we didn’t have flamboyant Rachelle here to lead us through. We were usually pretty lucky, though, almost every year we had been able to push our ways to the very front of the crowd, and this year was the same. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as the band began to play. This year’s band wasn’t as well known, but from the start of the concert they sounded awesome. The band name was Fatal Formation. It was such a cool event. The stage was full sized, with camera screens on both sides and camera men in every direction to capture the faces of everyone in our town.
The first few songs were original songs written by Fatal Formation, and they were fist pumping, jump up and down songs. Already we were in love with the band. Throughout the whole concert they went back and forth between original songs and covers of popular songs. When the lead singer announced that this next song would be the last there was a collective groan from the entire crowd.
“Hey everyone! You all have been such an awesome audience tonight! We’d like to leave you with a cover of “Open Arms” by Journey. We know it’s kind of old, but we hope that you like it!”
My breathing started to come heavily as they played the first few notes of the ballad. This had been Rachelle’s favorite song, and even before she died I had always connected it to my memories of things we did together. Tears welled up in my eyes, and by the time that the first line of lyrics had been sung I was sobbing.
Jared turned and looked at me and immediately he embraced me. I buried my face into his shoulder and continued to cry.
“I miss her so much,” I managed to say between gasps. Jared murmured something in my ear that I’m sure was meant to be comforting, but I couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying over the volume of the speakers. I cried and cried, even after the song was over. As the Fatal Formation began to leave the stage the crowd cheered “One more song!” over and over again until the band started back up.
“This one is to you,” the lead singer said, “To that girl on the screen who’s been crying into her guy’s shoulder since the beginning of “Open Arms”. It’s going to be alright, especially when you have friends like him who are going to be there no matter what.” I looked up from Jared’s shoulder to see my tear streaked face on the camera screens as the band began to play “The Heart of Life” by John Mayer.
I was shocked that they had seen me, and somewhat embarrassed, but most of all I was thankful. Thankful that I had people like Jared in my life, who were there whenever and wherever I needed them. Thankful that I had what time there was with Rachelle, and thankful that the memories of her will never fade. I was thankful for the abundance of good things in my life, despite the blindness that I oh so often have to it all. As this blanket of thankfulness enveloped me, I buried my head into Jared’s shoulder once more, and let out a few more tears. I still missed Rachelle, I would no matter what, and in addition to the heartache I was feeling, the sudden wave of emotions that flowed through me brought tears to my eyes. I’m not quite sure what exactly the tears were for, but I do know that they weren’t tears of grief.
That was the most amazing town picnic and concert ever. I’m not quite sure if I can say that it was the best, since Rachelle was missing, but I do know that it’s what caused me to be able to start the healing process of losing her. Rather than beginning to cry whenever I hear “Open Arms” now, I’m filled with my wonderful memories of my best friend, and great thoughts of the people who care for me always.
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