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Our first place High School winning entry is by Kenzie Rivenbark, a ninth grade student attending Briar Woods High School in Ashburn, Virginia. |
“Ha, can't catch up to me!” I exclaimed as I sped past Harvey. He rolled his eyes.
“Yes Astrid,” Harvey replied in a sarcastic tone. He started to jog a little faster.
“Not fast enough if you want to win the race... this is training after all, not a silly walk,” I called out once again. I know he can go faster, I thought to myself, I just need to push him. That's what best friends are for anyway. I turned back around and continued down the long road. It was chilly out; the cold air burned my lungs as small drops of rain stung my red face. I was lost in my own thoughts when out of nowhere Harvey came hurtling towards me. It all happened too fast. He grabbed my waist and shoved me to the other side of the road as a black SUV screeched its brakes. My knees scraped against the asphalt as I tumbled. I felt warm blood soak into my running pants. My head was ringing as I lifted it off the road. My hand reached up to touch a bloody ear. I looked over to see where Harvey had gone. He was lying in a heap on the other side of the road; motionless.
“No!” I screamed, but my voice sounded muffled inside my own head. I limped over to his side and cradled him in my arms as tears streamed down my face. In the distance I heard the car as it sped away, but my vision was to blurry to see it. By the time the ambulance came it was too late. I felt weighed down by over 10,000 tons. The world seemed to spin before me. He saved my life, I thought, and I never even got to say good-bye.
Yeah, yeah Astrid, I thought to myself as she tried to tease me into running faster. Girls are so pushy. I rolled my eyes, knowing I was not really complaining. I do like Astrid. She's my best friend after all. I heard a noise behind me that snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned around to see a black SUV swerving from one side of the road to the other. It was going very fast and I realized it was going to hit Astrid if she didn't move. My legs acted before my mouth even had a chance to call out to her. I rushed over and pushed her to the other side of the street as unbearable pain rushed through my whole body. The car hit me hard and I fell to the ground. I heard the tires screech as it took off once more. I rushed over to where Astrid was lying on the side of the road. “Astrid!” I cried, “Are you alright?” But Astrid picked herself off the ground and stared horrified at something on the other side of the street. It's like she can't even hear me, I thought to myself. I reached out to touch her but my hand went straight through hers. I turned around to glance at what she was looking at; my body was crumpled in a bloody heap. Throw-up choked me in my throat and I felt dizzy. A million thoughts popped into my head at once but were interrupted as Astrid hobbled over to my body. I followed behind her, dazed. She gently picked me up and hugged me close, tears and blood dripped down her face. I'm a ghost, I thought, and she can't see or hear me.
After a night in the hospital and a long interview with the police in the morning I was exhausted. My whole body felt bruised as I stiffly shuffled into the kitchen. With my race registration forms in my hand, I shoved them into the trash bin with great force. Even pulling an angry face hurts.
“What are you doing Astrid?” My mom asked in a tone like honey. She knew I was heart- broken and had been trying to make me feel better. Ignoring her question, I hobbled back into the living room and fell down onto the plush couch. There, I stared at a picture of Harvey that had been taken just a few weeks ago, before his death. My mom opened the bin lid and pulled out the forms I had just thrown away. She didn't even look me in the eye when she said: “You know Harvey would have wanted you to do this.” Silence. She was about to put them back in the trash when I stopped her hand.
“Your right,” I said in an icy tone, “I'm not allowed to have fun though; it would only be for him.” With that I took the forms from her hand and shuffled to my bedroom. “Harvey would have wanted you to have fun,” she called after me. But it didn't make sense. Why should I be allowed to have fun while he's dead? I asked myself. Anyway, I was supposed to be the one to die, not him; and I will NEVER forgive myself for that. I changed into my running cloths although even the idea of running was painful. If I'm going to do this race for him I might as well win it, I convinced myself as I headed out the door.
I felt weird being on the outside; watching everything happen although nobody sees you. I followed Astrid to the hospital and stood with her as they stitched up her deep wounds. I winced as she did and spoke comforting words she could not hear. I sat with her during the police interview and nodded in agreement as she retold my death. I even went home with her and cried out as I watched her throw away her racing forms. Thank goodness her mom stopped her. I practiced running with her every day. If frustrated me to see her so sad and I wished I could fix it. I would do anything to see her smile again. I wish she knew I was here for her, I thought to myself often, if only she knew I loved her. Unknown to Astrid, I was always going to always be with her, because ghosts never die.
I woke up to the blaring sound of my alarm. It read: 4:30am. Day of the race, I thought to myself as I rolled out of bed. I grabbed a banana and at 5:30 we left the house. I had to be there
an hour early as the race started at 6:45am. For you, Harvey, I thought to myself as I gently slipped the picture of him into my short pocket. A tear glided down my cheek. It still felt like his death had happened mere seconds ago; while in reality it had been months. My mom dropped me off at registration.
“I'll be waiting for you at the finish line sweetie,” she said, “I love you and you will do great!”
“I love you too,” I replied as she smiled and drove off to find a parking spot among the sea of cars. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down and jogged a bit to get warmed up. I lined up at the starting line as the race would soon begin. “For you Harvey, I would do anything,” I whispered softly. And the race began.
The race was through the woods and the more I followed Astrid the more worried I became. She was in the lead but another racer was always just around the corner. She did not look good; her face was drawn and pale; her legs shook with each step she took. It began to rain and the trail soon became slippery with mud. She stumbled every so often and once I dived in to catch her fall, realizing at the last minute that she would go through me. Things were not looking so good.
I felt awful. Gloom seemed to be taking over my body; setting me up for failure. It had begun to rain halfway through the race. I glanced back to see how far away that other runner was. But there was not a runner in sight. A black SUV was instead swerving from to side to side, speeding straight towards me. I blinked. No, it was the runner that had been trailing me this whole time. Not a car. I turned back around to face the trail in front of me. My heart seemed to stop as I let out a scream of terror. Harvey's dead body was lying there in the middle of the trail. I blinked again but it was too late as I tripped over the fallen tree branch I had mistaken for his corpse. The picture of Harvey slipped out my pocket into the squishy mud as my leg made a sickening crunch beneath me. Tears of anguish streamed down my face. “Harvey!” I wailed, “I wish you were here!” And then he was. His figure was at first misty, but as he approached it grew clear. His face seemed to glow as his soft brown eyes gazed at me through the heavy rain. He bent over and scooped me up; careful not to bother my leg. “I miss you,” I choked as a gush of more tears soaked my face.
“I miss you too,” he replied gently. He wiped my tears softly with his hand and tucked my damp hair behind my ears. I hugged him close as he whispered in my ear: “I wanted to see you one last time; I wanted to say goodbye.”
“It...... should.... have..... been... me!” I gasped between shallow breaths.
“Shhhh....,” he replied calmly, “I chose to save you, Astrid.”
“That doesn't mean you should have; I should have stopped you!” I stated hotly. But even as I said it I knew it was pointless, not to mention childish to continue the argument. I took a few deep breaths until I was breathing evenly. I felt my body relax as I listened to the sound of the rain falling around us. Harvey continued to hug me and I wished this moment would never end.
“I love you, Astrid,” Harvey softly murmured into my ear. “I love you too, Harvey,” I replied.
“Are you ready to finish what we started?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said in a determined voice. I felt a new found strength building up inside, something I had been suppressing until just then. Harvey gently set me down; one arm still wrapped under mine to help support my injured leg. We began to walk. Pain shot through my leg with each step I took. It started to make my vision blurry and I could feel vomit in my mouth. But I pushed the thought of pain aside. After what seemed like forever we finally caught sight of the finish line.
“Only a few more feet; come on Astrid you can do it!” he called. He could tell I was uncomfortable and had tried to pick me up. Of course I refused. This race was for us to finish together, not one carrying the other across the finish line. By now the pain was unbearable and I felt ready to collapse. So I thought of something to distract me from my discomfort. Only three more steps. I closed my eyes and let Harvey guide me. 1st Step: happy memories flooded my mind; mainly of when Harvey and I first met in kindergarten. 2nd Step: I found myself laughing out loud; thinking about different times Harvey had done something goofy to make me laugh. 3rd Step: I thought about that moment Harvey and I stood in the rain, the power I had felt being as a team again. By the time I opened my eyes again we had already crossed the finish line. Medics were rushing to my side and I felt Harvey warm touch slipping away. I looked up to see his face gently fading. I reached out to him; only to feel something cold and wet slip into my hand. And then everything went black. I awoke in the hospital the next morning to find my leg in a white cast. My vision was slightly blurry, but as things came into focus I saw something folded in my hand. I looked down to see the picture of Harvey I had dropped during the race. I smiled to myself, knowing that although I could not see him, Harvey would always be at my side.
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