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.

[Alexa Tasch]

It was really clear what this was about and its so sad. this is one of the best tribtes I've seen. It was really touching and wonderfully written.

[Sacha Davison]

I shriek, my friends and class mimics, everyone panics. - I think dropping the 's' on 'mimics' would improve the flow of the piece.
I almost cried reading this. Tragedies like these should never happen; the evil beings that bring this torment to such innocent children could not get punished enough for their actions. The way you structured the made it even more grabbing emotionally for the reader. A beautiful poem on a devastating topic. Thank you for sharing this.

[Green]

Ok you made me cry and I'm not a weepy person. I've read a lot of tribute poems and other stuff dedicated to the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting but this is by far the best. It was told from the one perspective I hadn't gotten yet, one of the kids.

[Lonely Islander]

Every time i raise my pen to write a poem about these kids, i go blank, i can't find a single word to describe the situation, its too painful. and every time i feel like this, i wonder what their parents are going through, their families and of course their best friends. thanks for sharing Reaper :):):D.

[disheveledApathy]

Touching it was written exactly as if it had really happened. This is a very moving tribute to the children and their families. Thank you.

[Rebecca James age 10]

Its brilliant! I agree that they didn't deserve that.

[Sarah]

Its realy sad. It almost made me cry. I hope the people who he killed are it a happy place together.

[RachelReaper]

I'm sure they are, they were only kids.

[Madison.]

You definitely have a way of touching the heart..It was real.

[RachelReaper]

thank you for reviewing

[Courtney]

Wonderfully written. Thank you for sharing. I also felt that I should write something. I couldn't though I was just speechless. I'm glad you could thank you. You wrote it so that the fears of the child showed. It made me cry as well.

[RachelReaper]

thank you for your review

[Courtney]

Your welcome. :)