Published July 1, 2010
"Morgan," I yelled over the blasting punk rock,"you are going to get us killed if you drive any faster!"
Brown strands of hair were whipping at my face. With the top down, Morgan's car was like being caught in a tornado, but louder.
"We're fine! I can drive better than you, thank you very much!" Her voice was barely audible over the booming music and rushing wind.
"If I die, I am so suing you!"
"You'll be dead. I don't think that's possible!"
"How would you know?"
"Just a guess," she said in her most often used sarcastic tone. We laughed at the thought of it all. It was just a joke. No one was actually supposed to die.
It was only three minutes later that a drunk driver on the wrong side of the road crashed into Morgan's BMW. The impact alone crushed one of Morgan ribs. She ducked in pain as the glass from both cars shattered. A shard cut my face, then my shoulder and finally a large piece hit my chest. It was a bulls-eye shot to my heart. My lungs begged for air that wasn't coming. With every thump of my heart I died a little more.
Morgan, with a cast on her left arm, sat next to Cody who sat next to Stephen and Jackson. They sat next to five other teenagers. The front row was full. So were ten other rows. Behind them, even more teenagers, mixed with adults, stood.
There were people I didn't even recognize.
No one spoke. Every so often there was a sniffle here and there to break the uneasy silence. Morgan sat silently while tears ran down her rosy face. Even while she was crying, her face was stern with strength. Only a few people other than I knew how weak she could become. She held that face so well. Cody was fidgeting with his fingers as he stared blankly into the deep hole. He always had been the panicky type. Jackson teared up every once in awhile and he would quickly wipe away the sadness with his jacket sleeve. I knew he wasn't as tough everyone thought he was. Two A.M. phone calls had proven that in eighth grade. When he was tired he sang his ABC's and when I was sad he got nervous. Crying was like a disease that he didn't want to catch. It made me wonder how he must feel now.
Then there was Stephen. I had almost hoped he would cry, but he didn't. Stephen sat between Cody and Jackson without movement. He stared off into nowhere, letting his tear free blue eyes wander in their own little world. His face was stern with a purposely serious face. It seemed that even at my funeral, Stephen would never cry over me.
He never had, never would.
I was in my coffin. I knew that. My unmoving, scratched up, and helpless body was right there. It lay pale and serious, two things I never was in my life. This was my funeral and my parents sat in the very back, too pained to be any closer to their little girl. Daddy held Mom close as if he was afraid of losing her, too. Mom cried and cried. Her face was constantly submerged in her own shaky hands. I watched as Daddy's face switched in a never-ending cycle from sad,to serious.
His baby would never hug him again.
My two older sisters stood behind Mom and Daddy with one hand on either parent and one on each other. No one expected me to be the first to die. I didn't exactly expect it either. The fact of the matter was that Eliza Bock was dead and currently being lowered into the ground.
I was being lowered into the ground.
Everyone only stared as I descended lower and lower into my hole. Morgan's green eyes began gushing out tears and she nestled her head into Cody's shoulder. I knew that my best friend must be thinking this was all her fault, but it wasn't.
The whole ordeal was unbelievable. A sixteen year old girl,me,having and untimely death. And yet, somehow, I was still there. In the crowd, but also above it. Watching people I cared about cry. But I was dead, wasn't I? I was supposed to be long gone. In some kind of heaven or hell, but I was still there among the living. Tears wanted to well up in my eyes, but didn't. Shivers wanted to run down my spine, but couldn't. All I could feel were my emotions. I looked down and saw a body, but could not feel it.
My mind told the unfeeling body to move forward, and it did, but I couldn't feel the dewy grass under my feet. I told it to move faster, and I was flying, floating, running, whatever I did, quicker than was humanly possible. In less than three seconds I had exited the funeral area and was quickly moving towards the road. I moved so fast that it seemed the cars next to me were at a stand-still. In almost a minute I was staring at my beautiful blue house. Looking at the life I had lived only a few days earlier, knowing that I never would live it again.
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-gabbs
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I read the other version, and I definitely like this one better. It has more description, and a lot more emotion. Hopefully in the rest of the story we'll learn more about Morgan and Stephen. I want to know why he wasn't crying, why that was so significant. Old boyfriend who never really cared? Or is he just too proud.
It sounds more like something cheesy you'd put in a love story than a line about someone actually dying.Although it still seems more like telling than showing. And I didn't like the line:
Its not exactly a new idea, but I think you've done a good job. Keep working on it and please publish it all as a whole soon!
(Btw, is there only three parts?)
Hi *waves*
This line feels a little bit awkward although I am unable to find an alternative line, I just think it sounds weird.This was quite different. I liked the dialogue and I liked the transition from being in the car to being at the funeral.
I didn't like the way she spoke when she was dead but I liked the description.
Keep Writing.
Anger
Thank you all for your reviews! Then next installment is coming very very very soon. After that, I'm putting the two together to make the final story. I'll be sure to use what you say!
<3 gabbs
This is truly brilliant, some of the best writing I have read on this and similar writer's websites! Your writing is simple yet beautiful, with lovely imagery that made it very easy to picture everything from Eliza's perspective. Your characters are also believable, well-done; I could connect with their realness from the start. In fact, the opening scene was one of my faves. It starts out with a bang, but you don't see it coming--which I guess is how the accident happened for Eliza and Morgan. Kudos though, this is a great start to a truly promising read.
Hi there!
This is great, the emotions are so clear, and it's beautifully written. How you described the crash was excellent.
My only criticism would be about Morgan and Stephen. I think you could describe Morgan a little more: you say that only the MC knew how weak she could become, and I don't really understand it. I think it would be good if you gave us an example, some background information.
I'm very curious about Stephen, too. I'd like to know why he never cried for you, why he's not crying now. Is he too proud, or is it that he doesn't really love the MC?
That said, I felt like I really knew the MC's family. Their emotions are very well conveyed.
Overall, good job on this. It's really sad and I love the idea.
Hope I helped, and keep writing!
~Lilicia
Ooo, this is interesting! Your point of view is very interesting and your story here was enough to keep me reading.
Here are just a few nit-picks-
"and" should be 'an'.
.
Switch around "never" and "would".
The only other improvement would be character development. I needed to know more about Morgan especially to really sympathize with what she was going through. As interesting as this story played out, I've seen it before. You need emotional ties with characters for your readers to be 100% rooting for your characters. Or, in this case, feeling their pain. Tie the characterization in the beginning in the first several paragraphs. That way your reader can easily follow along from their.
Also, I'd like to recommend a movie to you. It's kind of old, but if you haven't already seen it you could call it story research. The movie is called The Invisible. Punch it up on youtube and the whole movie will come up. Just warning you, though: the ending is heartbreaking. Of course, what good is a happy ending? Especially if your main character is dead.
I'm looking forward to how this turns out. PM me when you post it! I'll be hoping for unique twists.
~Selene
Wow, this is excellent. I like how you use their conversation at the beginning as a kind of foreshadowing, and then it really happens. You wrote it from a really unusual point of view, a dead person's, which is always cool when it does happen. You also took advantage of a great opportunity to reveal characters by how they acted at the funeral. Really well done...keep writing.
Wow, Gabriella, this was sooooo good! Really scary and different. I can't wait for more!
*coco