July 27th

I had been in Georgia at the time, visiting my aunt Stephanie, when I got that horrid text. It was nearing one o’clock in the morning, I was lying in bed tossing and turning trying to drift off to sleep. I heard the single buzz of my phone indicating that I had got a text from somebody. I sat up and stretched realizing there was no way I was going to be able to sleep. I picked up my small, light phone, pressing the lock button causing the screen to light up showing my background the lake. It took me a moment to adjust to the light and stop squinting at the screen; I put in my four digit pass code and saw I had a text from my friend Natalie. She had texted
        “Lily, I need to tell you something” I had quickly responded thinking her dog Roofus ,her dog, had died or something
        “What is it Natty?”
        What she replied next will haunt me until the day I die.
        “Lil, Rosie died.” I was in utter disbelief
        “Nat that’s not funny” My thoughts began to wonder why Nat would play such a cruel joke on me. Why would she say Rosie died? Unless it was true I wondered, my eyes watered at the thought but I convinced myself it wasn’t true it was all just a cruel joke. Nat responded
        “I’m not joking”
        I ran to the bathroom in the bedroom and locked the door. My tears spilling and streaming down my face, I sat on the top of the toilet lid my knees pulled up to my chest rocking back and forth. All the while muttering to myself
        “No, it can’t be true. Rosie is not dead, there’s no way she’s dead. That can’t happen, she has so much left that she hasn’t done, it’s not fair. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”  With those last words I couldn’t hold it together any longer the sobs shook my body, the fact that I wasn’t able to say goodbye. We were all supposed to hang out this weekend, Nat, Maggie, Rose, and I, because in four days was my birthday.
        With all the commotion my brother awoke and knocked on the door
        “Lily, are you ok?” I ignored him for a moment not being able to find words. He knocked again
        “Lil?”
        I quickly spit out “Rose is dead” lashing out at him in anger, for the unfair circumstances. He was silent for a moment but then asked to come in. I ignored him and his continuous pleas to let him in and comfort me.
        I grabbed for my cell phone on next to myself, on the sink and quickly called Natalie. She picked up the phone after two short rings with a sniffle and a weak
        “Hello?” I just cried for a moment, as did she, just soaking up each other’s comfort because we were the only ones who understood each other’s pain. After a few minutes I got the courage to ask
        “How?” I bit my tongue to stop the sobbing and waited for an answer. Nat shakily drew in a breath and spoke quietly
        “She was out running and had another seizure. She fell into a ditch on the side of the road and hit her head on a rock.” Her voice cracking.
        We must have sat there for over an hour silently crying, taking in what had happened and relishing in the comfort of each other, knowing that we both were still here, we didn’t lose everyone.  After a while Nat broke the silence
        “lil I’m going to try to go to bed, you should too, I will talk to you tomorrow, Love you.”
        “Love you too Natty.” I said weekly. I had stopped crying at this point and was just numb, and tired. I stood up looked into the mirror and saw a girl who resembled me but was completely different at the same time. She had the same blond hair and brown eyes. She looked lost, tired and week, her eyes bloodshot her hair a mess no longer parted and brushed neat, her skin a blotchy red from the crying. I looked so different but I didn’t care the one thing that was on my mind was my best friend, Rose.
        I took one deep breath and opened the door, facing my brother who had a worried expression written all over his face.
        “I’m fine.” I mumbled and brushed passed him and lay down in on the big bed pulling the heavy gold and black comforter onto myself. I then curled into a ball, wishing I could cry but couldn’t. All I felt was sadness, I felt so lost so I became numb unable to cope with all that had happened. I fell asleep after a while, wishing this was all a bad dream.

Author's Note

I wanted to thank anyone who took the time to read my short story. Also feel free to comment, especially if there is something that doesn't make sense, or if I misspelled a word or had incorrect grammar. I got my picture from Google. Thanks again and I would love to hear from my readers!
- Sami :)