Spoiler! :
Mackenzie
My best friend in the whole wide world was Mackenzie.
I had never been the one to make friends easily, and since I was a small girl the others had given me strange looks, whispered about me behind my back and laughed out loud.
“There goes box house Leah!” they would shout. “Her family can’t afford a real home!”
“I heard she only showers once every three months!” another girl would laugh. “Don’t go too close. You might catch a disease!”
I ran to the corner of the playground and cried and cried, picking up small pebbles and throwing them against the wooden fence as hard as I could. I grabbed at my tattered uniform, ripping the thin material between my grubby little hands. The ground scratched my legs and soon I was left with cuts and scrapes all over me. But at least I was alone. I stayed away from everyone after that, hiding myself away at the back of the room and excluding myself from everyone else. I sat in my corner every playtime, and nobody ever came up to me.
That was, until Mackenzie arrived.
I remember thinking she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen, with long blonde curls falling down to her waist and perfect pale skin. He eyes were a glistening blue, shining like the sky and I envied her immensely. I looked down at my own straggled hair, twisting it between my fingers. It wasn’t fair. Why could she be so ideal whilst I was stuck like this?
But Mackenzie was different. On the first day I saw her she lifted her little head, and marched straight over to where I was sitting.
“What are you doing?” she asked. Her voice was like chiming bells.
I didn’t answer. I just kept staring at the piece of glass between my fingers.
“What are you doing?” she repeated.
“Nothing.”
She shook her head. “My mummy says people can’t do nothing. They’re always doing something. That’s just how it works.”
Again, I remained silent.
“Can I do nothing with you?”
I looked up, startled. Why would this girl want to spend time with me? I was the outsider, the freak of the class. I knew the shock must have shown in my face but still I didn’t say anything.
“My name is Mackenzie,” she announced formally. “What’s yours?”
“Leah.”
“Well Leah,” she told me. “We’re going to be best friends.”
And we were, just like that. She showed me how to make pretty bracelets and necklaces while I in turn was allowed to braid her hair for her. We spent days on end with each other, and I never wished for anything more. I wanted it to be like this forever. But life is cruel.
I remember that day as though it was yesterday; Mackenzie and I had wandered to the shop after school, laughing and chattering excitedly. I bought a handful of penny sweets and a large packet of Jelly Tots, intending for us to share them on the walk home.
“Come on,” Mackenzie said as she pulled me outside. “Let’s go back to mine.” I looked around, I heard someone calling my name, spotting my aunt across the road, I waved. She waved me over. Little did I know, the next few moments would define the rest of my life.
I called out to my best friend, just as she stepped out into the street. She wheeled around to look at me.
Everything went in slow motion.
A car’s horn sounded, urgently, frantically. My head turned, I saw a car. It swerved. My head turned the other direction, a lorry oncoming. I stopped dead, stared. A screech of brakes, the lorry veered off to miss the car and collided with something else. Mackenzie.
I know what you did. Darkness.
I awoke with a gasp, in a cold sweat. I scanned my surroundings, I was home, in my room. It was just a dream. Then the realisation struck me immediately, as I looked down at the cuts and bruises all over my arms, from scrambling, attempting to save my best friend from the ruins.
Straining my eyes to see the newspaper that had remained on my bed-side table for the last three days for confirmation:
Fourteen year old girl killed in tragic road traffic accident.
Mackenzie Warrington was killed sadly in a road traffic accident on Monday 6th January 2009 outside a local Co-operative. The young girl had been distracted by a shout when attempting to cross the road, and as a result stepped directly into oncoming traffic. The lorry driver however, was surprisingly unharmed and went on to say (continued on page 6).
It was my fault. I distracted her. I killed her. I wept, uncontrollably into my hands, as I had for the past four nights.
When I awoke the next morning my face was still stained with tears, and sweat drenched my forehead. My mother came in immediately; evidently I had been calling out again in my sleep.
“We’re going for a walk,” she announced. “You need to get out of the house, clear your head.”
I hadn’t the strength to argue with her, and so I allowed myself to be led outside, to the little beach that lay at the edge of the town.
“Can I sit by myself by a while?” I asked, as soon as we got there. It was true; the sea air seemed to be helping to lift my spirits. At least I could voice something now.
This didn’t seem to have escaped the notice of my mother either. Stifling a smile, she nodded and left me to it. “I’ll be just along with the street if you need me,” she reminded.
I stood in silence, gazing out at the water around me. The air filled my lungs and the cool breeze entangled itself in my hair. The light sound of waves washing on shore was like a smooth melody, and I sighed softly, allowing tranquility to wash over me.
But I wasn’t alone for long. I soon heard footsteps behind me and turned to see a smile that was all too familiar. Mackenzie.
She grinned at me. “What are you doing?”
I shook my head. This wasn’t her… it just couldn’t be. It couldn’t.
“You did this to me.”
I couldn’t bring myself to ignore her.
“Did what?”
“You did this to me,” she repeated. “It’s all your fault.”
“No,” I whispered. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to!”
“It’s your fault. You know that you killed me don’t you Leah?”
I nodded, tears creeping down my cheeks.
“Follow me,” she smiled. “I have something to show you.” I willingly did as I was told, soon realising where we were going.
She was pulling me towards the rocky cliffs.
That’s where I am now. Here, at the very top this cliff. Praying that I’m dreaming. They say, what goes up, must come down. I hope so. I look down; the ground is so far away. The wind is blowing a gale. I feel as if it may knock me down. Carry me away. Like a feeble kite, a feather in the breeze. It’s blowing my hair around in an unkempt mess. I don’t care. I want to go down, I want my feet to feel the sturdy solid earth - but I don’t want to fall.
It seems an eternity ago now. In reality, it’s only been a few weeks. A few short weeks, four, to be precise, and two days; 720 hours approximately, since life was normal, when normal things happened to a normal person. Normality seems a lifetime away.
“Leah?!” What are you doing here?” It’s my mother’s voice, she sounds scared. “We’ve been looking all over for you, come away from the edge!”
“She’s telling me to mummy. I have to. She’s making me!”
“There’s nobody there. Leah?”
I take a step backwards and I look towards Mackenzie.
“No!” she shouts. “We’ll be together this way! Don’t back out on me now Leah. We’ll be the best of friends forever. You promised!”
I look at her and then back at my mother. Her hair is whipping around her face wildly and she’s holding her arms out to me. One final look at Mackenzie and she’s gone.
“There’s nobody there, love,” my mother repeats. “Just come to me.”
“Come to me instead.” I hear Mackenzie’s voice in my ear. “Come with me.”
I take a deep breath and together we run the three steps towards the edge. And I'm flying.
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