"Mom, just let us finish this one carnival game!" My best friend, Willow, called out. We were spending the day at the state fair, and it was about 11 at night. Her mom really wanted to go back home.
"Fine, but only one more!" Her mom yelled back. We ran over to the knock over the milk bottle booth and gave the carny our tickets. He handed Willow the three balls and she threw the first one.
The ball whizzed through the air and hit the wall behind the bottles. She threw the next one and it knocked over one bottle. She threw the last bottle, and like the first one, it hit the wall. "Try better next time," the carny seemed to tease. Willow and I stuck out our tongues at the carny and we ran over to Willow's mom. We headed out of the carnival and went home.
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"You can't be serious!" I exclaimed as I checked my phone the next morning. Tears began to form in my eyes.
"What's wrong, Harriet? You never cry," Willow said, looking over my shoulder at my phone.
"Taryn died," I breathed out, slumping down on the couch.
"My gosh," Willow said, a hand going to her mouth, "I am so sorry." Taryn was one of my favourite cousins, she always made me laugh and smile, she, like Willow, brought me back up when I fell back down.
"She died of a heart attack," I said.
"But she was so healthy and in shape," Willow said.
"She pushed herself too hard at a basketball game," I replied. I cried into my hands. Losing her is like losing one of my parents, she was always there for me, and now she's gone.
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"Willow, it's going to be okay," I cried.
"No," she croaked out, "It's not I'm going to die."
"You might not. We're almost at the hospital, they won't let you die," I said.
"The hospital isn't magical," she replied, "Not everyone survives a heart attack, especially young people, like me, who just pushed themselves too hard in a swim meet."
"Yeah, but you'll make it, I believe you will," I cried. The ambulance stopped at the hospital. They pulled her stretcher out and rushed it into the emergency room. They told me I could go with them, I had to wait in the waiting room.
One minute passed. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. An hour passed and no word how Willow was. Two hours. Three hours. Finally, four hours after we got to the hospital, a nurse came towards me. I jumped up out of my seat. "Is she okay? Is she alive? How is she?" I asked frantically. I was so nervous, my stomach felt like it was about to explode.
      "She's okay, now. She passed away a few minutes ago," the nurse answered solemnly. I fell back into the cushy waiting room chair.
      "Oh," I said, tears forming in my eyes, "Okay." The nurse turned around and left me crying, in the waiting room of an emergency room. First my cousin, now, a few days later, my best friend. My life was turning into a tragic play.
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     I was sitting at the funeral of Willow. Her casket was in the front of the room, along with a picture of her in her swim suit and goggles, just like she would have wanted. I was wearing a plain black dress and was crying like crazy. Her mom was giving a speech about how much she loved her, and how she wanted to do so much more. I cried onto the shoulder of another friend of mine that was also good friends with mine, Hannah. "Harriet, would you like to say a few words?" Willow's mom asked.
      "Yes," I replied. I wiped the tears from my eyes and walked up the aisle. It felt like everyone was staring at me with sad eyes, that seemed to apologise for her being gone. I looked at my parents as I took the microphone from Willow's mom, they were full of despair and sadness. I held a tight grip on the microphone and began to speak. "Hi, I'm Harriet. And as you all may know, she was my best friend. I was the one that went with her to the hospital after her heart attack, and the one that awaited her condition, then was destroyed when it was that she was no longer alive.
        "Willow had so many dreams. She wanted to get a state record. She wanted to go to the Olympics. She wanted to break a world record. She wanted to live and be one with the earth. She wanted to find true love. She dreamed of one day living happily with a good family, and to be proud of her life. Now she can't do any of that. And she had no choice. It was all fate and destiny's fault. They should have let her live, but it must have meant something. Maybe it was to show how strong she was. Willow was one of the strongest people I knew, and maybe her dying was supposed to show us that we need to be strong as well. That we need to power through these obstacles, just like she would have. We need to not be sorry that she's gone, but to celebrate that she was in our lives. We need to make the best of this situation, because we can't change it. So, Willow will not be forgotten, but remembered for her strength and power." I stepped down from the podium and walked back down to my seat. Everyone looked at me, then started clapping. My words echoed in my mine, not be forgotten, but remembered for her strength and power. Celebrate that she was in our lives. Power through these obstacles. I can do it.
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A/N I hope you liked it! This was based off a dream I had, let's just say I woke up almost crying and not wanting to fall back asleep for the fear that I would fall back into my dream. Yeah, my mind is pretty messed up. -Piper