The Five Stages Of Grief

• Matilda Arya, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

Everyone knows the 5 stages of revenge. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and acceptance. Yet there's also revenge. My personal favourite.
It was windy when I saw them. A cold, windy day on the 13th of November. Cold, windy and miserable just like my heart after taking in that distasteful sight that made me sick to my stomach. Cindy Luanda and him. My boyfriend not hers, kissing. Not a friendly kiss it was passionate. My vision grew blurry and my body swayed back and forth. My books scattered to the floor as I lost grip and soon followed them. The floor was cold and hard under my body, my arms lay there limp as I watched onto the scene that unfolded in front of me. 5 years, that's how long I loved him, that's how long I thought he loved me. That's all gone to waste. The fact that he didn't even look back at me, the woman on the floor in tears, hurt more than all the marks and bruises on my body. He was dead to me, he stabbed me in the back and I wish to do the same. I want to make him feel how much he hurt me, the pain that I felt then. He was dead to me in that instant and it made me happy to know he would soon be dead to everyone else too.
After three years of crying, plotting, silence, slammed doors and neglected school life I had found the perfect plan. I had it memorised to the T and it was perfect. No-one was gonna know it was me. I would get off Scott free and it would seem that he killed himself. I have observed his daily route and know where he goes, his hobbies, his parents’ jobs and where he lives. I know that every Tuesday at 6:30 on the dot he walks to the pond to skip rocks (What a weirdo right). And my luck today was Tuesday the 13th of November, the day he broke my heart in two. I was already on my way there. That's when I saw him sitting there like a loner. No more Cindy Luanda to comfort him. I snuck behind him making no noise until I was directly behind him. He stood back up to watch as his rock jumped across the water. He never saw it sink to the bottom of the lake where his dead body would soon sit in just a matter of minutes. I eased the knife into his side and blood spewed out. He turned around with wide shocked eyes. The breath escaped him as he fell onto his knees. The last word he uttered, the last word that escaped his useless mouth was me. My name. I am the last thought that crossed his mind before he succumbed to hell. A large splash echoed as he dove into the murky depths.