Candles

[flying_kiwifruit]

A Story that me and my friend wrote togther i wrote the basic story line and she then expaned it for me. I know it is long but that is what my friends speciality is, making things looooooooonnnnnnng

Candles- By Natalie and Gaylene

Crash.
Boom.
I lay huddled in my bed, scared. I was debating running to mum's room, but I knew I couldn't, all because of a storm just like this one. It all happened just under a year ago…

"Hey Margaret, hey Judith, hey Andy," I called to my friends as I passed them in turn.
It was such a beautiful day that I couldn't help smiling and being in a great mood.
The bell rung and I hurry to my classroom, not wanting to make Mrs. Stephens angry. I love my teacher. She is so cool, she even gives us treats if we're good - but there's one thing that really annoys her. Lateness, one of my common mistakes. I can't help being late. I like to talk and then I lose track of time and, then the bell goes and I'm on the wrong side of the school to my class - you get the point.
This would not have been a problem if the stupid school had only put me and my friends in the same class. But, no, they split me and them up on purpose simply because we like having conversations together.
I walked into class a few minutes later, only to hear the sing-song tune of, "You're late, Kate."
I hate it when she does that. Just because my name rhymes with "late" does not mean she has to say that every time I'm late.
"Sorry Miss," I replied automatically.
"No, sorry won't do it this time Kate." She doesn't even look up from the class roll. "Go to Mrs. Petrie, now."
Oops, now I've done it. Mrs. Petrie is the meanest, foulest, most horrible person I've ever met. What's even worse is that she's the head of the year fives to eights at my school. So, head down, I walk over to her office, expecting the absolute worst.
As soon as I arrive she snaps at me from her chair behind her desk. "What are you doing here Kate Rogers?"
"Mrs. Stephens sent me here," I stammered.
"Because you've been late for the last two weeks, consecutively," Petrie barks. "Do you mind telling me why you have been late for those last ten occasions, Miss Rogers?"
"Well, it's not really my fault Miss," I tried to tell her. "You see, my friends’ class is on the other side of the school to mine, and I meet up with them before the bell, but then while we're talking the bell goes and it's impossible for me to get to class on time."
"That's no excuse Miss Rogers," Petrie told me roughly. "I want to see your parents about this matter. I'll call them tonight."
My stomach plunged to the floor. "But Miss -"
"Go back to class please Miss Rogers."
I slowly dawdled to class and sat down, feeling like I was going to die. She couldn't get my parents involved, that would be worse than a year of detention.
I hardly noticed anything around me; I was too busy in my own thoughts. When the bell rang, I took a second to think before I ran back to Mrs. Petrie's office to plead my case and change her mind.
When I got there she was still at her desk. She looked up at me with a brusque frown. "Not in more trouble are you Miss Rogers?"
I shook my head. "I just need to talk about this morning. See -"
But she cut me off. "There is nothing to be discussed Miss Rogers,' Petrie said.”What I said is final."
"But Miss -"
"Do not "But Miss" me young lady," she barked. "What I said goes. Now, please, go to interval."
I slouched out of the room, my spirit trailing behind me. I met my friends where I usually do and realized that they all had heard about me being sent to see Mrs. Petrie. They could barely wait for me to tell them what had happened.
Not even their comforting wishes of luck could bring me out of being so upset.

That night I tried my best to delay getting home. I took the long route, dawdling and tying my shoes a dozen times. I really, really did not want to be there when the phone call came from Mrs. Petrie.
By the time I got home, I saw my parents sitting quietly in the living room, their faces like thunder clouds.
"Why do you think the Head of the Senior School rang us, asking to meet with us?" Mum roared, getting up from the sofa.
"Uh, coz I've been a bit late the last couple of days," I replied weakly.
"Couple of days? Don't you mean a couple of weeks?" Dad growled, standing right next to Mum. "I mean, how can you be late for two weeks Kate? It takes fifteen minutes to get to school and you leave here with plenty of time."
"Dad, it's not my fault," I tried to explain.
"Go to your room," Mum told me. "You're grounded for two weeks. Every day you're late for school from now on will be one more day on top of that."
I hurried off to my room before they could yell at me more. I sat on my bed, wondering what I was going to do.
I looked around, trying to think. I saw my reading book, 'Love, Mates and Money'sitting on my desk and reached out for it. I flipped it open to where I'd left my bookmark and picked up where I'd left off.

I jumped with fright as Mum yelled down the hall. Looking out the window, I saw the rain streaming down outside.
"Kate, hurry up would you? What's taking so freaking long?"
I put my book back on my desk and went to my door. "What?"
"Get changed, we're going to the school."
"Why do I have to come?"
Mum gave me an angry look. "Well, it's your mess, and we can't leave you on your own."
I sighed and closed the door to get changed.
By the time I got to the car my stomach was turning over leaving me to dread the worst once again.
When we got to the school Mrs. Petrie was waiting for us. We got out and hurried inside, trying to stay as dry as we could.
"Hey, Mum, we're going to need some more candles," I said, turning to her. I didn't know if she'd heard me but I wasn't really worried. I loved the dark.
The meeting wasn't as bad as it could have been. I had a week's detention to look forward to and I had to help a teacher at lunch throughout the week.
We ran back out to the car after Mrs. Petrie thanked my parents for coming down. I got into the back, sitting behind Mum as she and Dad got in. She started the car, backed out and started home.
The intersection just outside my school has a shopping complex on the other side of it. Before we got to the junction, I didn't hear the indicator clicking. I looked over Mum's shoulder and saw that she hadn't flicked it on.
"Mum, the candles," I told her again.
She stamped on the brake. I looked left out of the other side window. Headlights were coming towards us.
I screamed.
That was the last thing I can remember before I blacked out.

I opened my eyes gently. I didn't know what had happened, or where I was, but then those headlights flashed before my eyes.
I started to cry. What had happened to Mum and Dad?
A nurse came in when she heard me. She told me there had been an accident. While I waited, she went to find Mum and my doctor. It took a few minutes, and all I could think about were those headlights coming towards me.
Mum hobbled in on a pair of crutches. I started crying again. What had happened? Where was Dad?
Mum came over to my bed. "Look, it's alright Kate. Everything will be okay."
"Where's Dad?" I asked. My voice was sore and croaky.
The doctor came in before Mum could tell me. "Kate, hi, I'm Doctor Bauer. Could I ask you to move your legs please?"
I frowned. Why, what was the matter? "Sure," I murmured. I moved my left leg out to the side. Or at least, I thought I had. But I hadn't. I tried again, but nothing happened. I tried to move my other leg but nothing happened. I started to panic, not believing it.
What was wrong, why aren’t my legs working, and why does my back hurt. What’s happening to me?
The doctor stepped up beside my bed and gently looked into my eyes. "Breathe," he instructed. "Nice and slow, come on."
I took a deep breath and did as he told me. "What's going on?" I asked him.
His eyes told me that things were really bad, before he could say a thing. "I need to take a couple of scans, but you may be paralyzed from your waist down."
I looked down to the end of the bed. I didn't even notice when he left the room to book a radiology session. This was too much.
I turned to Mum. "Where's Dad?"
Tears filled her eyes as she told me. "He was killed in the crash. The paramedics couldn't do anything."
I blinked. What? Why? I wanted to roll over and cry, but I was not allowed to, I was not allowed to do anything but lay there. I closed my eyes. How could my Dad be gone when I was alive but paralyzed?

In the next few days I learnt what had happened: the headlights I had seen belonged to the car that hit us. The passenger side of our car had been hit. The side that Dad was on.
I had been in a coma for the last week. I missed his funeral, my last chance to say goodbye to him.
Tomorrow I was going to be transferred to a special unit for SCI’s (Spinal Cord Injuries)

When I got into the SCI unit everyone was so welcoming but I did not want to have anything to do with anybody. I had to wait another week so all the swelling to go down before I could start any type of physical therapy to improve my chances of using my legs again but after a week of trying and many more x-rays they decided that it was pointless to do anymore work on my legs because there was no chance of me using them again.
So that was the verdict I would never use my legs again, I was a cripple for the rest of my life. I would never be normal again. My friends wanted to visit me but I would not let them see me this way, not until I was at least a little more normal looking and out of hospital.
Since I was not going to be using my legs again I had to learn to use a wheel chair and build up my strength in my arms. I have never had much upper arm strength so that would be a challenge. What I did not realize was that it would be much harder to learn how to use a wheel chair.
After my first “lesson” in wheel chair use I could barley go in a straight line let alone turn? When I woke up in the morning my arms were killing me and I had another silly lesson today. I just wanted top go home and leave all this behind.

 

[flying_kiwifruit]

Over the next few weeks my arms slowly got stronger and I slowly got better and better at steering the wheel chair.
The week following that, I was released from the hospital with a wheelchair. The physio wasn't doing anything. I went home knowing that I had a difficult road the rest of my life. I was paralyzed.
When we got home we found that there would have to be renovations to the house to make it more wheelchair-friendly. The front stairs to our house were tall and the first challenge. Mum and I just stared at them, wondering how I was going to get in.
"Couldn't we use the timber from behind the shed?" I offered.
Mum brought them out from the back of the house and set them up on the stairs as a make-shift ramp. I tried to push myself up them but I couldn't, I wasn't strong enough. Mum took hold of the handles behind my head and pushed me up. I wheeled myself into the lounge. Mum sat on the sofa and asked whether or not to let the cat in.
"You better let her in," I told her. "She'll be dying to see the inside of the house again."
She went out to let Padfoot in and I stayed in the lounge, listening. The sliding door opened and she seemed to barge in and realize at once that something was wrong. When she saw me, she stopped. Usually she bounces all over me and fights to put her head on my lap.
She walked calmly over and, instead of sitting at my feet, she just watched me.
Tears filled my eyes. If Padfoot wasn't sure of me, how could the people at school react?
It was the holidays, so I didn't have to go straight back to school, but I knew eventually I would. How would I explain what had happened, how Dad had been killed, how I had lost the ability to walk or run or be normal ever again?

I rolled into the kitchen the next morning and saw that Mum was at the table, filling out forms.
"What are all those for?" I asked her, going to the fridge.
She sighed. "I've been getting quotes about renovating the house for you. Now I've got to sort out a loan for it. I've also put in an application for a disability dog."
My heart leapt. "I'm getting a dog?"
"Maybe. We'll see if the foundation accepts it."
"What breed?"
"I don't know Kate. It's too early yet, alright?"
She had snapped at me a bit, but I hardly noticed. Having a disability dog would make my life a lot easier. It would be able to do most of the things I couldn't. They're trained to do the most basic of inabilities, like opening and closing doors and cupboards, flick light switches, even go for help if I needed them to. It was the only thing on my mind when I went to sleep.

About a week before school started, Mum got drunk. It was too muggy to sleep so I came out of my room and wheeled myself into the lounge.
Mum looked up. She had been crying and I could see that she was upset about something.
"Mum, are you alright?" I asked.
She started yelling at me, screaming that Dad died because of me, that it was all my fault. I had yelled and distracted her and the car had hit us and killed him because of me. I was always getting in trouble at school and it was my fault that we were out and the crash had happened. "And now, because of you and your bloody wheelchair I've got this huge loan around my neck to change everything in sight," she hollered.
I was shocked. I knew I was crying and before she had finished I took myself out of the lounge and went out the front door. It was open, so I pushed myself out. As I was going down, one of my wheels drifted off the edge of the ramp and I rolled off, falling out of the chair and landing face first on the ground.
Mum had come out of the door after me. She tried to get me back in my chair but she wasn't strong enough. I managed to roll half of myself over while she went to the neighbors. Cliff came over and lifted me back into the chair. He pushed me up the ramp and took me inside. I wheeled myself to my room. I didn't want to talk to her or anyone. I got into bed and cried myself to sleep. It was my fault Dad was dead.

I didn't want to go to out the next morning. I didn't even want to see Mum. I didn't want to do anything.
Mum came in and woke me up. She helped me shower and get ready. She even walked me, now that we didn't have a car. I wasn't in the mood to talk, but she stopped me before I could go into the library.
"Don't you ever do what you did last night, again," she told me. I saw a couple of tears and wheeled myself away. I didn't want her to feel sorry for me, I didn't want anybody to.
When I went into the library, the librarian showed me a desk that they has especially for people in wheelchairs "so it would be easier for me".
I gave her a smile, even though I didn't feel very happy. The librarian felt sorry for me, my Dad was killed because of me, my Mum hates me and I'm in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. What was there to be happy about?

But now I'm lying in bed. I'm not going to go to Mum. She'd just feel sorry for me. There was a call from the school yesterday, asking for me to speak at the next full assembly about the crash and what happened to me. I really don't want to. I'm not a public speaker, I hate it. But how else will I be able to make people understand and stop feeling sorry for me?
My friends have come over a couple of times. Not that I wanted them to. I don't think they really wanted to either, but mum insisted they did, saying it would be good for me.
I roll over to my new desk and start writing. I don't know how I was going to explain what had happened or why I was in a wheelchair without throwing myself a pity party. So I started writing like this

The principal has asked me to tell you guys about what happened to me. I just want to ask you one thing - do not feel sorry for me.
About a month ago, me, Dad and Mum were in a car accident which killed my Dad. Mum was fine, and I survived but now I don't have the use of my legs. I'm paralyzed.
There are two important things you need to know: don't help unless asked, and don't feel sorry for me. That's all.

I read it through. Short and sweet. Wait. What was that? Through a couple blasts of thunder I can hear - Mum. She's in her room crying.
I wheel myself out of my room and into hers.
"Mum," I called as I moved in, "what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"It's just been so tough lately," she answered through a mask of tears, "with your Dad dying and you being paralyzed."
My anger flared up a thousand points. How could she say it's tough for her? She's not the one in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
I took myself out of the room and headed for the lounge to watch TV. I looked around for the remote. As you'd expect it was sitting right where I couldn't reach it. On a shelf by the TV. I wheeled over and tried to reach out for it. I started grasping for air, but I couldn't reach. I slid myself to the edge of my chair and found my hand got a little closer. Almost there…
I slipped too far and landed on the floor. It may have been a short fall but I was so surprised at it. I lay on the carpet, thinking that if only my legs could work I wouldn't be there.
I started to cry.

We got a letter from Family Angels. It's a foundation that lends a hand to crippled children, only it used the words "mildly disabled" instead. The letter said we were able to get up to $30,000 for renovations to the house. Under that was an insurance letter explaining that Mum would receive $20,000 for a new car, under the insurance policy.
Mum was overjoyed. I wasn't. It felt like people were just taking pity on us. When they found out about it they probably through, "Oh, that poor family. They lost a family member and the child is in a wheelchair. Let's give them some money."
My response: "I don't want your stinking money! It's all my fault, I deserve it."
I didn't tell Mum that. I didn't want to sound ungrateful.
Tomorrow's the first day of term four. I really do not want to make this speech but I know I have to. Mum's been helping me with it, trying to make it longer and better. I know I won't sleep tonight, worrying about it. Worrying about school.

I was so nervous the next morning that I couldn't eat. Mum tried to calm my nerves but there were too many questions going through my head. What would everyone think of me? Will they treat me different? They better not feel sorry for me. No one should feel sorry for me.
"Kate, it's time to go," Mum told me, taking her handbag from the table. "Come on, grab your bag and your lunch and I'll meet you out in the car."
In one way I was glad. In another way I was screaming, "No!"
All the way to school I was quiet. But once we pulled up at the gates, I started begging Mum not to make me go. She shook her head and didn't say anything. I had no choice.
Mum got out and took my wheelchair out from the backseat and brought it around to my door. She opened it and helped me into the chair. She gave me a pat on the back and a smile.
"It'll be okay Kate," she told me. I couldn't see how it would be, but I gave a meek smile back. She helped me onto the footpath before she left me to

 

[flying_kiwifruit]

face the school.
I heard people start to whisper about me as I wheeled myself into the gates. Things like "Look, she's back", and "Poor Kate" were being murmured quietly as I entered the world I used to know. This was far worse than I had imagined. Going back to school meant that my life was returning to normal, but without Dad there to guide me and support me, it would never be normal. This would be my life from now on. I pushed myself away, pretending I couldn't hear them.
The office lady, Mrs. Devlyn, was surprised to see me in a wheelchair, but she didn't ask. "Hello Kate, what can I do for you?"
"Hi," I replied politely. "Could I see Mr. Holder please?"
"What's it about?"
"Well, I need to ask about wheelchair access and the assembly today."
She smiled. I knew that smile well. It was a pity smile. "He's a bit busy at the moment, but if you can wait about ten minutes, you can see him."
I nodded and she went back to her desk, continuing whatever she was doing there. I took myself over to the waiting couch. Of course I couldn't sit down, so I just waited next to it.
After about three minutes, Mrs. Stephens came past. "Kate, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I'm waiting for Mr. Holder," I explained.
"Not in trouble are you?" she asked. I shook my head and she smiled. "So what are you seeing him about?" she continued.
"Just a few things."
"Okay. Are you going to be alright getting around school?" she asked. I could hear the sympathy in her voice. "It’s just that all the classes have steps and now -"
"That's what I'm going to talk to him about," I said, cutting her off. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I didn't want her to keep talking like that. "I'll be fine," I added.
She wasn't very impressed with my reaction, but I couldn't help it. This was a stressful and emotional time for me. For her to assume that I didn't have things under control just made it a lot worse.
She excused herself and left. I wasn't too sad about it.
A few minutes later, Mr. Holder came out of his office to speak to me. "Kate,' he smiled, striding towards me. He was a short, bald and squat man with dark skin. He also had large hands and every time he greeted someone he shook their hand vigorously, as he did now with me. "Mrs. Devlyn explained there were some issues you wanted to bring up with me, regarding access to classrooms."
"Yes sir."
"Now, I realize that the majority of the classrooms have sets of stairs," Holder began, "but we will be constructing an access ramp for each set of classrooms soon. Does that put the issue to rest?"
"Yes, but there is something else sir," I told him.
"Yes?"
"Is it really that important for me to speak in assembly today?"
"Have you got cold feet Kate?" he smiled.
"I just don't want to," I explained. "I mean, it's bad enough that everybody is going to stare at me during the normal part of the day, do I really have to get up in front of the whole school and talk?"
He frowned. "I'd at least like to have it explained - perhaps I could read out your speech instead?"
I shrugged. "I guess. It's not that long." I reached around to the back of my chair and felt around my bag. I knew where everything was and I pulled my speech out and handed it to him.
"Thank you Kate," he smiled, looking over it quickly. "As for today, you'll be in the library. Mrs. Stephens will give you work and explain it all to you. So if you'd like to head over there and get started, I'm sure Mrs. Stephens will be waiting for you."
I left slowly, realizing that my day would not go well. I had offended Mrs. Stephens by snapping at her and now I was going to pay.
The library already had a wheelchair ramp leading up onto a deck. I had never noticed how steep it actually was, simply because all the time before now I had walked up. Now I was sitting down and it took quite a bit of energy to get to the top.
Mrs. Stephens was waiting at one of the work tables for me. I wheeled over and waited for her to tell me what I would be doing.
"Right," she started, looking to the pages in her hand. "This will be your work for a couple of hours. I'll check in on you in an hour to see that you're getting it done. When the bell rings for interval you can go."
At half past ten the bell rang; I almost felt like ignoring it. What would I do outside besides get gawked at by the rest of the school? Nothing. My friends wouldn't want to hang around with me either. However, Mrs. Harper, the librarian, wanted to go to the staff room so she ushered me out.
I took myself for a trip around the school and found my friends at their usual place, the bench under the rimu tree.
"Hey Kate," Andy called out.
I waved. They waved for me to come over to them.
"Hey guys," I said as I pushed myself over to them.
"How come you're not in class?" Judith asked. "I had to go over to your class earlier and I didn't see you."
I told them. They frowned sympathetically and quickly changed the subject.
People started coming up to us and watching me. I knew what they were thinking and I hated it.
The bell rang soon after they began arriving though.
"Come on Kate," Andy said, standing up and dusting his bottom off. "We've got to go to assembly."
My stomach dropped. Mr. Holder would be reading out my speech. I rolled at a short distance behind my friends, thinking about how horrible it all was, how stupid everybody thought I was and how angry I felt.
Mrs. Stephens led me inside the hall to a space reserved for my chair next to the Year Eight section of benches - right at the front. Judith, Margaret and Andy came up and sat beside me, which surprised me a bit. I didn't think they would, coz we usually sat at the back of the hall, away from the eyes of the principal and all the teachers.
I was desperately hoping Mr. Holder would get it over and done with, but he saved it for last. I had to sit anxiously through the regular start of term notices, then athletics certificates and awards. Finally he reached my part.
"As some of you will have noticed," he began, "a student who was injured last term has returned today. I have a speech she wishes me to read to you.
“‘To all of you I do not know and all of those that I do…' "

After assembly I started back to the library. Mrs. Stephens caught up with me and explained that I was supposed to head out to the field with the rest of the class.
So what do you do while twenty-something people are playing a game and you're stuck in a wheelchair?
"Kate," Mrs. Stephens called. I was supposed to be the umpire, but I couldn't help daydreaming. I wasn't really able to do much in a game of baseball, so I just watched and tried to pay as little attention as possible.
Once the game was over I went straight back to the library before Mrs. Stephens could tell me I was supposed to do something else that I couldn't really do.

September eighth was Dad's birthday. Every year we'd go out and celebrate. This year Mum didn't even seem to notice. She just did what she does everyday. I had wanted to go and see his gravesite, but I didn't think she would have been too happy about that.
Since Mum had to go out for an hour, she left me at home alone. I put Dad's favorite music on, then watched the rugby, just for him. I actually cried when Dan Carter got taken out for knee injury. Dad, why'd you have to go?
I didn't even realize that Mum had come home until she was standing in the doorway.
"What on earth are you blubbering about girl?" she snapped. I couldn't bring myself to remind her that it was Dad's birthday. "Stop your bloody crying and go clean your room, it's a pigsty. Go on!'
I dried my eyes and took myself down the hall. When my door was closed, I pushed myself out of my chair and onto my bed. Then I lay there, crying softly. Dad, why'd you have to go?

I went out to the mailbox the next morning instead of waiting at the table while Mum drank coffee and got herself ready for work.
I looked through the junk we got: bill from the guy that built the ramp, pamphlet from the supermarket, pamphlet from the other supermarket, bill from the electric company. All boring.
I made my way back into the house tossing the mail on the table. Mum let out a gasp.
"What?" I asked curiously.
She picked up the envelope I hadn't seen - the one from "Canine Helpers"
"Open it," she said, holding it out to me. Nervously, I ripped the top and pulled the letter out.
“‘Dear Mrs. Rogers, ' " I read.” ‘Your application for a trained disability dog has been accepted …' “I looked up with glee. We were getting a dog!
Mum took the letter from me and skimmed it. "Don't get too excited yet Kate," she warned me, looking at the letter. "They say the dog's commander - that would be you - needs to undertake six weeks training in Wellington, in two months." She gave a frown. "But we have to foot the bill. Kate, I don't know if we can afford this, especially considering I'd have to take time off work and you'd be off school - I mean, you just got back."
"But?" I ventured.
She contorted her lips. "If we have to, we have to." She smiled at me. "Looks like we're going to Wellington."

We came back from the trip with tones of experience and Mum and I had grown a little closer, having spent so much time together. That had been the only thing I was worried about; I thought we were going to fight all the time, but instead we got along like best friends. My dog is a German Shepard named Hobbit. He's so playful and gorgeous; he even gets along with Padfoot. He has been extraordinary help; I don't know how I ever got along without him.
Now there's only one more week of school left in the year. After that, I'll have finished Year Eight and be ready to move on to college. In theory. Mum took me to see a counselor, Belinda Tape. She seemed nice enough, but I got the feeling she was a bit phony.
"Kate, do you want to tell me why you're here?" she had asked when Mum left the room. I wasn't really in a talking mood, especially not about the crash.
"Mum thinks I need to see someone," I told her shortly, looking around the room without interest.
She smiled. "Kate, I'm gonna need you to talk to me about your Dad's death."
Well if you knew why I was here, why'd you ask me?
"Now, I understand you seem to be blaming yourself for what happened."
"Yeah, well, it's my fault."
"Kate, you need to understand that what happened was in no way caused by anything you've done. It was an accident and you aren't to blame."
I felt like screaming at her. She hadn't been there, she didn't know, she didn't understand. She didn't understand the hell I had been through in the last three months. How could she sit there and tell me how I should feel? Who was she to tell me I was wrong?
She kept asking me for details about how Dad died and I kept telling her nothing. I have to go and see her twice a week. It's still my fault.
I am going to be so bored these holidays. I can't do anything without help. I can't go to town because most shops have stairs and the movie theatre is two story’s up with no elevator.

Things were slowly getting with me and mum she was trying to understand what I was going through and I slowly got used to what my life had become.
I knew that life was going to be hard for a little while but I also knew that over time Mum and I would slowly adjust and what was a strange life now would soon become almost normal. It would never be normal because normal meant Dad would have to be alive and he was not and that is no ones fault. Who knows, this could end up being a good thing for me.

 

[LordoflordsKingofkings777]

So sad. I feel bad still for the relationship between her and her mother. Even though it said they had grown closer, I'm still left with a negative impression of their relationship. Maybe that's how you wanted it though. I'm just feeling like I'm left hanging a bit in that area{sorry, I'm a sucker for happy endings...LOL}.
Good story. I like the characters. You really gave insight into their personalities.

 

[flying_kiwifruit]

I have re written some of this. I love getting comments so I know how to improve it.

Nat

 

[deornie]

I really like it but to me it left the feeling that it is not finished... I actually did not expect that that was it...lol Sort of was waiting for more... But well done gals!