Old Best Friends- Part 1.. I Miss You

• Milly Osborne, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2010

he machines beeped as I brushed my fingers against Ryan’s cool palm. The hospital room was cold. No one liked being beside a hospital bed, especially if a loved one was laying in it, half dead. I looked around at the machines, wondering exactly what they meant. It was hard looking at Ryan’s pale face. It looked as if his life had been sucked out of him. This was our time, just me and my best friend. Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t leave. How could I go, not knowing what could happen? What if he.......died? I flushed the scary images out of my mind as the floorless doctor strolled through the door.
He had tightly slicked back hair. He wore a thick doctor’s coat and black leather shoes. His tanned face was smooth and calm. He reassured me that everything was going to be ok.
“Sorry Miss.” He said in a smooth pitch. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave while I prepare Mr Lansford for surgery.”
I sighed as I blinked the tears back. I gave him a small smile. I then looked back and glimpsed at what may have been the last I would see of my best friend.
The road on the way home seemed to dwindle on for hours, snaking in many directions. I pulled over so I could get some time to myself. The night was still, cold and creepy. There were wolves howling and admiring the full moon, they seemed close to the forest’s edge.
I looked around the area. “Surely this isn’t the way I came.....” I muttered quietly to myself. There were no cars or signs. The road- as crazy as this sounds, seemed to disappear behind me. I’m going crazy! I thought to myself. There are no ways to describe how I felt that night.
I heard some creepy rustling of bushes nearby. “Who’s there?” I screeched helplessly. I could not move. The ground seemed to rumble. I felt a slight knock on my head and everything went blurry. Suddenly I felt groggy, relaxed as if I had been drugged. But I couldn’t control myself. I felt like a puppet. Before I knew it, I was laying on my back with my eyes closed.
When I was ready, I slowly opened my eyes, not sure of what happened. The clouds were a purple colour. They weren’t fluffy like they were normally. They were sharp, wild and unpleasant. And from these signs, I knew that I was not close to home.
I sat up wearily and studied the strange landscape. It was like a desert. The wind howled and picked up dirt on its way. The sand was orange and gained a dark purple shadow from the clouds. There was nothing in sight apart from an empty telephone booth...standing in the middle of nowhere.

TO BE CONTINUED........

Written by Milly Osborne