White Walls

I was sitting in my room doing my homework when I got the call. The news came as a huge shock to me. The white walls on all four sides felt as though they were closing in on me. Dropping my phone to the ground, I stared into space. My room around me - everything form the purple curtains to the wooden furniture to al my belongings scattered everywhere - became a blur. It's never easy hearing that your life long best friend has cancer.

Jake was the most caring person I had ever met. We had known each other since kindergarten and had grown to treat each other as siblings. He was loved by everyone and always stuck up for what he believed in. Apart from that, his dark brown eyes, black, scruffy hair and contagious smile won the attention of everyone around him.

After being best friends for seven years we knew practically everything about each other and losing him was the worst experience I have ever had to go through. He tried his best to fight he cancer, but after fighting for two years, he lost his battle and hopefully passed on to a better place. I still remember going with him, his family and my family for his weekly check-ups. I always hated those. While Jake was being examined we were forced to wait in a small room. The walls of the room were pure white which made the room very bright. There were no paintings or designs on the wall, no carpets on the white marble floor and no table cloth on the white, round coffee table situated in the middle of the room surrounded by four white sofas. The large window next to the door overlooked a huge, beautiful garden where the elderly patients could be seen being wheeled around in wheel chairs. Waiting for Jake to come out of the examination room would always seem like an eternity. Perched on the window sill, I would stare out into the sky, sitting absolutely still, listening to the deep breathing of the other people in the room, the ticking of my wrist watch, or the occasional ringing of someone's cell phone, until someone would come to get me to tell me that Jake was done with his check-up and it was time to leave. As much as I hated going for those check-ups, I never missed a single one.

Jake eventually left us one evening. It was the month of October - the weather had been perfect all day with its bright blue sky and cooling breeze. However, once the news of Jake's death reached us, the bright blue sky turned grey for us and the "cooling" breeze made me shiver. The next few weeks passed in a daze. Walking through my house, the white walls appeared black in my eyes, music that I normally enjoyed now sounded like noise and the smell of even my favorite food being cooked didn't affect me in any way.

It's been nearly three years since I lost my best friend and I miss him everyday. But over time Jake has - in his own special way - helped me get through this nightmare. He made sure that my skies were always blue, and my sun was always shining.

Today, as I recall the last nine years of my life, I remember the first seven years - and my time with Jake, and I remember the last two years - and my time without him and I know that he is watching over me. Our friendship is like the wind - I can't see it, but I can feel it. Everything around me seems almost as perfect as it was three years ago. The sun shining through my bedroom brightens up the room as I sing along to the music playing from my stereo. The smell coming from the kitchen tells me that lunch will be ready soon. And my white walls no longer seem so black.