The hidden stream

Chapter 4

  The smoke was everywhere. Coughing and wheezing was coming from all directions. The screaming was piercing. The sirens could be heard from miles away.

     "MAMA! MAMA!"

     "HELP US!"

    " MRS. ELLIOT, HELP US!"

    "HELP!"

    Mrs. Elliot. She was gone, nowhere to be seen. Had she escaped? Was she trying time save us? to get help? For several moments I was in awe. reality was gone, just for a moment thinking about Mrs. Elliot.

     In my attempts to escape the burning building I had army crawled to Elizabeth's area. She was lying face down on the ground. Completely still. Elizabeth and I had been friends since I could remember. We shared all our secrets and sometimes went to each other's houses. I liked her family. Their only child was Elizabeth, so she was always the top priority, I guess.

    Do you remember before, when I was telling you I didn't have many friends?  Neither did Elizabeth, that's why it worked so well. Many of our other classmates thought of Elizabeth as a snob, because she was an only child. Most families had several children, which meant we didn't get much. Elizabeth, on the other hand, got almost everything she wanted and sometimes more.

     There was a reason Elizabeth was an only child though. She had lung disease. Elizabeth was told she wouldn't make it past sixteen years old. We were both thirteen and like all close friends, had a similarity between us. our birthdays, they were on the exact same day. That's how our friendship started.

     Elizabeth sometimes told me about her fear of death. I understood it, well, from my point of view. The difference was, I wasn't dying.

   As me and Elizabeth would sit at our special spot after school, other children would pass sing-songing "weirdo and the snob, whatcha' Doin'? Oh, look we better stay away, they might pass on their virus" and the laughed and then walked away. We didn't find this hurtful, we had each other.

    As I lay, right next to Elizabeth, I decide to turn her over onto her back. When I see the front of her I see, she's not dead. She reaches up for my hand and holds it. I slowly put my head to the ground, facing Elizabeth. We stare at each other whispering to the other.

"This is it."

"At least we're together"

"goodbye."