Time Is Life

Chapter 1~

Mavis~

It all started with a phone call. Or maybe it all ended with that phone call. All I know is that that phone call was the beginning of something tragic and the ending of what was once beautiful. I knew tragic stories had to exist in order to keep life balanced, but I never knew I would become part of that balance, that he would help tilt it down. They don't teach you how to deal with grief until it's slamming you down. They don't tell you how bad it really is to lose someone so precious that you made them your world. But I'm here to tell you now.

I sat on my bed watching a YouTube video of arts and crafts that supposedly took five minutes to make. One in particular caught my eye, a clay frog with a black top hat that held onto a pen with its outreached arms. It had a pink blush on its light green cheeks and smiled wide with its eyes closed. It looked so much like him that I could not help but save the video to my arts playlist.

The video was interrupted when my mom ran into my room, and I looked up in surprise as the door slammed against my wall. She had tears streaming down her face and a phone held to her ear, before I could ask or say anything she spoke.

"It's Danny, he's been in an accident" and that's when it all stopped. The lady shaped the frog's face and I had to remember I had a face, a body, that I was here sitting on my bed, that Danny was hurt, and I didn't know how or why. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. Jumping out of my bed I don't even remember to turn my computer off, the video continued playing throughout it all.

We were at the hospital less than an hour later, me still in gray thick pajamas covered in cat fur, and brown fuzzy slippers that Danny gave me as a joke, he knew I hated how they looked like furry turds. I paced frantically around the reception desk, people shooting me nervous looks as they sat in the hospital chairs, waiting for their own news. Mom tried to get me to sit down but I couldn't, being still caused more panic, and I was already panicking enough.

The doctor came out and the world came crashing down with each word he spoke. The walls seemed to melt away, the floor cracking under my feet and the ceiling lights getting brighter and brighter. I could feel my heartbeat in my parched throat and my body seemed to have beat with its fast pace.

"Street fight..." he was hurt, he was so wrongly hurt, I could not focus.

"Car crashed into-" my ears began to ring, and my head began to shrink into itself.

"You might want to say goodbye" everyone disappeared, my knees began to buckle, and I felt an arm keep me upright. Looking over I see my dad with tears hidden behind his eyes looking at the doctor, face straight but mouth shaking.

"His family is already in there" oh dear god no.

When we walked in there- dad making sure I don't fall over- I see him lying on the hospital bed, needles and machines hooked all around him. His beautiful face pale and bruised, his lip split and his eyes shut closed. His skinny arms that had always made home around my waist are black and blue, covered in bandages and the needles. He looks like a beautiful tragedy, like a painting from old times trying to show you a hidden message. Larissa, his mom stands up sobbing and holds me close, but all I could do was look at him lying there with the heart rate machine beeping slower and slower.

I move out of her arms and kneel in front of his bed, grabbing onto his cold hands. Behind me the doctor talked, and I tune them out. It was just me and Danny, and that machine telling me that he did not have long.

"Danny?" I whisper, my voice coming out cracked mirroring how I felt. "Danny wake up" no response. "Danny" I said a little louder, tears streaming down my face. "Danny, don't you dare leave me" his pulse on his wrist gave out and someone began screaming. After arms grabbed onto me trying to pull me back, away from him, I realized it was me screaming.

When they explained what happened, it was like a fictional story. A camera outside of some apartment caught everything. Danny takes a walk on his usual route, from the old deli market to the city park and back to his house. An old woman came out of a dark alley by the deli and began talking to him. Danny reached in his pocket and gave her something, he also gave her a bag of what looked to be food he was carrying.

Apparently when he turned around, she struck him in the back of the head with a brick. He could not even defend himself when she reached into his pocket to grab his wallet. A car came speeding down the road and she pushed him into it before running back into the alleyway.

They did what they could to save him after the driver called 911 but the damage was severe. His lungs were filled with his own blood and his ribs were broken. His skull cracked and it was a miracle he did not die right then we were told. There was nothing they could do to save him. It did not matter that me and him were going to roller skate at the park that next afternoon, that he would help me with my calculus homework that night.

He was gone and he was not coming back.

That was three months ago.