Stitch by Stitch

Or the Day Runs You - Present

*Author's Note*

Ok, so this is for the 2012 Watty Awards. If you like this, please comment and vote to show your support. I would also greatly appreciate it if you recommended this story to your friends and family. Thank you for reading. :)

Kody sat on the couch in his mom and his three bedroom apartment. The T.V. was airing the day's edition of the news, flashing pictures and scenes from the recent storm. It was nothing but background noise. His attention, instead, was focused on the cap, gown and frame hung up by the dining room table. All that was needed was the diploma to complete the picture.

In the kitchen, his mom was busy cooking one of the three meals she actually knew how to make. Three was a big deal, a few months ago, she could only claim to knowing how to burn water. The smell of seasoned, grilled chicken filled the apartment, making Kody's stomach growl. There was a crash from the kitchen as his mom dropped a plate and it shattered. He made to get up, figuring his mom needed help, but paused as the start of a news segment caught his attention. Hallie Davis's senior picture lit up the screen, her green eyes wide and full of life as she sat cross legged in the middle of a field of daisies. Her long brown hair was wavy and reached the middle of her back. Kody's stomach jerked at the sight of her so alive.

"Three months after the untimely death of High School senior, Hallie Davis, the rest of her class is getting ready to graduate. From studying for finals, to making last minute decisions for the graduation parties, seniors are busier than ever this month. But that doesn't mean they have forgotten about their fallen classmate:

"We miss her more than anything," says Hallie's close friend, Rachelle Clark. The rest of her classmates agree, and have shown so by asking the school that Hallie Davis still have a place in their graduation. The school conceded and have made plans for there to be a seat labelled for Hallie at their graduation. They also released that they plan to have a memorial of sorts set up in her memory, where they will display her diploma for which she had completed the required credits for before her passing.

"We couldn't have asked for more," states Hallie's tearful mother after hearing the news. "She always dreamed of graduating, and now, her wish is coming true." In a community where people come together to make other's dreams come true, this is Robert Martinez saying goodnight."

Kody stared at the television long after the segment was over, his mind completely numb. He had managed to go a day with out thinking about her, but now, memory after painful memory crashed over him, leaving him completely surrounded by the thought of her.

Hallie laughing as she raced to swing higher than him at the playground.

Hallie smiling, a drop of cotton candy ice cream on her nose.

Hallie playfully rolling her eyes as he gave her a fake diamond ring on her birthday.

Hallie attempting to escape her friends as they tickled her.

Hallie wiping away a tear after needing yet another shot to lessen the pain.

Kody stood up abruptly, walked to his room, and collapsed on the floor near his bed. He punched the ground in an outburst of anger, then put his head between his legs in attempt to calm himself. His shoulders rose and fell as he steadied his breathing and managed to convince himself, if only halfheartedly, that he didn't miss her anymore. But he did, and there was only so long that repeating to himself that he didn't would work. Her pale, sick face was all that he could see when he closed his eyes. He almost wished he never met her, or at least left when she had given him the chance, said that she wouldn't blame him.

Instead, he had stayed by her side till the end. Through the radiation, the tests, the MRI's. Every night, he wished he could take the pain from her, prayed for the strength to be strong for her. And yet, every night, he had nightmares of what was to come, what had already happened, and he still did, three months later. Everyone told him to hold onto the good memories, to not be sad it ended, but glad that it happened, but it's hard considering she's dead.

From the kitchen, Kody's mom call him to dinner. He ignored her. It wasn't long until his bedroom door opened and closed as his sister walked in. She sat down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. She sighed.

"I miss her too," Jess said quietly as she stared across the room at a picture of Hallie and Kody. "Did you see the news?" Kody nodded and wiped his face dry as he stood up to leave.

"You can't keep torturing yourself over her," his sister said, standing up too. "I don't mean to forget her or stop missing her, but you can't keep avoiding accepting she's gone."

"You don't understand how it is for me," Kody snapped.

"Don't I? She was my friend, too, you know," Jess said. She took a step toward the door then paused. She walked quickly over to Kody's bed and reached under it, extracting a plain composition notebook. "Have you even looked at this since she gave it to you?"

"That's none of your business," Kody said defensively.

"I know you haven't. Kody! She gave it to you for a reason. If she wanted it to be ignored, she could've just left it in a dumpster, at least that way it would have been recycled." She dropped it on his bed. "But whatever, guess you'll never know what she had to say."

After Jess left, Kody walked over to his bed and picked up the notebook, careful to grab the piece of folded paper that was close to falling out. He unfolded it. It was a sketch Hallie had made of their favorite place to spend time over the summer, a beautiful clearing between the trees where the sun would reach them as they messed around in the cold water of the shallow river. He smiled, remembering how intensely she had worked on this picture, complaining when she got the slightest line wrong. Absentmindedly, he flipped to the first page of the composition book.

I hope by now you have found the picture, that it made you smile. Lord knows how long it's been since you have. I also know it's been a while since I've left, and that it's been just as long before you decided to open this book. I'm glad you have, because I don't want you to hurt anymore, at all. I wish it didn't have to be this way, that I could be right there with you, in your arms. But I'm not, and we both need to accept that.

I know it's been hard on you since I've passed. I bet you still have nightmares, I know the end wasn't pretty. I know the before wasn't either. And I'm sorry for putting you through all that pain, I'm sorry I was sick. I'm sorry for a lot of things, but mostly, I'm sorry you have to deal with the aftermath while I get a 'get out of jail free' card. If I could be there to pick up the pieces, I would.

Kody, I love you, but I don't want you to be tortured by this anymore. I want your nightmares to end, for you to forget the last few months I was with you and remember the beginning instead. The river, the playground, even English class. That's what I want you to remember, the times that we laughed together, smiled, ran free. "Either you run the day, or the day runs you," but the same could be said about life in general. You were always in control, Kody, you need to be again.