“…ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred! Ready or not, here I come!” I heard my friend say as I ran through the hall, still searching for the perfect hiding place.
“I see you Claire!” she yelled at me as I turned the corner.
“Well you’ll never catch me! I’m too fast for you!” I huffed. Suddenly, she sped up to me and tapped my sleeve. I was so disappointed. “Looks like I’m it everyone! One, two three…” I began. I heard all of my friends rushing to find a new spot. I finished counting and I went outside, into the frozen snow, to look for them and an unforgettable sound rang through my ears. It was a sound that you might hear when a car skids on black ice, when your foot thumps on the ground so hard that it hurts, when it’s too late.
“Jamie!” I ran out to her as the car sped away. “Are you hurt? Talk to me Jamie!” I commanded frantically.
Her eyes looked like exceptionally bright seas of blue. She was breathing slowly and steadily. One of my other friends, Terrie, went to call 911. All of a sudden, flashing lights flew around the corner. It was an ambulance, here to take Jamie away. “How could I have let such a thing happen to my lifelong friend? Could I have done anything to spot this from happening? Would she ever recover?” These questions flooded my mind throughout the rest of that week.
Our families kept in contact and every day I would ask Jamie’s mom if it was okay to go see her and every day, she said no. I didn’t think I would ever see her again. Finally, one day, after asking about a million times, she said that Jamie was ready to take visitors and I was overjoyed. I was going to be able to see my best friend again! When I walked into the room where my friend was staying, the joy that had once filled my soul decreased. There she was, lying in the hospital bed. I greeted her with a friendly hello, expecting one back, but instead I got nothing except a jumbled up slur. I noticed that this was because her mouth was covered by an oxygen mask.
I didn’t go to the hospital to see Jamie for a long while because the one time that I did frightened me to such an extent that I couldn’t. Time went by and her condition worsened. Her family began to prepare for the worst until one faithful day when all of her relatives, and me, came to her bedside. She explained to us that she was protected and that she was never going to truly die because God was with her. Then, she closed her eyes and fell “asleep”.
I stood there for a minute and then I realized that life as we know it can change in an instant. Never overlook the privileges you have because they can easily be taken away.
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