Heaven

• Renee Mercado, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2017

Life isn’t always happy, it isn’t what you hear in children’s movies or in children’s books, there are people dying and people starving, there are people who have lost it all, or have nothing to gain because of they started off with nothing. My mother always told me that life will be good if you make it good, but so far, I don’t think I can make it good.

My father was a hardworking man and my best friend was the town’s freak, but I loved her anyway. She was someone who could make anything good, she was like a ray of sunshine and I was the dark and gloomy clouds ruining her day, but I guess we evened each other out and that’s the best part.

One day the clouds represented me, they were dark and gloomy and had no colour besides the dull grey. My best friend was prancing around town waving yellow streamers in the air as she giggled brightly and handed one yellow streamer and we went off to our secret spot by the lake.

“Have you ever heard of heaven?” she spoke to me as we laid down on the grass. I shrugged and stared at the grey clouds with sadness, my mother was up there somewhere. “I heard it’s a wonderful place where once you close your eyes, you’re instantly there.” She sighed and smiled lightly. “But wouldn’t that mean every time you sleep you’d be in heaven?” I wondered, my eyes scrunching up in confusion as she talked.

“It only happens to special people, but you know what? We’ll be those special people!” she murmurs, as she took out something from her bag and ate a marshmallow, one after the other her bag filled with marshmallows were finished as she gulped them down. “You didn’t share!” I pouted slightly, I wanted some of them too. “These are my marshmallows! Anyway, how about we pretend we are in heaven!” she smiled drowsily as she handed me an envelope.

“What’s this for?” I asked, looking at it. “Don’t open it until you get home yeah? Alright, let’s play!” she said, her voice slurring slightly.
I shrugged and placed the envelope next to me as she laid down beside me, her hands cold, which was probably from the weather. “My mum says we should always say ‘I love you’ before we go to heaven, so I love you very, very much.” She smiles brightly and looks to her side to face me. I smiled back, her blue eyes piercing into mine before I said them back. “I love you too best friend.”

“Okay, so close your eyes, count to seven and when you wake, we’ll be in heaven.” She says as I watched her close her eyes slowly.

“1” she said

I closed my eyes.

“2” her breathing became slower

“3”

“4 and 5” her hand became numb in my hand

“6”

“7, I love you.”

I opened my eyes slowly, but she never opened hers.