by Lily Garner

Created on: July 08, 2009

The Graveyard

It's hard when a friend passes away. At the age of thirteen, I shouldn't have to deal with that; it's far too much to handle. Yet people go through it, every day. People my age continuously have to deal with the problem of loss. I truly believe, however, that I have had it worse than everyone else. Because as hard as it is when a friend dies, what happened to my friend makes it even harder to deal with. It makes it so hard to cope.

Joanna had been my friend for years. When we were younger she was always getting me into scrapes. I was the good girl, the innocent one who was always led astray. She was always adventurous, too adventurous. Everybody said she'd get herself into serious trouble if she didn't stop being such a risk taker. They were right.

"Oh, come on May! It'll be fun!" Joanna giggled at me. "You know you want to..."

"No! I don't, Jo. It's really childish." I glared at her. She was making another ridiculous plan, finding another way to get us both into trouble.

"Why, are you scared?" She prodded me, laughing.

"I'm not scared!" I protested. "I just can't see why we don't go trick or treating, like we always do."

But that was too boring for Joanna. She craved excitement and danger; this Halloween she wanted more than knocking on people's doors, asking for sweets. She wanted to experience the supernatural.

I didn't know why I was resisting so much. I knew that nothing would come of it; there was no such thing as the supernatural, after all. But I still didn't want to spend an evening in a graveyard, especially on Halloween.

Nevertheless, Joanna always got her away. She had a magic quality that made it hard to say no to her. The way her eyes lit up when she had a new plan, the way she talked fast as she explained her new scheme; it was captivating. And after being friends for so long she knew how to persuade me.

Looking back at that day makes me hate myself. I think about how different things would be if I had just stared her straight in the eye, and for once in my life said no. Everything is wrong, mixed up, because I was too weak to stop her.

The sance was planned. We were to head out to the graveyard at nine o clock. I didn't realise it was the last plan we would ever make together. If I had known just what it would do...Sometimes I think that, wondering, wishing. I had never realised how important the decisions we make are before that night. How one insignificant choice can change the entire world. I see everything in such

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