Post by Vickee on Nov 26, 2007 20:59:18 GMT
Susannah hurried into school, late as usual, knotting her striped blue and white tie up as she went. Her school bag held her down, textbooks banging against her thin, or, as she referred to them, toned, legs. The brisk wind whipped at her wispy blonde hair, and stung her pale cheeks.
“Hey Suze! Wait up!” She turned to see her boyfriend Matt running up to her. They embraced and continued walking up to the concrete building.
“Happy birthday! How does it feel to be sixteen?”
“No different from being fifteen! How unjust is that?!”
“Tell me about it! Looking forward to tonight?”
“Of course! I’ve wanted to see Black Glitter for ages! Thanks so much for taking me!”
“My pleasure. Hey, wait a sec. I’ve got something for you,” Matt stopped walking and started searching through his rucksack. “Ah, here we are!” He thrust a small, black box towards Susannah. She glanced at him before opening it.
“But you’ve already got me a present…”
“I know, but I saw this and thought of you. Go on, open it!”
She took a deep breath and opened the box. Inside was a necklace, a butterfly on a silver chain. Susannah carefully picked it up from the box and held it up in front of her. It sparkled in the early morning sunshine.
A month before
“Mrs Mosley, please sit down. We have some bad news.”
But Mrs Mosley did not sit down; she already knew what was coming.
“We are very sorry to inform you that Amy sadly passed away after suffering kidney failure. We tried to keep her alive as long as we could, but the decision had to be made to switch off the life support machine. We are so sorry…”
But Mrs Mosley didn’t hear the rest of the sentence; a small tear dropped into her lap.
“Mrs Mosley? Do you need any more time to think about what you would like us to do-”
“Donate.”
“Sorry?”
“That’s what she asked me to do. Donate her organs to help others. Even though there was no one to help her. That’s what she always did, putting others before herself. My beautiful Amy, so good to everyone. Why did she have to be taken from me?”
She placed her hand on her daughter’s cold forehead, and tried to commit her daughter’s face to memory; she knew she would never see her again.
She turned away to gather her strength in order to carry out the last wish of her daughter, and as she did, she noticed something sitting on the windowsill. Something so simple that it would mean nothing to anyone else. A butterfly. Beautiful, delicate, fragile.
“Amy…?”
“Hey Suze! Wait up!” She turned to see her boyfriend Matt running up to her. They embraced and continued walking up to the concrete building.
“Happy birthday! How does it feel to be sixteen?”
“No different from being fifteen! How unjust is that?!”
“Tell me about it! Looking forward to tonight?”
“Of course! I’ve wanted to see Black Glitter for ages! Thanks so much for taking me!”
“My pleasure. Hey, wait a sec. I’ve got something for you,” Matt stopped walking and started searching through his rucksack. “Ah, here we are!” He thrust a small, black box towards Susannah. She glanced at him before opening it.
“But you’ve already got me a present…”
“I know, but I saw this and thought of you. Go on, open it!”
She took a deep breath and opened the box. Inside was a necklace, a butterfly on a silver chain. Susannah carefully picked it up from the box and held it up in front of her. It sparkled in the early morning sunshine.
*****
A month before
“Mrs Mosley, please sit down. We have some bad news.”
But Mrs Mosley did not sit down; she already knew what was coming.
“We are very sorry to inform you that Amy sadly passed away after suffering kidney failure. We tried to keep her alive as long as we could, but the decision had to be made to switch off the life support machine. We are so sorry…”
But Mrs Mosley didn’t hear the rest of the sentence; a small tear dropped into her lap.
“Mrs Mosley? Do you need any more time to think about what you would like us to do-”
“Donate.”
“Sorry?”
“That’s what she asked me to do. Donate her organs to help others. Even though there was no one to help her. That’s what she always did, putting others before herself. My beautiful Amy, so good to everyone. Why did she have to be taken from me?”
She placed her hand on her daughter’s cold forehead, and tried to commit her daughter’s face to memory; she knew she would never see her again.
She turned away to gather her strength in order to carry out the last wish of her daughter, and as she did, she noticed something sitting on the windowsill. Something so simple that it would mean nothing to anyone else. A butterfly. Beautiful, delicate, fragile.
“Amy…?”
*****