Surprise . . .

Dani

          "Be careful." Mom told me. She kissed my forehead. "I just need some groceries. I'll be home soon. Stay inside." Once she was gone, I grabbed a tennis ball and a softball glove and went outside. I would be back inside before she was back. I just couldn't spend another moment inside.There was a taped off square on our garage door. I threw the tennis ball at it repeatedly, catching it each time it bounced. It felt good to sweat for something other than a fever. But I was hot. So hot. And thirsty. Dizzy. I stumbled. The ball flew into the backyard as I fell to the soft grass. My vision went black.

          "-gonna be okay." I heard someone say. Maybe my mom.

          "Dani? Can you hear us?" Sam.

          "Sam? Dylan? Mom?" I said. "What happened?"

          "You got dehydrated. You shouldn't have been playing sports. I told you to be careful." Mom said.

          "You idiot." Sam said quietly.  His voice was ice, cold and sharp, but brittle. It seemed as though it would break at any moment from the tension and worry weighing it down.Everyone froze. Including me. Why would Sam say that? "Why would you do that? Why? Do you have any idea how much we all care about you? How much it hurts m-us if something happens to you? Dani, how could you do this to us? How could you be so incredibly stupid?" As ashamed as I am to admit this, I was crying by then. Not because Sam had called me an idiot, though that cut me deep. I cried because he was right.

                 "I-im s-s-sorry. I-i didn't r-r-realize. I just wanted to do something. I was stupid, you're right." Quickly, Sam wrapped me in a giant bear hug. It was warm, and nice, and i didn't want to move. I wrapped my arms around him too.

                 "Hey. Its okay. I shouldn't have yelled. I'm sorry. You just scared us, Dani. Promise me you won't ever do anything like that ever again." He said. Just before he let go of me, I said

                 "I promise." Then everyone crowded around for a group hug.

   Cally

This is the first you've heard from me. But don't worry. You'll hear from all of us kids. So here's what i was thinking . . .

God, I thought. For someone with twenty-twenty vision, Dani sure was blind. Everybody could see how much Sam loved her. Oh, well. I looked down. Unaware, I had drawn a picture. It was two kids, at sunset. They were sitting down, arms around each other. Of course I knew it was Sam and Dani. I remembered clearly the day this had happened. It was the fourth of july. Dylan had broken his leg the week before, so he was sitting down. Sam and Dani were playing tag. Dani tripped. Sam ran over and tried to help her up, but he ended up tripping. They were sitting down, just watching the sunset. Of course, the romanticness was wasted on Dani. Actually, it was probably wasted on Sam, too. They had only been eight. But they were best friends. It was just like something out of a book. But I sincerely hoped he would have the courage to ask her to the dance next week. And if not . . . Well, one step at a time. I knocked on Ashlynn's door, then walked in.

    “We’ve got a problem.” I said. She sighed.

    “I know.”

    “Sam and Dani.” We groaned simultaneously, sighing.

    “Those two are so blind.” I said.

    “No,” said Ashlynn thoughtfully. “I think Sam realizes his crush on Dani. It’s Dani that is blind.”

    “How can you tell?”

    “Did you see the way he looked at her earlier?”

    “Oh, yeah. It was so protective. He didn’t want anything to happen to her.”

    “And when she was sick, he refused to leave her side.”

    “And remember how worried he was while we were waiting?”

       “Yes, I do, come to think of it. Most worried I’ve ever seen him.” Ash said. I smiled.

    “And I know Dani likes him. She just won’t admit it, to herself or to us.”

    “You saw how much it hurt her when he called her an idiot.”

    “And how much he regretted it.”

    “So what do we do now?” Ash asked. Hmm, good question.

    “We just have to hope Sam asks her to the dance this friday. It’s monday, he has four days. That boy better pluck up the courage. Then we sit back and watch the fireworks.” I said. Ash grinned.

    “Alright.”

    “Operation Sani has officially begun.” I said.

    “We are not calling it that.”

    “Would you rather I called it operation Da-” She whacked me with a pillow.

    ‘Get out!” Laughing, I fled from the room.

    Later that day, I was working on a drawing when Dani knocked on my door. How did I know it was her? Well, each of us kids has a different knock. Mine is two loud, two soft. Ash is just one loud. Thom is three normal. Dylan has “Dah da da da da.” and Dani has “da da da.” You know, the rhythm? Oh forget it. And yes, it was my idea.

    “Come in.” I called. She walked in slowly.

    “What are you drawing?” I held it up to show her. It was a picture of Dani unconscious on the couch, Sam sitting next to her, holding her hand and looking worried. She flinched. Then I picked up my other one.

    “I like these ones better.” I told her. It was Sam and Dani sitting on the porch swing, holding hands. They were both laughing. Then there was one of them in the same place, but smiling shyly at each other. And finally, Sam and Dani hugging, not more than an hour ago. She smiled.

    “Me, too.”

    Which is your favorite?” I asked. She reached out to touch the one of her and Sam laughing.

    “This one.” I smiled, and handed it to her.

    “It’s yours.”

    “Thanks, Cally!”

    “Anytime. Now, did you come in here for a reason?” She was still studying the picture of her and Sam.

    “Hmm? Oh, yeah. I wanted to ask you your opinion on something.”

    “What?”

    “This . . . thing . . . I wrote. I was bored, and decided to take a page out of your book. And you are the one who writes in our family, so I figured I’d give it to you.” She handed it to me.

What nobody sees

Is that her eyes are a little too bright,

With the shine from the tears she held back.

A great big smile,

To hide the pain she’s felt for too long.

What nobody sees

Is that this girl carries the world on her shoulders,

Her burden that still

Slips and trips her up even now.

And the bruises that she hides,

From falling over her own emotions.

And the scars that she made

to make up for the pain she caused the world,

To relieve the stress drowning her,

To be rid of the tears she cannot cry.

What no one sees,

is the bottled-up emotions

behind her painted mask of happiness.

The cage of her thoughts that

Imprisons her within herself.

Of false cheerfulness and smiles

But nobody sees the weight she carries,

They just keep adding more

Until she thinks, ‘It’s over.. I’m finished.’

It might crush her into nothingness one day

But they don’t care

They don’t see it.

They don’t see how she’s slowly dying inside

And one day she will lose the battle,

The battle between her heart and her life,

and succumb to death, finally.

The pain overbearing her weakened shoulders,

Her sore, burning arms,

The tired legs that have walked too far,

Only to be turned away,

Time after time.

Because it’s all she’s ever known

And yes, tears will fall.

None for her,

Only from her.

Maybe if she leaves,

Maybe if she finally goes

The world will forgive her and she will be free.

Yet time after time,

she finds the strength to not give in.

But soon-

Soon she’ll have too.

Yet no one will mourn her loss.

No one will notice she’s gone.

No one will notice she was ever there.

Because they never saw her.

Because they never cared.

    “Wow, that’s amazing! And depressing. But amazing!” I said. She grinned self-consciously. Suddenly, there was a crashing noise from downstairs. I looked at Dani, and she looked at me, eyes wide with fear. We ran downstairs. In the living room was Dad and Thomas. I stepped back, into the shadows, pulling Dani with me.