A Silent Whisper

A/N:    My friend Emily S. has given me permission to post this for her. It was designed for a mad-lib spelling assignment for our Language Arts Class. Enjoy, and R&R please!!



         Bella arrived at the bus station at half past 12. She had 30 minutes before her bus was scheduled to arrive so she sat down on one of the old gray benches to wait. She shivered. It was the middle of February, and a fresh blanket of snow had just covered the city, and it was frigid outside. Bella had only been sitting there a minute, when a little boy of about eight approached her.

         “Excuse me, is this seat taken?” he asked.

         “No, go ahead,” Bella replied. So he sat down beside her.

         “My name’s Andrew. What’s yours?”

         “Bella.”

         “That’s a pretty name,” he complimented.

         “Thanks,” she said.

         “The weather’s been awfully cold lately,” he said.

         “Uh, huh,” she replied. Couldn’t he see that she didn’t feel like talking?

         “Why do you have all those bags?” Andrew asked, suddenly very curious.

         “Because I’m leaving.”

         “How come?” he questioned. Oh my gosh, she thought. This kid is getting on my nerves.

         “Shouldn’t you be with your parents or something?” she asked.

         “My mom said that I was allowed to wait here until she was done shopping. She always goes shopping on Wednesday.” Just my luck, Bella thought to herself.

         “So why are you leaving?” Andrew asked again. Bella was definitely losing her patience by now. Just breathe, she told herself. Only 20 more minutes until the bus arrives. She could tolerate this kid for that long.

         “It’s kind of a long story,” she said.

         “I have time,” he replied hopefully. She sighed. It couldn’t hurt. She was never going to see Andrew again so why did it matter if he knew?

         “Ugh fine,” she said, “but you have to promise not to interrupt.”

        “I promise,” he said with a grin.

        “Well,” Bella began, “about three weeks ago I found out that my dad had, had… ” Her voice cracked and her eyes were suddenly wet and blurred her vision. This was going to be more difficult than she had originally thought “…had cancer,” she finally managed to stammer out.  She paused a moment to pull herself together, then continued with her story.

“The doctor told him he had no more than six months to live, if he was lucky to even live that long. Of course, this tragic news affected my family. Then one day on his way home from work, about a week after hearing the news, my dad’s tire came loose and the car started spinning. He slammed on the brake, but not quick enough, because his car ended up crashing through the window of a department store. No one from the store was hurt, but my dad wasn’t so lucky. He had a break in his skull, four broken ribs, a broken leg, and severe brain damage. He died only five hours after the accident, in the hospital. He had a lot of injuries though, so it was understandable. Naturally, this came as a complete surprise to all of us. We expected to have him with us for so much longer. In fact, it had such an effect on my grandmother, his mother, that she became very ill after he died and had a very hard time coping. My dad’s funeral was three days after the accident. When that was all over, his lawyer recommended that I go through my dad’s belongings thoroughly and decide which things I would like to keep. After of that was taken care of, I called my mom to make arrangements for when I should leave to go stay with her. She wanted to pick me up that day, but I convinced her that I was perfectly capable, not to mention old enough, to take the bus the four hours to her house. A few days later I was all packed and ready to go. It was hard to leave the apartment where my dad and I had lived for nine years. It held so many memories, but I was able to pull myself together and walk to the bus station. And that’s where I am now.” Andrew just stared at her for a few moments before speaking.

        “Doesn’t your mom live with you?”

        “No, they separated when I was two, and divorced when I was three.”

        “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said sympathetically.

        “Did your dad leave you anything special?” he asked. Bella’s mind immediately shifted to the rose.

        “Yes, he had left me a rose, and a letter. He did that the day he found out about the cancer because he didn’t know how long he’d be around, and he wanted me to have something to remember him by. The rose stayed really nice, until the day he died. It wilted the morning before the car accident. I just threw it away, not even giving it a second thought. In the letter my dad gave to me, it described his entire life. I read it aloud to myself every night.” Bella took a breath, and blinked several times, trying to keep from crying again.

        “He signed the letter, ‘Sincerely, your loving father.’” This time she couldn’t hold it back and a single tear slipped down her cheek and came to a halt on her dry, cracked lips.

        “Have you ever thought that your dad would have died whether or not the crash happened, because he had cancer?”

        “Yeah I know, but at least I would have had him for that much longer,” she whimpered, slightly annoyed.

        “Bus 93 has arrived at the station. Bus 93,”came a clear, deep voice over the loudspeaker.

        “Isn’t that your bus?” Andrew asked.

        “Um, yeah, thanks.” Bella reached over to pick up her bags, then turned around to say goodbye to Andrew. But as she turned to face him, he was now where in sight.

        “Andrew?” Where did he... a sight interrupted her thought. There, lying on the bench was a white envelope, and beside it, a deep–red–rose. Bella reached to pick up the envelope, her hands shaking uncontrollably. She slowly opened it. Inside was an old, withered piece of paper. The message was written in very fancy script that resembled calligraphy, and read,





“Here lies a rose, for someone who needs it now more than ever. May it be a whisper of hope, in a silent night of sorrow.”





         

        Bella picked up the rose with quivering hands, and turned to leave the station, as her already moist eyes welled up with tears, once more.