Untitled by Noa

I kneel on the cold, damp grass. I stare in disbelief at Tom, my friend of ten years, lying in a mangled heap on the ground. Flames crackling, the car we were in sits in an unrepairable mess, hood in the trunk of a large redwood tree. The autumn wind blows, carrying my friend's spirit into oblivion.

"This can't be happening," I think to myself as tears stream down my face, frozen in shock.

Minutes prior, Tom and I were having the time of our lives. Having graduated from high school, we were of to a post-grad party. While outside the car it was a torrential downpour, we were thinking of the good times to come -- not only at the party, but at Johns Hopkins University, where we were to attend next fall. Tom and I had bright futures ahead of us. We both were straight A students and were the stars of our respective varsity sports teams. Both of us wanted to get degrees in medicine, and we were on our way to success. While I was the more pessimistic of one, Tom always had I smile on his face that seemed to infect everyone who looked at him, including negative me.

We were laughing and listening to our favorite music as we sped through the almost flooded roads. Suddenly, on a sharp turn, the car slipped and we headed straight for the large trees off of the road. Screaming in fear we braced ourselves for impact. As the car hit the tree, we were thrown forwards. The airbags deployed I was safely stopped, but Tom who hadn't been wearing his seatbelt, violently flew through the windshield out of the car. Hurriedly opening the car door and ignoring my own wounds, I hobbled out and began to search for my friend.

"Tom? Tom!" I shouted desperately.

Then I saw him lying on the grass, limbs bent in awkward positions. You know what happened next.

Shortly after, an ambulance came to take us to the hospital. They already knew Tom was dead the second they saw him.

It was raining the day of the funeral. Everyone dressed in dark attire and wore grim expressions on their faces. Many cried, but I cried the hardest. I knew that he was never coming back, but I also knew that he would want me to move on. It took a long time, but after many weeks I finally managed to put a smile back on my face, like Tom always had on his.