Terminal Illness

• Eli Baywood, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2019

“Shh” Andy said, smiling to Alice. “We have to be quiet,” He told her, trying to hold in a laugh as Alice felt the pool water and her face contorted in horror.
“We aren't really going to swim in that water?” she asked Andy quietly.
Andy laughed softly, “Yes we are unless you want to go back inside and do nothing.”
She sighed, “Very well,” and looked at Andy with a sly smile. “You’ll be going in first then,” she said laughing, stepping over and pushing Andy into the pool.
Andy, expecting it, was ready and he recovered quickly in the air and dived into the pool. He knew that it would make noise, he just hoped that it was quieter than jumping in and that his parents didn’t wake up.
He came up to the surface of water gasping for breath as the cold water seeped into him, but after a few seconds, the cold ebbed away into a pleasant temperature.
He smiled at Alice as he saw her sit down on the edge of the pool and dangle her feet in the water. As quickly as he could without making too much noise, he swam over to her, grabbed her legs and pulled her down into the pool with him. He held onto her as they both went under the water and then came back up again with a small gasp.
Alice was laughing, “How did i know you would do that?” she asked hooking her hands around Andys the neck.
“Shh” Andy said again, he laughed “you have to be quiet.” He couldn’t help smiling. She was so beautiful, surrounded in the light of the moon and the dripping water looking like small jewels on her skin.
He sighed and put his arms around her waist and walked back through the water into the shallow end of the pool. There he sat down on one of the steps and looked her in the eyes. They were so clear, so full of life. He couldn’t tell her, not tonight. Tonight he was going to enjoy being with her for as long as possible. But the question still burned his thoughts, how could he ever tell her. How could he possibly explain that there was a terrible disease eating away at his body.
How. The question spun around and around in his head, the answer never revealed. He was dying, and in about three weeks he would lose all motor function, he would be paralyzed. What could he tell Alice then.
Alice leaned forward until both of their heads were touching. A second passed between them, and then their lips met and they kissed.
Andy didn’t know long they sat there, sharing each other's space and kissing in his pool.
Perhaps this would be one of the last times he ever be able to kiss her again. As they kissed, the question floated in his mind, how would he ever be able to tell her?