A Short Story

Well,there has been requests for me to update my blog more often but I am sorry to inform you people that my schedule is currently very packed till I can't even get sufficient sleep at times as I'm in my second and final semester in matriculation so I'm pretty tied down with tons of work.Writing is something that I love so I will try my best to have more posts this year.

Since I don't have the time to write anything new,I would like to share some of my essays which I still have in my collection.Here's one of the longest essays which I had ever wrote in an examination.If I am not mistaken,it was for Section B(Directed Writing) in English Paper 1 during my mid year examination in Form 4(2014).It was around 7 pages(back and front) long and maybe the thickest exam script in my class.(FUN FACT:I only finished the essay when the invigilator said "masa tinggal satu minit lagi" and I didn't get to check both my essays at all but thankfully I managed to maintain my grade)

I Love You, Sarah!

“When I think of her, I am still filled with a profound sense of loss. If I wasn’t ignorant even a bit alert, I could have saved her and also expressed my feelings towards her. But it is too late and it’s fully my fault. Why didn’t I take any action to stop her? My heart is filled with guilt”.

Here am I, sitting down all alone in my room, regretting and crying over spilt milk. Ashton tells me there’s no use of crying, but what does he know? If I knew about it earlier, I would have definitely tried my level best to stop her, Miss Liz’s. Now I realise why Miss Liz always says that never put off till tomorrow what can be done today.

I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I rushed out from my room and frantically searched for my car keys. I had to do  something. I quickly got into my car and I was heading to Oliver’s house like a maniac. Throughout the journey, I almost knocked down a stray dog but to my dismay, I was caught in traffic and the worst of all, my car was moving only an inch per minute.

I opened my car dashboard to get my phone as I was getting bored and there she was. My phone’s wallpaper is still the picture of me and Sarah during her sweet sixteen birthday bash a fortnight ago. That was one of the last pictures that the both of us took together. Still staring sharply at the phone screen, I started to recall the first time I met her.

****************************************************

It was raining cats and dogs that day. As I was about to start up my motorbike, I heard a silent cry. I ignored it at first but after a while, my curiosity made me to go and investigate. There she was sitting alone on the staircase with a penknife in her hand. I wanted to walk back but suddenly something caught my eye, she was cutting her wrists repeatedly.

“Hey, stop that!” I shouted as I ran towards her. She quickly hid the penknife and her cut wrists behind her when I approached her. She was in a very miserable condition which made me even curious. Being the vice president of the Red Crescent Society, I forced her to follow me to the first-aid room so that I could clean her cut. She was reluctant at first, but after my success of persuading her, she agreed to follow.

When we reached the first-aid room, I quickly cleaned the cut and put a plaster on it. I then sparked a conversation with her to find out the reason behind her intentions to cut herself.

Her name was Sarah. She was one of the best girls ever in the school but lately her results had been dwindling badly. Sarah’s parents were in the midst of a divorce case and she was stuck in between the custody battle as she was the only child. I advised her to put her problems aside and focus on her studies as she’ll be sitting for her PMR examinations that year. I also made her promise to never attempt to do anything foolish again.

After that day, Sarah became my best friend. Although I was in Form Four and she was in Form Three, I made it a point to meet her every day. I even used to go jogging with her at the Seberang Jaya Park every weekend while she used to accompany me in my routine workout in the school gym. I coached her personally and she passed with flying colour in her PMR examination.

I rewarded Sarah’s remarkable achievement by getting her a Samsung Galaxy Trend smartphone. I had saved my RM50 weekly allowance and also worked part time to get it for her. Her parents’ divorce case was also over by then and her mom won the custody battle. When I presented the phone to her, she was speechless. She then gave me a hug that I felt like I was out of oxygen. She was on top of the world.

I felt extremely happy for her but without me knowing she had stole my heart. I didn’t dare to tell her as I thought that she considered me as a friend only. When the new school year started, I got even busier than the year before. I had been elected as the Head Prefect and also the President of several societies.

Despite my hectic schedule of juggling so many tasks I still made it a point to meet Sarah every day in school and we also texted regularly. Since we couldn’t talk in school most times I would WhatsApp or either call her and talk for hours. We would even hang out in the library some days but with a strict rule of studying. All the while, I was waiting for the right opportunity to express my love to her but the fear of getting rejected overpowered me.

As it was nearing the middle of the year, I became even busier I was tied with tuitions, extra classes, sport practices and many more. This lowered down my chances of communicating with Sarah but we still WhatsApp each other regularly as I couldn’t live without chatting with her. I squeezed through my hectic schedule to help make preparations for her sweet sixteen birthday bash.

On the evening of Sarah’s sweet sixteen birthday bash, I was in a loss of words when I saw her. I bet she made the jaws of all those present drop as she looked stunning in the blue cocktail dress which I had personally chosen for her. We had the time of our lives that day and that us when I realised that Sarah is my one true love.

“Jonathan, until when are you going to prolong it. You better confess your love towards her soon or you’re going to regret,” Ashton reminded me the next day.

“Don’t worry, I’m going to propose to her on my birthday. I just can’t wait for it,” I exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh, well! Good luck Jonathan. Hopefully you’ll get a positive reply,” he said before walking away.

Since my birthday was in two weeks, I procrastinated my plans as I was tied up with tons of school work. My messages and calls to Sarah also decreased as I was too busy. I didn’t even have the time to tend to my homework let alone check out my phone. But a day before my birthday, I got a call on the wee hours of the morning. It was from Sarah.

“Jonathan, I need you. But before I hang up, I would like to say that I love you. Thank you for everything”, she said frantically.

“Sarah....Sarah...calm down. Tell me what’s the matter, is everything okay?”, but it was too late as she had already hung up.

My heart was not at peace after the call as I sensed that something was wrong.Various thoughts kept lingering in my mind but I brushed them off by convincing myself that everything’s alright. I couldn’t sleep that night. I tried calling Sarah back but to my vain all my calls were left unattended.

When I woke up the next morning, it was already past eight. Suddenly, I heard a beep from my phone. It was a message from Sarah’s mom informing me to come to the Island Hospital immediately. I called Ashton who told me to hurry before it was too late. I was confused. I drove to Penang in 15 minutes with the emergency lights on. When I reached the reception counter of the hospital, the receptionist gave me an awkward look when I asked for Sarah’s ward number. The lift was out of order so I had to take the stairs.

I was gasping for breath when I reached the fifth floor and there it was room 507. It was an ICU ward. I looked around and it was so silent that I could even hear a pin drop. There was not a sign of anyone around. I braved myself and pushed the door open to see Sarah lying unconsciously on the bed. The look of her terrified me. I couldn’t believe my eyes that she was Sarah. She was wearing an oxygen mask, her eyes shut. Surrounding her was her parents, Oliver and some of her other friends. The pulse rate machine was beating slowly indicating her low heart beat rate.

Her mother called me out and explained to me what had happened the other night. Sarah had consumed a quarter bottle of chloroform. She didn’t know the reason behind it. She asked me if I knew what made her do it. I shook my head. Oliver then told me that Sarah had been constantly calling and texting me but I had left them all unanswered. I was shocked when I checked through my call log and WhatsApp as there were more than 100 missed calls and messages from Sarah. 

While I was reading each of the messages, I suddenly heard Sarah’s mother calling me to come into the room.Sarah had regained consciousness but she was extremely weak. I could see through the look in her eyes that she was trying to tell me something. But she then went back to an unconscious state again before she could even talk to anyone. According to the doctors, Sarah was in a critical stage and only a miracle could save her.

That night, I stayed up in the hospital with her. It was also the eve of my seventeenth birthday. The whole night I couldn’t keep my eyes of her. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer to God. Suddenly I felt a hand taking grasp of my finger. When I opened my eyes, I realised that Sarah had regained consciousness. She indicated me to sit by her side as she lay on my shoulder. She tried to speak, but when she opened her mouth, no words came out.

She hugged me and whispered in my ear, “Jonathan, I love you”. Without saying another word or even before my reply, she was gone. Sarah had passed away peacefully on my shoulders that too on my birthday. I rushed out to call the doctor. I tried their level best to resuscitate her but it was no use, as Sarah was already gone. A daughter, a friend and most importantly my love had passed away before I could even express my love to her.

Sarah’s death had affected me badly. I’d been confined in my room for days. During her funeral, I sobbed uncontrobally that even my friends said that it was weird. They told me that guys will never cry like that but I just didn’t care. All efforts to calm me down were impossible as I couldn’t accept the fact that Sarah is no longer alive.

********************************************

Now, I’m already reaching Oliver’s house. I parked my car and ran towards the door. After constantly ringing the door bell, Oliver opened the door. She invited me in. I went in and sat on the couch.

“Jonathan, Sarah told me to give this to you a day before she committed suicide. I’m not sure what the content is but I guess it’s something important. I actually wanted to give it to you on her funeral, but you were just unconsolable so now I’ll give it to you,” she handed me the letter.

I tore open the letter. The contents shocked me.

“Dear Jonathan,

Ever since I first met you, my life has changed tremendously. The sweet memories I had with you, I’ll cherish them forever. But I would like to tell you something. 

All this while I had loved you,

Meeting you was maybe an accident,

But knowing you was a blessing,

On top of it,

I just love you so much,

Loved you yesterday,

Loving you today,

And love you tomorrow,

And forever.

Loving you all the way..

Yours lovingly,

Sarah.

I broke down and tears started rolling down my eyes. All this while, I thought that I was the only one who loved her but I never realised that she actually loved me back. But it’s too late. Sarah was gone even before she knew that I loved her too. Now, I understand the reason behind Miss Liz’s favourite saying. So to everyone out there bear the phrase below in mind,

‘NEVER PUT OFF TILL TOMORROW WHAT CAN BE DONE TODAY!’

Saveetra Revathi A/P S Sethupathi

2014

I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

To those of you who are in SMK Convent Butterworth,you can check out the printed version of this story in FORTE XVII(2014).

That's all for now I guess.Goodnight!!