Story Peeps Change Lives

Death Of A Real Friend

Written by David Crim

The year, 1984. The place, Highland Middle School in Ash Flat, Arkansas. I was a mere lad at that time in my life, I think I was about 12, but I knew a real good friend when I met one. Sam was just that.

She was a one of the few people who was nice to me from my first day in a new school and a new state. I was really starting to like her, not only as a friend but, in a more personal way also. 

The day we all found out and the way in which we did were awful for all of us that knew and cared for her. The day actually started out like any other, we stood out on the dirt road and waited for bus. The normal boys being boys stuff as we waited. We got on and the bus driver said good morning, as he did each day that we road. After the last passenger was on the bus and we arrived at the school, he stood up and turned around before opening the door.

Without skipping a beat he looked out over the gaggle of kids and said "Sam's dead", then nonchalantly opened the door and let us off the bus. We all paused before we got up and off the bus.

The hallways were eerily quiet that day. Her closer friends were crying and those of us who knew her and would have liked to have known her better were too. The schools PA announcer let us know that her visitation would be in a couple days.

The visitation was held in the gymnasium which in itself was weird, but girls were falling down crying so hard, I was crying but I had to see her one last time. She was the first dead body I had ever seen.

It turns out that her dad, a local police man, was cleaning his gun when it spontaneously fired. The bullet traveled through the chair, his bedroom wall and hit her in the right side. The bullet ricocheted off her rib and traveled across her body and stopped 1/8th of an inch from her heart. She fought for her live for two days in the hospital before succumbing to the injury.

I struggled with this for a long time before I was able to talk about it without breaking down in tears. I still think of her once in a while.

Author Profile: David Crim

This author has published 5 articles so far. More info about the author is coming soon.

Comments  

 

0 #2 RE: Death Of A Real Friend — Keith 2010-11-16 18:06

i know what your feeling man,i was putzing around google the other night and typed in the name of a girl i knew in 8th grade,come to find out she had died of heart failure due to illness, when your a kid you think your friends will live forever and you never think about those you love either friends or relatives dieing till it smacks you in the face and says "deal with it" though you never really know how.
Raise your glass high in honor of your friend Sam.

Quote

 

 

0 #1 RE: Death Of A Real Friend — toni reyno 2010-09-28 09:16

i am sorry for your loss, and her family's.

Quote

 

Refresh comments list
RSS feed for comments to this post

Add comment

JComments