All We Had

I should have done something

“Why didn’t you do something!” His cracked words echoed in my silent head. His teared face and trembling body wouldn’t leave my mind as I sat alone surrounded by trees. Have you ever seen the light leave some ones eyes? Have you ever seen a beacon of hope and promise fade? Her smile and gentle eyes always passed on her mission to the sick and needy. The way her laugh made the sun shine a little brighter, or softened the cold hard eyes of the people who had given up. Have you ever seen a group of soldiers look at a girl with pride and awe, instead of eyeing her hungrily? Just the way she walked tall and confidently, made you want to believe in her.

Have you ever seen a smile fade into nothing? Not like into sadness but truly nothing. She was our leader. If one was just to say her name in the wrong tone, glares and gasps would be spread. Riley always believed in others, she always wanted what was best. She could make ten blind men follow her just with one simple talk. The authority she had and the respect was like no other. She was strong and always believed in proving yourself, but if you fell, she would catch you.

She wasn’t all just smiles and sunshine. No, she was ruthless. She was always ruthless. There was always a different kind of spark in her eyes when she was fighting for her life. Her smile would mirror her eyes as she sliced and swang. The way bodies fell always brought this  insanely calm smile. To her, she was always right and if you didn’t agree, you said you did. Riley was strong and powerful. She could take down five men at once and could make a whole kingdom battle cry.

Riley had no real family. She only had Jack, Sarah, Jenn and I, we were her family. We all were close, extremely close. We were her most trusted. She was like a queen and we were her lords. Riley and I had a more special relationship. She was my best friend, I loved her, but she only saw me as a brother. I would do anything for her, even die. She saved me, took me in, trained me. She became my personal beacon of hope and safety.

I still remember our last night. All of us were sitting around the fire laughing at old stories. Like the one time Jack was having such a good day. Everything was going his way, his new sword was finished, he had just bought a brand new stallion and he even won the pie eating contest. But as we were all waiting by our horses that evening, Jack was flirting with some ladies. He ended up walking backwards away from them, tripping over his own clumsy feet and landing on his butt in a muddy puddle.We laughed as his face turned red and he hastily moved towards his horse. As he tried to get on, he moved making Jack fall, hand landing in horse manure. Or the time of Riley’s birthday we all dressed up in stupid costumes and tried to sing and play non-existing instruments Or the time we were suppose to take care of Sarah’s plants when she and Riley went on a girls trip and we killed them all. Jack and I were running around the morning they got home trying to replace them all.

No good memory can ever replace the ones that stayed burned into my mind. Seeing her victory smile fall as an iron stake pierces through her chest. Rushing to her side, ripping his neck open. Her last words whispered to me, “It’s not your fault.” and knowing it was. But Jack's broken bloody face as he screamed at me, “Why did you do something, you should have done something! You did nothing!” is scorched into my mind forever.

Reviews

[Chase Weik]

I really liked the way this flowed! Dialog was a bit scarce, but maybe it reads better that way. The story was exciting and kept my attention the entire time. Grammar mistakes and some other minor problems were apparent here and there, but honestly I still found the story very entertaining. I also really enjoyed being able to picture your characters without having to try too hard. I'd like to see more of this story, but that is obviously up to you. Keep up the great work!