stories

my cousin does a fair bit of writing, get an eye full of this!

This part of the city buzzed with activity 24 hours a day, but now it felt like the loneliest place in the world. My life seemed at an end, nothing seemed to matter anymore, my heart felt empty and cold, I didn't know what to do with myself, and life didn't feel worth living anymore, not now that I had lost her. Cathey was the highlight of my day, the brightness in the darkest of moments; we were always together, laughing, running, climbing trees, going on treasure hunts and just generally enjoying each other’s company. She was always there for me; she was the best thing that ever happened to me, she brightened up my world of dark gloom with adventures and games. We had a tree house, in our own bit of the wood, it was a secret place, where we could invent the wildest of stories together, and we made it ourselves in the mid-summer, 2 years ago, nobody knew about it and nobody does to this day. Sometimes when life feels as if could not possibly get any worse, I go to the tree house, I look at the drawings on the walls, the empty tin of biscuits, and just sit there, doing nothing, quietly, sometimes for hours, I find it really hard to leave the tree house.  when we went to high school we started to explore more of the city, eating in chip shops, playing games, running around. Sometimes we would race home, I only slowly drag myself home, I can’t bear to run home, even if I am late, I feel I do not belong in this world any more. No one could ever possibly replace Cathey, she was an angel from heaven above, and on Valentine’s Day I would always give her a single white rose, they were her favourite. I remember her thankful face when she had a cold on Valentine’s Day, and I gave her the single rose, it added colour to her pale, smiling face. She was very sporty and outgoing, she enjoyed tennis, for her birthday, she had booked a huge tennis court for herself, two other friends and me. She really wiped the floor with me, but she taught me a bit and I must say I have improved in most sports; she was always energetic and had a wild imagination. For Christmas I bought her a tennis racket and some tennis balls, I spent ages in the sport shop just trying to find the right one, she was so pleased that I had, she got me a set of books, I must have given her a funny look because she told me “don’t worry, their really good, trust me” and when she used say ‘trust me’ I knew she would be right. I have been reading those books ever since, I had waited for what seemed like years for the next book to come out.  Every year for the first 3 years, my school held a cross country run, and there was about 250 of us doing it, on the last run the girls ran first, so I waited to see Cathey at the finish line, out of about 125 girls running, she came 15^th, I was so proud of her, she jumped into my open arms, still screaming in pride, I didn't care that she was soaked to the skin in sweat or that she had crazy hair, I was just so happy for her, I guess that won’t happen again now, not any more.

 A few months ago some people started to protest about something, I can’t remember what, but they were causing total havoc, I remember the scene as if it happened yesterday, sirens were wailing, people were shouting, people were screaming, protesters ran to get at the police, innocent people were fleeing the scene as petrol bombs and hand grenades rained down on us. I couldn’t run away to safety though, Cathey had gone to see a friend and was coming back on to the tube, and the tube station was right in the middle of the crowd of uncontrollable maniacs. I was pushing and shoving my way towards the station, I had to get to Cathey, suddenly a huge blast of heat and black smoke erupted from the entrance along with a horrific bang. I shouted out for Cathey, and a mass of horribly injured people stumbled out of the station, among them there was a half limping, half crawling Cathey, I ran to her. She was blackened to the bone and looked very weak, I swung her arm over my shoulder to support her weight, blood was trickling down her face and she looked at me in such a way that I still remember it to this day. “it will be alright” I told her, “everything will be fine, we’ll get you to a hospital and the doctors will make you better” she looked at the floor, she was losing hope, “Cathey” I said, she lifted her soot covered, blood drenched face and looked into my eyes, “please, trust me” my words still echo in my head like a trapped bird. We were out of the thick of the mob and were heading towards the ambulance, the doctors were already loading other patients in to the ambulances, “come on Cathey, not much longer now” a paramedic came over to help, but before she could do so, there was the sound of gunshot, the paramedic cried “get down!” I let go of Cathey and ran a few meters, the protester fired another shot, then a policeman instantly floored him and disarmed him. I didn't see where the bullet hit at first, the paramedic shouted “any casualties?” I checked my self over, no blood, just bruises from rubble; I shouted back “I’m fine! Cathey, are you alright? Cathey?”. I turned to look, and my stomach turned to ice. She was bent over double and clutching her stomach, she fell forwards; I caught her before she hit the ground, she lay in my arms gasping for breath, her chest heaved and crimson blood flowed from a deep hole in her stomach. She tried to speak to me but her voice was so faint and blocked out by her heavy breathing I couldn’t understand her. She held my hand so tightly I wouldn't have been surprised if it turned blue and dropped off. Her sparkling blue eyes looked in to mine; she started to breathe faster and deeper “Cathey please don’t leave me!” I shouted. She put her arm around my neck and pulled my head down so she could whisper in my ear, I made out the words exactly and I will remember them forever. Then she sighed, a heavy sigh of pain, love and of her last breath, she slumped in my arms seeming to be so much more heavier, and her head rolled back, and just like that she was gone. The paramedic came running over, she frantically looked at me and Cathey and cried “oh god, we’ll need the ambulance over here, erm…” “You won’t need an ambulance” I cut in, she looked at me and frowned, “what do you mean? She could-oh, oh I see…sorry” we sat there for a long time, in awkward silence. Then the paramedic asked “is there anything I can do for you?” I looked at her and whispered “can you take us somewhere safe?”.

I will never forget Cathey, she was so special to me, and every Valentine’s Day, I visit her grave and place a single white rose at the foot of her tomb stone. As I do so, every year, I think of the last words she said to me, the most important things I remember her by,

“Death is just the beginning, I will see you again, trust me”