Best Friend

I cried a little the first time I wrote this.

Best Friends

"Okay, Children, line up."

Door with green, red, and yellow paper apples.

First in line. Twist the knob. Peer outside.

Walk down the hal-

I shriek, my friends and class mimics, everyone panics.

Eyes flung wide open,

A man with a rabid fury inside his gun stands beside

A sticky red smeared across the bulletin board

Dripping down like raindrops on glass

To a sunken form haphazardly lying in a dark puddle.

The horrific stench of death.

Dashing, yelling, running, madhouse chaos.

Me. Frozen to this spot. Man. Gun. No.

Pointed at her head.

The one with the other half to my necklace.

No hesitation daunts his face.

Finger movements over a trigger "click"

Mid step, she bounds , running towards me

When a sudden jolting cuts through the atmosphere.

Buried in her head...

It stops. For a second. For me. It stops.

The slumber party, we were in trouble for watching a PG-13 movie

gone.

Field day, when we won the two-legged race

Gone.

I was too scared to ride the big roller coaster by myself, but we went together, and

GOne.

Playground tag everyday at recess that never ended, though you were always faster...

GONe.

Two pieces to this heart, and the other half is

GONE.

She drops.

I clap a hand over my mouth, others rush past.

I can't scream, I can't run, I sink to the ground. I crawl.

Almost trampled by a live or die stampede

This... table... might... work...

Numb, vision blinking in and out of focus, Nightmare, please no.

Can't happen, can't take it.

Eyelids glued open, saltwater makes oceans to pour down my cheeks.

Huddled in a sniffling ball.

The man. My teacher. My class. Her. Gone.

Her head hit the ground awkwardly and is turned to stare at me with a blank expression,

I see her face from my place under the table.

How could she have been the one that-

My throat constricts, my stomach churns molten acid, my eyes feel like hot coals,

I choke on a sob.

Only one thought can make it to me through the haze.

The room is silent, I reach my shaking hands up to my neck and I unhook my half of the heart from my neck.

Silver. Hanging on a simple chain with the word "best" in pink letters.

It's dangerous, too dangerous, I shouldn't do it,

But I have to. For her.

No one is around.

I mange to slowly, slowly drag myself to her.

To the shell that used to be her.

My hands stick in the pool of...

A sharp intake of my breath, covering my eyes with my arm.

I can't, I just can't think.

With hands trembling, I almost drop it,

I lay my half of the heart on her stomach.

My piece of the necklace clasps into place

Along the jagged line of her half of the heart. Magnetic.

I take a deep breath and have to use all of my strength to cautiously look.

When I do look at the two halves together,

A solemn, emptied out feeling of loss seeps through my veins like poison when I see the

Two words. One eight year old girl like me.

"Best Friend"

 

 

Author's Note

If you guys didn't know, today was the day that there was shooting at an elementary school... I just... I felt like I needed to do something. To do something to recognize those kids and staff that died, and to show that it will forever effect those kids who saw... No child should ever have to see someone die, it leaves a lasting effect on them and an awful scar on there soul. This is what happens, because those kids who died have friends and families and also to put it into perspective of a kid's point of view. They didn't deserve that, no one does.

Reviews

[CarolinaRose]

As soon as I started reading this I knew instantly what it was about. It is a terrible and senseless tragedy and this piece captured the horror of what those poor children must have felt. My heart breaks for them and their families. You wrote this respectfully and from the heart. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[MADAM]

This is such perfection...it's so emotional and the child's viewpoint and emotions are heartbreakingly accurate. You managed to capture something so horrible perfectly and portrayed the scene of this tragedy with so much power! This is a perfect way to raise the awareness, I think you did a good job at doing something by sharing the thoughts during those chaotic moments. A great tribute to those children is say, sharing a story to stop another disaster, fictional or real, you really brought this issue to light, I'm in love with this piece

[Alice Walker]

Congratulations on winning Paint the World with your Words. I thought your poem was very accurate at how a child would feel if they saw someone they knew died in a shooting. I can't say it correctly, but you captured how awful it was in so few words. I feel terrible for those children and their families. Thank you for writing this poem and may you keep on writing from your heart.

[Silent Wolf]

A very meaningful piece for a very tragic event. Thank you for recognizing this event.

[Dream Mistress]

:)

[Jessie]

This made me cry
People really do need to see this side of the story! Thank you for writing something that gives them the perspective that perhaps they need to hear because its time to change!
This reminded me of a story by X called Revolution.
Thank you for writing this!

[RachelReaper]

I'm glad you read it, I put time and thought into this one.

[eLoy]

it broke me. Promise. I love my best friend so much and im almost in tears. so great. this is what writing is.

[RachelReaper]

thank you for reviewing

[eLoy]

youre welcome

[Pax]

this touches me deeply my friend...
I'm speechless indeed!!!

[Personne]

Speechless. The news and everyone talks about how horrible it was, but I can't really connect to that because it just facts and I know it's horrible, but it doesn't seep into my bones. This poem, though. It makes me see. If I was there, as an eight year old, I don't know. You somehow put this catastrophe into words, and made me understand. Amazing and tragic write. Thank you.

[RachelReaper]

That's exactly what I wanted to do. The news is emotionless. Robotic. It doesn't show you how awful it really is when things like this happen, because you can't imagine it, but I didn't want what those poor kids went through to go unsaid. They were not just another tragedy, they were children.

[Personne]

You gave the kids voices, and you did it well. Once again, thank you.

[Autumn de Rue]

I can't think of anything but of how it would feel if that was my--

I'm sorry I can't finish this thought.

[Ethale Captor]

This is the first poem I have read, but I know about the incident at the school. This is an amazing write as well as something to touch the hearts of others in some attempt to urge them to help.