Up until I was 10, I wished everything would be fine. Mommy would get better. Daddy would come home. And my brother would come back.
My mom had Breast Cancer. My dad left when I was 5. And my brother had died from being hit by a drunk driver. So my wishes were useless. My dreams shattered before my eyes. My life was slowly turning to a horrible lie. Mom died when I was 13. Dad never came back. And you can't bring back the dead.
That all changed when I turned 19...
I live alone. I like it like that. At 10 in the morning, I went to get my mail. After throwing away the junk and useless stuff, I was left with 3 envelopes. 2 light blue envelopes, 1 pale white one. I ripped open the blue ones first. Bills. Next I opened the white one. My heart sped and I felt the blood drain from my face. Only 100 people got this same envelope. It was supposed to be some special kind of treat or gift of some sort. On mine, a face of a child stared back at me. Seriously, did they expect us to care for a child?! I opened the flyer up and stared. In the envelope was a small list. Just a simple list.
1. Meet caretaker.
2. Laugh.
3. Cry.
4. Make a new friend.
5. Live.
I look at what it said at the very bottom...
'Dear special reader,
You have recieved 1 of the 100 flyers. Within this flyer, you've recieved a list. This is the list of which you must do with your child. Not your child, the child we give you. These children in our organization have some sort of fatal illness. You're child, Alissa, has Bonemarrow Cancer. She will live no longer then 3 months, so say the doctors. We wish for these 100 children, that they will have a good rest of their short life. Thank you for reading and considering. Alissa will be arriving March 9th, at noon, at the St. Carter Airport.
Sincerly,
Angelica'
I read the message over three more times. My heart tightened and tears prickled the corners of my eyes. I looked at the date. March 8th. The airport was just a few minutes away from my place, and planes flew over my small house almost every hour. But soon you get used to it and start to zone it out. I huffed at the flyer and set it on my coffee table, then walked out the front door for work.
After a 30 minute walk, I sit at my desk. I work in a small business that helps ship stuff off to local places. We call ourselves The Transporters. So original. Not really.
After a 9 hour day, I get up and stretch, then walk to my boss's office. I tap on it lightly.
"Come in" Comes loudly from the other side of the door. I open it slowly. "Ah! Mina! What can I do for you sweety?" My boss chirps, smiling.
"I, uh, need the next few days off" I muttered, sitting down shakily. My boss, Joe, took it the wrong way.
"Oh, of course hun..." He trailed off. He thought my mom or something died. Of course, he didn't know she had died years ago.
"Thanks" I say, getting up and smiling briefly before leaving hurriedly.
When I got home that day, I was not ready for tomorrow. The little girl, Alissa would be coming to spend a week with me. I didn't know what I'd do with her when I went to work. I couldn't bring her with me. I had no friends to take care of her. I could always ask for more days off, but then the rent wouldn't be paid. I sighed and rubbed my throbbing head. I went to bed early, it was only 8 when my eyelids fluttered close into dreamland...
I opened my eyes sleeply and rolled right off my bed.
"Ow" I mumbled against my hardwood floor.
I dragged myself up and to my kitchen, where I put my coffee on. Mmmm...coffee.
After doing useless chores around the house, it finally reached 11:25. I was already fully dressed and all I had to do was grab my keys...where did I put those? After 3 minutes of searching, I found them under five bills on my coffee table. I jogged outside and to my car. After starting it and setting everything up, I backed up and sped to the airport.
Waiting in the waiting room at the airport was torture. I didn't know who I was looking for. I hadn't eaten anything for 6 hours, when I got up at 6. After 10 minutes I was ready to leave and forget about the whole thing ever happening. Who was I kidding? I couldn't take care of a sick little girl when I had to work and I still had rent and everything to worry about. That all changed when I saw Alissa for the first time.
She was a small, frail girl. She was, of course, bald, but wore a yellow and black bandana on her head. She had on a very pretty pale yellow sundress with little black shoes. She looked no older then maybe 8 or 10. She stood there akwardly for a moment until she began walking forward slowly, waiting for someone to walk towards her, with her small suitcase bumping against her side. That, I did. I walked slowly at first, then walked faster. She turned toward me with a shaky smile.
"Hi, you must be Mina" She said in a small voice.
"You must be Alissa" I said, kneeling. We stayed like that for a minute or so until I tugged her into a hug. She was so small and fragile that I thought she'd break in two in my embrace. She hugged me back.
"So, what do you want to do first?" I asked when I stood, taking her suitcase from her.
"I think I'd like to just go to your house for the day. I'm too tired to do anything today" She smiled again, and fell silent, waiting for the 'No, I think we should do something on your first day'.
"Okay. I think that's good" I grinned and led her outside. After we had packed her up, we set off. When we stopped outside my house, Alissa got herself out and waited by the trunk to get her small bag. I got out and opened the trunk, shooing Alissa away.
"It's ok Alissa, I can handle your bag" I said, taking it and showing her to the door. I unlocked it and pushed it open, Alissa walked in slowly into the darkness. I flicked on the light and put Alissa's bag on the couch. I picked up the flyer I had gotten with Alissa's list. I showed it to her.
"Which one do you want to do first?" She took it from me and found herself a pen. She crossed off the first one.
"I think we should just do them as they come" She said, smiling.
"Good idea" I grinned.
I waved her forward and showed her the rest of the house and the guestroom she'd be staying in.
"I like your house. Thank you for having me here" She said, bowing slightly.
"Thanks. No need to be formal in this house. How about I get out a game system for us to play?" I asked, running my eyes over the 3 game systems I had. Wii, XBox 360 and PS3
"Sure. Whatever you want play" She said, also looking at the systems.
"Your the guest, you get to chose" I said, sitting on the carpet by the systems. I wiped a bit of dust from them.
"Um, the PS3, what games do you have for it?"
After playing like 4 hours of Assassins Creed, Star Wars, and Prince of Persia, we both got into my car again to go out to eat.
"So, where do you want to go?" I asked.
"Hmm...Applebees" She said, grinning. I smiled and picked up speed on the road. Alissa knew there was no winning an arguement when it came to letting her chose. I was letting her do whatever she wished for the small week she was to be with me.
The next day was no different. We played the XBox for more then 5 hours. That, I dont think, is healthy. But, what the hell, can't kill you. We ate at Wendy's and then spent the rest of the day shopping, I was spending all my left over money from paying the rent and bills, which was over $2000. She bought some pairs of earings, some make-up, and something she didn't let me see that took like ten minutes to get. I sat idly at the food court munching on fries. Yummy.
When she came over to me, she clutched a small black bag to her chest with the rest of her bags cluttered around my feet.
"Got what you wanted?" I asked, sticking another fry into my mouth.
She nodded and grinned.
"Wanna go see a movie?" I asked, looking at the time.
"Maybe we should go tomorrow. It's getting a little late" She said, looking at the time too.
I nodded sheepishly, taking 3/4s of the shopping bags. Alissa took the rest.
For the next four days we spent laughing, joking, even crying. We saw every movie that was playing in the movie theater in those days. I looked at the calender and sighed. Alissa had one day left here. I looked at her list and crossed off numbers 2 and 3. I looked at numbers 4 and 5. 'Make a new friend' and 'Live'. It was 6 in the morning right now and Alissa usually got up at 7 or 8. I yawned and laid down on the couch, flipping on the TV and turning it down low. I remembered seeing my favorite show, CSI, come on, but nothing after that.
A few hours later I awoke to the smell of French Toast and Bacon. My eyes shot open and looked at the clock. 10:13 stared back at me. I shot up and almost stumbled as I ran to the kitchen. Alissa moved gracefully around the kitchen, completing the toast and flipping the bacon. She jumped and clutched at where her heart was when she saw me standing there.
"Oh, Mina, your awake. I hope you dont mind, I thought that since you've been doing all these great things for me, the least I could do was make you breakfast" She stumbled over her words as she searched my emotionless face. I fixed a truely happy grin on my face and stepped forward, wrapping my arms around Alissa.
"Thank you Alissa. Really." I said, letting her go and walking back to the livingroom. I sat on the couch and rubbed the sleep from my face. 5 mintutes later Alissa came out with our plates and sat them down on the coffee table in front of us both. I dug in, Alissa followed suit.
All day we stayed home and played mindless board games, played all three game systems, and just chatted. Alissa yawned at 9, I took that as a sign for bedtime.
"Alright, time for bed" I picked Alissa up and brought her to the guestroom. The little black bag sat in the corner of her room, untouched since she got it.
"Mina, are we going to still talk after I leave tomorrow?" She asked sleeply. I smiled softly and ran my hand over her cheek soothingly.
"I would hope so. We'll talk on the phone and send letters. I'll send you gifts every chance I get." I said softly, tears prickly my eyes.
Alissa didn't respond, instead her breathing came softer and I knew she was asleep. I walked out of her room and closed the door. I talk to my boss yesterday and told him my situation. He gushed that he wished he had wished to get one of the flyers and had loved to take care of a little kid with cancer or something. He let me have the rest of the week off, all of them paid for. I grinned remembering the phone call. I cleaned everything that needed it and did the dishes. After all the cleaning it was 10, so I decided to go to bed.
That night I had a nightmare Alissa died in my arms. I woke up crying and my heart pounding so fast that I thought it'd explode.
When I actually woke up, the time was 7. I got out of bed and dragged myself to the kitchen. I met Alissa halfway there, who smirked at the state of my hair. Bedhair, who likes it?
I put on the coffee and scratched my head, grimacing as my fingers got caught in a knot. After the coffee stopped gushing out of the little spout thingie, I grabbed a coffee cup and filled it to the rim. I added two sppons of sugar and a bit of 2% milk. I slurped it idly while walking slowly to the livingroom. I set it down and looked at the sleepy form of Alissa.
"Want anything?" I asked her, nudging her with my finger.
"Just a bowl of cereal. We have to go soon. The plane to pick me up comes at 11:30. I already have everything packed up and ready to go. Did you mean what you said last night?" She asked, looking at me.
"Yeah. I meant every word that I said" I grinned and went to the kitchen. I fished for a bowl and filled one with cereal, pouring a little milk on it. I picked it up and brought it out to Alissa.
When 11 o'clock came around, I was ready, so was Alissa, and we walked out the door and to my car. We drove in complete silence, that's when I noticed Alissa had her list. Number 4 was crossed off. I stopped in the parking lot and got out, taking Alissa's bag with me. We both went into the Airport and hugged tightly before she walked away, back to the plane and away forever....
Alissa and I talked and sent letters over the next 5 months. She lived beyond what the doctors said she would. But then, one day, I was awaiting her phone call. She usually called at 5, and it was 6. I jumped at the sound of my doorbell. I got up ad rushed to my door. No one ever came to visit me...I wish I hadn't opened the door. Betty, a nurse that watched over Alissa, stood at the door, her grave face peirced my heart. I knew what she was going to say before the words left her cherry colored lips.
"Mina. Alissa passed away last night. She told me about a week ago that she was going to die soon," Betty choked out the last two words, "And that she'd like you to have this, and a plane ticket to her funeral" Betty said gravely, handing me the black bag Alissa had gotten. It looked untouched from when she got it. I reached out for it and realized I was crying. I took the bag from her and it was suprisingly light. I opened it and a brown fuzzy thing was at the bottom, a letter ontop. I opened the letter first.
'Thank you Mina' was all that was written on it, Alissa's list was glued to the bottom. All 5 items were crossed off. Next, I reached for the fuzzy thing. It was soft in my hand. When I took it out of the bag completely, my heart gave a painful jolt. It was a teddy bear, with red writing stitched on its belly:
'Thank you for everything, and staying with me till the very end. I'll be watching over you from Heaven'
After Alissa died, I went back to work, went to her funeral, but never forgot her. The bear sits on my bedside table even now...
The End