Somber music played from the piano as ten-year-old Liz Clifton wiped her tears while she watched the white casket pass her. The small church that was once filled with people dressed in black dresses and black suits was beginning to empty.
Liz seemed to be in a daze when her mother touched her soft, soaked cheek. "It's time to go now, sweetheart." She said.
"Can I have a few minutes to myself, please?" she asked ehr mother. "I'll meet you in the car in a few minutes."
Liz's mother looked at her daughter for a moment and then nodded. She walked between the pews to the back of the church doors and Liz listened until she could no longer hear the clanking of her mother's heels on the church floor. Bending down to the floor, Liz clasped her hands together and began to pray, "God, I know that we all have our time to go. We have our time to live on this earth and our time to be with you. I wish I could have done something to stop it, though. I don't think anyone deserves to be killed the way she was. She wasn't only my babysitter; she was my friend. I guess all I want to know is, what do I do now?"
Weeks earlier, Liz and her babysitter Jessie were at Liz's home in Georgia. Jessie was walking over to Liz with a blue plate in her hands and the aroma of freshly baked cookies filled the air as she had just finished baking chocolate chip cookies, when both girls heard a loud sound of shattering glass coming from the front door.
"What was that?" Liz asked.
Worriedly Jessie whispered, "Listen, I want you to run upstairs quietly and hide. Don't come out until I say so." She handed Liz her pink cell phone. "Keep this amd call your mom if anything happens. Now go!"
Liz did as she was told and hid inside the closet of her bedroom. Too afraid to do anything, she called her mother using Jessie's phone and as she explained what was happening, Liz nearly screamed when she heard gun shots from downstairs. Her mother told her to call the police and she would be home as soon as she could.
Soon there was nothing but silence in the entire home after she called the police. Then she heard the sound of sirens coming closer to her home and then silence again. Frightened, she held her breath when she heard footsteps inch closer to her closet door. The door swung open and she was relieved to see an officer wearing a blue uniform and a comforting smile.
"Don't be afraid." he said to her. "I'm Officer Burke. I'm here to help. Did you make the call to the police department? Are you Liz Clifton?"
Liz didn't answer but simply took his hand as he helped her up.
"Liz!" She heard her mother call from downstairs. She could tell by the shaky tone in her voice that she was very worried. "Where are you?"
She glanced at the officer then walked down the stairs to her mother. In the foyer, her mother tried to comfort her and ask if she was okay. To the right of her, Liz could see a detective taking pictures of something in her living room but she couldn't tell what it was until he moved. There she saw the lifeless body of her babysitter. Her mother attempted to block the view from her but she was able to see through her fingers.
"You can go to your room if you don't feel like talking now." Her mother said.
Walking to her room, she didn't talk to anyone, nor did she eat while she stared blankly at the pink walls of her bedroom. She lay on her bed staying there for the rest of the afternoon and into the night.
She shook her head as she tried to erase the awful memory and got up from her knees. It was then that she knew what she had to do. She had to talk to the police and help find Jessie's killer.
When the Clifton's got home, Liz's mother called Officer Burke and he came over to talk with Liz.
Gently he spoke to her, "Take your time, Liz. Just let me know everything you can about this person who you think committed the crime."
"Earlier that day, Jessie and I went out to buy cookie dough from the supermarket. One guy with a large tattoo of a snake going up his arm came up to her. He started talking to her and asking her for her phone number. When she said no, he kept asking but later it turned into a big fight between them because she didn't want to give him her number. She ignored him after a while and we left out of there. That was when I heard him say, 'I'll get her.'"
The officer wrote down everything she was saying. "What happened next?"
"I noticed after we got into Jessie's car, he wasn't too far behind us. When she started the car, he got into his car. Also, when she started driving away, I saw him driving behind us. I got scared so I turned around and put on my seatbelt. I didn't think anything more of it."
"Thank you," he said. "That's enough information for now."
Later that night, Liz had a dream. In the dream, she was back in the supermarket near the freezer section with Jessie. She was watching as Jessie and the man with the tattoo fought as he tugged back and forth on Jessie's arm, shaking her in the process; she saw Jessie's ring with a topaz stone in the middle fall from her finger during the fight and the man picked it up, putting it in his side pocket while they left for the door. Over and over this dream kept playing in her mind all night. When she woke up the next morning she called Officer Burke describing the ring and asked if he would check for it.
Soon they found a suspect for the murder,matching Liz's description and they searched his home for evidence.
Two month's later, Liz stood before Jessie's gravestone in the graveyard that was surrounded by swaying trees, and she placed white roses on the bottom of the stone. She said another short prayer and then spoke out loud to the stone.
"Hi Jessie," she said. "I know you'll be proud to know that your murderer was caught and I believe you helped me to see that it was done. Without the dream that I had about the ring, I don't think they would have ever thought to look for it, and they would have never found it. They did find it, and now I know that you can finally rest in peace. Thank you for protecting me on that day and for protecting me now as my guardian angel. I will love you always, your friend Liz."
