Faith

My beloved sister pushed me hard, and right in the stomach. I opened my mouth to protest, but I didn’t have time before a rush of air momentarily blinded me. A car accelerated past.

When I opened my eyes, Faith was gone. I turned, and saw a limp, pale body being dragged down the street on the car’s wheels. My Faith… what happened?

A week later, I stood by my sister’s coffin, in my black dress. Everyone around me was crying, crying. I didn’t want to come here. I just wanted to think, to be thankful for the time I’d had with her. Faith had been my best friend. She was born in the same month as me, only a year later. People always said we looked like twins, and we were close enough to feel that we were.

As much as I felt like screaming out, though, I kept quiet until I was alone with her, now deep below in a grave. I knelt by the gravestone, begging God to give her back to me. But I knew I would never see her again…



The days passed slowly… Every morning I would wake up, walk to Faith’s room to wake her up for school, and then walk away sadly as the reality settled in. I didn’t go to school anymore; everyone tried too hard to be sympathetic about something they knew nothing about, and it made it hard to forget why I wouldn’t see her when I got home. Every time I did come home, I searched the house for her.

We used to play hide-and-seek if one of us got home before the other. Faith’s favorite spot was in the laundry cupboard. I always hid under a bed, because I could drape the sheets off the side, and be quite unseen for as long as I wanted. I still sat there sometimes, waiting for her to come.



***

One day, a little less than a month without Faith, I saw her. She wasn’t a fleeting image that drives people mad, but she was perfect; more perfect than she’d ever been while she was alive. The elegant white dress she wore flowed out behind her in a passing breeze. It didn’t look like a wedding dress, but any bride would be jealous. She seemed to mirror me; her face was expressionless, and a silent tear was coming down her cheek. Why was she crying? She was perfect… she didn’t need to cry.

I stepped forward to hush her, and wipe her tear, but she turned and drifted away. As she left I saw two feathery, graceful wings, as perfect as she was.

What had I done wrong? Why had I made her leave? Didn’t she love me anymore, for taking away her life? Questions raced through my saddened mind, but the most prominent one presented itself to me: Was it my fault? If I hadn’t been there, would my sister be alive? I supposed I’d never know, but it didn’t stop me wondering…

But it wasn't fair! Shouldn’t something happen to save her? After all, Faith was the one that saved me. I hadn’t seen her look so sad since our Father had died…

I was sick of feeling like this. I knew it was wrong for someone my age to want to do this, but I spent the day away from school again, crossing back and forth across the road- the one with six lanes and no crossing. Cars skidded and stopped, then angrily beeped their horns at me. It was humiliating- I couldn’t even die properly.

A bus came around the corner, travelling a fair bit faster than any of the cars had been. Faith appeared like magic, looking even sadder than she had last time. She took my hand and quickly led me off the road. We stood behind some trees. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"I love you Molly…" she murmured. "You don't need to do this for me." I stood there, almost in shock, then hugged her tight, and was very glad she was an angel, not a ghost.



She still loved me… that was all I ever needed to know…