Kelly Klein*Please Note: This is an example of my fiction*
She entered the room. I looked up from my book – a lovely novel set in medieval times. I can’t explain it, but a feeling came over me. One of sadness, grief, perhaps a tinge of regret. This woman had recently been through an emotionally trying experience and now had nothing to do but suffer silently. I had to do something for her, some small token of kindness in her otherwise dark day. I wanted to be her friend.
I watched her look around the room as if searching for something. I raised my arm in a friendly wave and smiled. I called to her to let her know she could sit by me as we waited. She crossed the room and sank heavily into her chair. I could tell she needed to talk.
I asked her if there was something on her mind. It was as if the pressure had been released from an airtight package. Suddenly I knew her name and her story. She is Madeline and she was at the doctor office today, worried she might have cancer. The tests were back and they refused to tell her over the phone. She was sad mostly because there were so many things she never got to do. At her age, about 40 or so, she was never in love, never got married, never had children. She wanted to be a writer, but kept putting it off. Now she fears it’s too late.
A tear rolled down her cheek. A single tear, representing all the regret she felt in her heart. I gave her a hug and offered the only thing I had: My friendship. She smiled and was called in to see the doctor. She turned and told me that whatever her outcome, she will face it with strength and courage. And with that, she was gone.
A minute passed. Then ten, twenty… I was early for my own appointment, nervous as the clock kept ticking, for I knew my outcome.
Suddenly the doors burst open. She threw her arms around me and said that she doesn’t have cancer after all. Now she has a second chance to do all the things she wanted to do but kept putting off. She was a whole new person.
I rejoiced in her happiness. A tear silently slid down my cheek. I didn’t tell her that I have cancer and was only given weeks to live. I am only twenty and I will never be married. Never travel. I barely lived my life and it’s being taken away from me. If all I can do is be a friend to someone in need, then my life has been worth it.
