To Be Cherished (draft 1)

A Story by Avis Maru

A story of a young school boy who realises that life truly is to be cherished.

Life, life is something that can only be described as, to be cherished. We as human beings live a frail and fickle existence known as life. But what is life, well nobody really knows. The only thing we really know is that it has a beginning and an end, but when the end shall come is something we hope to never truly know.

Unfortunately in some people’s cases their life is cut short by fate. This is the story of how I learned that life truly is to be cherished.

You know, we all have that one girl who seems too good to even exist. A girl whose very existence is a testament to the beauty of this world. She was like that. I can still remember how when I first saw her on the school yard, I thought how could something that perfect really exist. I can recall how our eyes met. Her eyes, how beautiful they were, like the autumn leaves they seemed to flow on forever. I will never forget those eyes. It was on that day that we first met, if I remember correctly, she came over to me and talked to me. I couldn't believe that this person whom I could only describe as a goddess would even talk to me. Me, a boy whose best and only friend was a book. She said to me "hey you look weird, you want to be friends". That single sentence brought me to a plane of happiness I didn't know existed. Obviously, I said yes. Ever since that moment we were inseparable. She would spend every day with me. I guess you could say that she was my only friend, my one and only. The only thing that gave my life meaning.

It wasn't until high school that things started to change. She gained new friends. Soon she started to drift away from me, as if caught in a great tide, a tide of the tears I shed for her. Suddenly I was alone again. Left with nothing but my books, or at least so I thought. One day it rained, the sky was blackened with sorrow and as were my clothes. I had never attended a funeral before. I never knew how frail life was. I guess you could say that the last thing my mother ever taught me, was the frailty of this existence we call life. That darkest of nights there was a knock at my window, and there, in the darkness was my shining ray of hope. Like a star she brightened up this dark void that had consumed me heart and soul. That night she stayed with me as I wept. No matter how many tears I shed she would still be there, with me in her embrace. Just when I thought that she had abandoned me, my goddess had returned. From then on our friendship evolved into love. Although like every enjoyable time in my life it didn't last for very long.

It wasn't long until the seeds of anguish were once again planted deep within my heart. Once again she left me and I all was alone. This time though she had moved away for good. They had moved to a big city far from me. A distant land far out of my reach. If only I knew why. A few weeks after, I received a letter from her. So I guess even at a distance our hearts longed for each other. Over the next few months we would send each other reply after reply. But soon the letters became fewer and fewer until eventually came nothing. In the end I gave up all hope. Until one day I received a letter from her mother asking if I could come see her, obviously I said yes. Her mother soon came to pick me up. As we drove her mother never uttered a word, her face bleak with sorrow as she silently drives me to my destination.

I was distraught when our destination was not a home, but a hospital. I can remember that dark cloud that passed overhead when her mother explained. Why didn't she tell me, why did she keep it from me. She had something called leukaemia. I sit there unable to comprehend what I had discovered. So this was the reason she had left me for the big city. I can remember how as I entered her room and all the joy from her face had gone, all that energy she had, that radiant smile that she had, all of it gone. She laid there in the hospital bed her head shaved, her skin pale and looking as though she was drained of all life. Even those eyes like an autumn sunset had become grey and cold. As I gazed at her she turned slowly to look at me and smiled as best she could. I wish I could have smiled back, but I couldn't stop the torrent of sorrow that flowed from within my heart. I ran to her and took her into my embrace, that was when her face once again turned dark and we both cried until our tears could flow no more. Her mother told me that it was too late. It had progressed too far. Her mother cursed herself for not noticing sooner and I cursed my broken self for not being there when she most needed it.

I only wish I could have seen her last smile.

Once again I stand here wearing clothes blackened by the sorrow filled skies. Once again the person I loved the most, was lowered six feet under. This time I learned nothing and on that sorrow filled night, nobody was there to knock on my window, to calm this blackened heart.

Life is always to be cherished. So please experience it, live it and remember all of it. For those who we now cherish may not always be there.