Writing Challenge Two

Looking at the pictures we took together, I felt a wave of sadness hit me straight on the face.

I will never get the chance anymore, will I?

Still blaming myself for not treasuring those chances which I had, I made up my mind. My parents were gone, and now her, the only sun in my life, was gone too. Who would I share my troubles with? My joy with? My sadness with? There is really nothing to live for... Anymore...

Picking up a knife and getting ready, I made a final flashback of the accident...

Oh, she looked so perfect standing there, in the middle of PE, with the gentle morning breeze blowing onto her hair. Suddenly, a ball hit me in the head. “Hey! Why didn’t you receive the ball?” Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked up and was greeted with an angry face. Apologising quickly, I made my way to the corner of the court to continue looking at her. From then on, I knew.

Being classmates, I got to know her very easily, as our class council frequently organises class bonding activities. Noticing her standing by the side all alone, I decided to take this chance and talk with her. I even gave up on the game of soccer just to engage in a conversation with her...

Soon enough, we became friends, and then best friends, as I was the only person who accepted her for who she was, not discriminating against her for being different and having interests in things which her classmates deem as “weird”. For that, she was really thankful.

I have helped her to solve quite a few of her problems, mostly bullying cases, as there are some people who really dislike her. Spreading rumours... Framing her... Anything that you could think of, they did it. Most of them were solved in the end, but there was this problem which I was oblivious to. She has kept this secret from me, and suffered by herself, after seeing how much pain I went through, standing up for her and ruining my relationship with my friends in the class. She knew that it would get worse, so she kept quiet...

One day after school, we walked home together, still laughing and all, but I didn’t know that it was the last time I would get to do so... I did not notice her secretly putting a farewell letter into my side pocket. Before we parted ways at the junction, she embraced me with a warm hug, but I did not notice the tears shimmering in her eyes. I have never felt a hug before... She was the only person who gave it to me. I would have hugged her back, but I did not know the meaning behind the hug.

When I got home, I noticed a piece of paper sticking out of my pocket. Feeling curious, I tore the envelope open. There was a sea of words, but one specific sentence caught my eye.

“It may be my last time seeing you, and being in your company.”

Suddenly, I realised something amiss. Dialling the number of her house, I waited anxiously for an answer, but there was none...

The next day came, and the news arrived that my best friend, my pillar of hope and support for these past few years without my parents, had died. DIED. I broke down on the spot, trying to clear my mind about this. Once I reached home, I dashed up the steps and took out the letter, scrutinising it carefully. She has always been a victim of cyberbully... But she didn’t tell me... Because she loved me.

I have always loved her.

I have yet to tell her about my first encounter with her, and those times which we had. I bit down on my tongue, but I want to scream out, that I love her, but I did not. I was scared. But now, even the chance is gone... It’s all my fault...

The loud click of the knife jolted me back into the real world. Still stuck in that state of mind, I looked around, expecting to see her beside me. There was nothing. Mustering all my courage, I picked up the knife again...

Writing Challenge Two (Zanna)

Kay so this was written on Thursday night and Hamanda and I wrote our respective stories based on the same plot - well, this is mine! Enjoy!

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And then, I jumped. The reward of being able to reside next to my loved one came with a price - to die myself. 

Cara. 

I vividly remember the first day we met. It was the first day of school. She had left a rather great impression on me. Being the clumsy one, I had again dropped my books in the hurry of scrambling up the stairs to class. I didn't want to be late, not on the first day at least. It had been one of those bad days when everything went wrong on just the wrong day. Cara saw me. 

"Wh-what are you doing with my books?" I asked in bewilderment as she picked up half of my books and walked forward with them, leaving the other half on the floor.

"Helping you carry your books? You'd probably drop them again if I left them to you yourself. And don't expect me to carry all of them - you have to carry them too, you know." She said in a light tone before walking briskly straight ahead. "Hurry up, you don't have all day to reach class."

In that few seconds of which she had spoken to me, I knew that we were going to be great friends - and perhaps to me, something even more.

She was the ultimate best friend. She understood me, she did silly things with me, we got into trouble together, she accepted me for all of my flaws. She trusted me. We told each other everything. We played jokes on other people, made jokes to make each other laugh.

I remember the first year I celebrated her birthday with her - we were sitting down on the grass, backs slumped against a thick tree trunk on a hill. It was 11:59 pm, 12th May. One more minute, and she'd be 13, the same age as me. She always adored lanterns. Thus, when the clock struck midnight, both of us lit a lantern, and pushed it lightly upwards, adoringly eyeing it as it rose up into the dark blue sky arrayed with bright stars. We kept our eyes on it until it vanished. That was the day I first fell in love with Cara. Her emerald orbs sparkling in the moonlight, auburn hair swishing as the wind gently blowed. 

I later found it strange that I had never wondered why and how she had so much time to spend with me - and that her parents never complained. In due time, everything would be revealed. 

Days and months passed, we remained the best of friends, our bond strengthening even more. It was true that I was greatly in love with her but I never dared to confess. I was too afraid of rejection. I supposed that she only treated me like a brother. Why couldn't she see the truth? That I was always protecting her from the haters, the enemies, comforting her whenever she was down, telling her jokes to cheer her up. Yet always, she'd always just call me, and tell me about her troubles, end the call after telling me she'd call me again. Why couldn't she see, that I could have been the one who'd treat her better than any of the others who frequently mistreated her, who betrayed her, who abused her? Perhaps it was my fault, for not letting her know. 

But I remained contented with our platonic relationship. Too contented. Perhaps if I had made a move, it wouldn't have happened.

"Hey Cara! Wanna go out for ice-cream?" I asked excitedly.

"I'm sorry Drew, not today..." 

My heart sank, usually she'd be always ready for ice-cream.

"Um...Cara, Knock Knock?" 

"Who's there?"

"Orange,"

"Orange who?"

"Orange you going to open the door? It's cold out here!" 

"I'm sorry Drew...just...not today..." 

"Cara? Cara?"

"Go away, Drew..."

This was just the beginning.

I didn't know why but - slowly but surely, the days, hours even, that she spent hanging out with me and making mischief with me decreased rapidly. She didn't spend any more time with me - she didn't want to go out. Whenever I asked her to open the door, she refused to. I tried asking her about it, but she just wouldn't answer. I then supposed that she had another guy that she would rather like to see, and didn't have any more time for me anymore. I brushed away the hurt feelings, I reckoned that I should've expected it, after all, she was one of the most popular girls. I should be grateful that I was even a close friend.

Day by day, the lesser time she would spend with me. I wish I had - but I didn't realize what was wrong.

Then it happened. It was the night before her 15th birthday. As usual, we were going to the top of the hill to let off another lantern. I headed to her house to pick her up, I was glad that she had agreed to come, I had been afraid that she wouldn't want to participate in the tradition we always carried out. 

"Hey Cara, come on let's go!" I yelled cheerily.

She coughed. "Drew...I'm afraid...I'm afraid I can't..."

My eyes widened and I didn't know what to say. Hadn't she agreed to go out earlier? I tried my best to control my emotions before proceeding to ask her again. 

"Hey Cara...it doesn't need to be the hill, we can go somewhere else if you'd like!"

"No, Drew..."

"Knock Knock,"

"Who's there?"

"Aldo,"

"Aldo who?"

"Aldo anywhere with you..."

"No Drew, just...just...-"

And then I heard a crash interrupting Cara's speech. Waves of shock swept through me and in hasty desperation, I broke the window and climbed in. Cara was lying on the floor of the living room, the living room I had been in many times before. I looked at her, shocked. Her once red and lively lips had turned blue, and were ice cold. I picked up her hand. She was motionless. Immediately, I called for the ambulance.

"I'm sorry, we did the best we could," the doctor's voice echoed and haunted me again and again. 

Cara was gone. I hadn't had the chance to tell her...that I loved her. 

"Drew Anderson, we have to conduct a blood test on you," the doctor then said.

I was confused, why did I have to take a blood test? I wasn't ill.

"Congratulations, you are very fortunate to have not contracted the disease Miss Cara held within her."

"Disease? What disease?" I asked in mere confusion.

"Didn't you know? She died of a contagious and lethal illness that caused her to lose a lot of blood before dying. Due to your frequent close contact with her, we were worried that you would have contracted the disease as well. Thankfully, you haven't. Have a nice day, Mr Anderson."

At that moment, the memories spun through my mind in a blur. I stumbled out of the hospital. Immediately I realized that all her avoiding of me - was a sacrifice. She had avoided me, because she hadn't wanted me to contract the very same disease that she held. She had known she was going to die, yet she didn't tell me and chose to sacrifice everything so that I would not have shared the same fate as she had. The reason why she had never gotten her disease treated - was because she had no parents, she hadn't anyone to send her to the doctor. If she had told me that she hadn't any real parents to look after her, I would have put up my guard to make a more conscious effort to protect her from everything.

Still in shock, I hopped onto my bike and rode around town. It was cold and dark - the absence of Cara making the coldness even more unbearable. I passed by the Ice-Cream parlour, the pizzeria, the hotdog carts - Cara just loved snacking. The cinema - her immense love of movies, how emotional she could get even if it was a subtly dramatic movie. These were all the places where Cara loved to go, where we used to hang out, wasting our lives away. 

Her smiles haunted my sleep every night. Restless nights, depressed mornings. For a week after she left the mortal world I was lost. Then I made the decision. 

I would die too.

I climb up to the top level of the building. I take a deep breath. This is it. If I want to be with Cara now, I'll have to do this. The immense guilt of not being able to save Cara weighs down on my shoulders, and this is what I'll do to make up for it.

I step forward and jump.

I coming back for you, Cara. I'm never leaving you alone again.

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Writing For Fun 13

Sleepily, I crawled to the other side of my bed, picking up the ringing phone. Saying hello with a yawn, my ears picked up the sounds of someone crying at the other end of the phone line.

It’s her again.

Secretly letting out a sigh, I replied her. She was my best friend, so I can’t probably ignore her, can I? These few days she has been calling me up at night and should I say, complaining about her major heartbreak. Apparently she had been ditched by her boyfriend… Listening to her tales again, I felt that wave of sleepiness hit me, but I slapped myself, trying not to fall asleep. She just goes on and on like a broken record, saying that her heart hurts, that she can’t get over the fact that he has gotten over her. It’s been 5 days…

Even though I’m really fed up with her, I had to keep this feeling to myself. And when the phone call finally ends, she says, “Thanks for being a friend.” And I heave a sigh of relief. I was afraid that if the phone call went on longer, I would have screamed out my feelings. And it was nowhere near anger…

The next day she called again, as usual, complaining. I bit down on my tongue, but I want to scream out, that she could be with me now, but in the end, I did not reveal it, for fear that it would worsen her situation, as it was already very bad now.

And when the phone call ends, she said, “I’ll call you tomorrow at 10.” Friendzoned again, I guess…

So should I or should I not… tossing and turning on my bed, this question lingered in my mind. Sigh…

I just can’t.

A few years later, she moved out of my country, and life just went on without her. When we both fall asleep under the same sky… Do you miss me? Because I do. And there’s something I need to tell you…

Love me back…