Ashez11

"Oh! Hey," Sara said, waving at you. You smiled at your friend, having not seen her since first period. It was now the end of the day.

"I'm going stargazing tonight, it's supposed to be really clear. Want to come with me?" She asked, walking closer to you until she was at your side. "You know I have a curfew," You said, holding your text books closer.

"So, we can sneak out!" Her carefree smile made you want to go with, but you didn't want to break one of your parents' rules. "I don't know, Sara..." You trailed off, avoiding eye contact. "Aw, c'mon! Don't worry, you'll be home before One!" She said, her pointer finger waving around.

"... Fine ..." You mumbled, unsure of yourself. "Yay!" She squealed, jumping around. Her red shoulder-length hair flowed with her little happy dance. Sara was pretty, with red hair, brown eyes, pale skin and the blue-ish green tone of the blazer and grey skirt she wore pulled everything together nicely.

"So, I'll see you after dinner." Before you could protest, she had already skipped away. Shaking your head, you continued to walk home.

. . .

At exactly 10:00 that night, you heard tapping at your window. Sighing, as it had just gotten good in the book you were reading, you looked over at where the noise was coming from. You weren't the least bit surprised when you saw the familiar red head.

You walked over to the window and opened it. "Ready to go?!" The excitement dripped from Sara's voice, her smile wide. "Yeah," No, you were not ready to go. But this was important to your friend. She loved stars and she wanted to share it with you.

And besides. You hardly ever went with her.

She helped you out the window, before climbing down the side of your house, you following close behind.

You walked down the sidewalk with her, light conversation flowing. The two of you reached the outskirts of the little town. The grass was taller than you, but from afar you could still see the tallest hill in town.

You and Sara wove your way through the grass, laughing. It was thrilling, getting to sneak out and then trek through grass that would be perfect for hide and seek. Also a murder, Sara had said.

The grass was still tall, but you could at least see over it as you made your way through the bumpier terrain.

Sara climbed up on to a rock, pulling you up with her. It was only now that the lights from town had completely faded out, and the only light given to you and Sara was the moon herself.

"Wanna see something pretty?" Sara asked you, smiling. You nodded. Sara took your hand, leading you to the top of the tallest hill, before lying down. You followed suit, putting an arm under your head and the other on your stomach.

Sara glanced at you, before looking up at the stars. You followed her gaze, and what you saw made you gasp.

The sky was a mix of purple and blue and black. The white stars glowed brightly, and the moon was full. You then noticed the stars were... Moving?

"Fireflies," You whispered. The little insects danced around the two of you, and the crickets chirped. "It's beautiful." You wondered why you hadn't come with her sooner. Everything about the scene was perfect to you, but like all things...

It has to come to an end.

After many minutes of silence, Sara spoke.

"I'm going to die." She said, her tone was sad.

"We all have to die." It was true, something you had come to terms with after your grand-grand's death.

"But I'll be gone before all of you." Tears began leaking down her face. "What do you mean?" You were scared.

"I mean that my lungs are failing! I have lung cancer and the doctors say I'll be dead before Christmas!" She cried, flinging her arms around you.

"C-Christmas?" You had never liked the holiday, finding it all to hectic. You didn't mind the meaning behind it, though. "Yeah." Her face was contorted into a look of fear sadness and uncertainty.

"I-I—please don't leave me!" You cried with her, both of you turned on your sides and hugging each other tightly. "I'm so sorry," Sara sobbed into your shoulder, snot and tears mixing.

You couldn't find the will to care.

***

She and you went back to the hill for the next three weeks, each night just as magical as the first.

She had shown signs of improving, but as the days got shorter and the nights colder, her lungs began failing again. She looked sick; her hair thinning and had deathly pale skin. She was also loosing a lot of weight, but she never stopped smiling.

On one night in particular, as the two of you began the walk up the hill, she fell.

She began coughing up blood.

You had helped her up and got her to the Emergency Center, pleading to the night nurses to help Sara. They had rushed her into a room, not letting you come in. Your actions were blurry, but you managed to call her parents, simply tell them to "Get her now, please."

After many hours of sitting in the waiting room, a doctor finally came out. "Here for Sara?" He called out, looking up from his clip board. You and her parents shot from your seats. "Yes!" The three of you cried out, tears in your eyes.

"Alright. She's fine, we have her stable. She wants to see her friend...?"

"Me!" You sobbed, hands over your mouth. She's OK!

"Follow me, please."

You followed closely behind him, wanting to ask a million questions. All that was forgotten about when you saw your friend, sitting up in her bed. "Hey," Her voice was raspy.

"Hi." Was all you could manage. This was your fault. You shouldn't have ever agreed to go with her. You should have made her stay home.

"Stop blaming your self. I would have had a coughing fit there with or without you," She had a point. But you still felt guilty. "C'mere." She opened her arms. You walked over to her, hugging her back.

"You're my best friend," You started, taking a deep breath before letting it out and continuing, "and I love you so much. You're like my sister, Sara!"

"I love ya, too."

You spent many hours sitting in that chair next to her, talking. It didn't matter visiting hours ended. You were helping her heal, and that was important.

***

Three more weeks past, and the first snowfall had caked the earth.

You were visiting Sara, doing your homework while she read some sort of mystery-action type book. She had said that the book was good, but slightly confusing. "Did you bring your iPod?" The question was random. "Uh... Yeah, I think so."

"Can we listen to something?"

"Yeah," You pulled out your iPod and clicked on the music icon. "What do you wanna listen to?" You asked, finger hovering over the screen. "Something slow, I'm sleepy." She had set down her book, looking at you fully.

You clicked on your 'Sleep Music' playlist. You pressed shuffle and let the music flow through the air.

Many days were spent like this. Often you didn't talk, just enjoyed the silence or music. Sometimes both of you fell asleep, other times you would leave before dinner and come back after. Or you would get food from the food court for the two of you.

It was peaceful.

But she wasn't getting better.

***

There was two more weeks until Christmas and Sara was only getting worse. She was extremely short of breath, not able to speak a full sentence without panting after. She never stopped smiling though.

"Hey, Sara?" You called walking into the hospital room. It was early in the morning, and you had no idea why you got up so early, but something just told you to go see Sara.

The hospital bed was made, her books no where in sight, no balloons that you had drawn on and no 'Get Well Soon' cards.

The room was empty.

You walked out the door, checking to see if you had walked into the wrong one. It was the right number, 900.

You began walking down the hall, when your phone rang. It was Sara's parents.

"hello," You said. Surely, they knew where Sara is. "Hello, dear." Her mom said. She was using that tone. "Where's Sara?" You needed to know. Now.

"Honey... I-I-" She cleared her throat. "Honey, Sara... She, um, l-left us." She choked on her words and you could hear her sobs.

"Oh. Ok," You were in shock, it was all you could think to say. You hung up, feeling numb. You sat down on the ground, and then, it all came crashing down on you. Your best friend was dead. Dead. You wailed, crying harder then ever before.

She was gone. You didn't even get to say goodbye! Your crying caught the attention of a near by nurse. He came rushing to you, asking what was wrong. "She's gone! Oh god, She's Gone! I thought we had more Ti-" Your voice cracked as more tears leaked out of you eyes, "Time... I thought..." You continued to sob and wail. The world around you was blurry and your eyes were burning and your head was throbbing.

She was gone.

***

There was a funeral for her a few days after. You found it hard to attend, harder to say your speech and the hardest of it all was saying goodbye.

You hated goodbyes.

After the funeral, many people went on to Sara's house to visit with everyone. Not you, though. You knew that she wouldn't have cared if you went to talk with a bunch of adults who would only send you sad looks.

You knew, however, she would want you to come see her. So, you walked to the outskirts of town, wove through the tall grass and made your way to the tallest hill in town.

"I've seen something pretty, Sara. But I wanna see more," You whispered to yourself as you laid down, arm behind your head and the other on your stomach. You closed your eyes for a moment, then opened them.

You looked around at all the stars and fireflies and crickets. None of them were her.

And then you saw it.

Just left of the moon was a star shining more brightly than any other star. It was her. You don't know how you knew, but you just did. "Something pretty indeed," You smiled softly. Slowly, your eyes slid shut.

It was the best sleep you ever had. Even if the ground was uncomfortable.

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