Narrative Essay

David

The chaos from my teenage sister's birthday party was deafening. Somehow through the noise, I registered that the phone was ringing. Jumping up, my sister answered it in hopes of hearing her boyfriend's voice. A look of concern and confusion crossed her face as she handed me the phone. She mouthed the word "David" as I placed the receiver to my ear. Immediately I began fighting off a panic I could not yet explain. Dead. David. Crying and screaming assaulted my senses. "He's dead. He's dead," were all I could hear. I wondered briefly if this was someone's idea of a cruel joke. But, within moments, the cold reality of this life changing nightmare set in.

How could something like this happen to someone I was so close to? I had just talked to him that morning. We were supposed to meet up later to hang out like always. My heart hurt; I couldn't breathe. It was like I was stuck in a bad movie and I couldn't turn it off. The tears just wouldn't stop. I had to see for myself. I slipped my shoes on, grabbed my keys, and rushed to my car.

The drive to David's house was agonizing. I could barely see the road through my tears. The whole drive my mind was racing, trying to grasp the reality of what just happened. Once I got there and saw the ambulances, the policemen, and the look in his family's eyes it hit me like a ton of bricks. He was really gone and not coming back. I've never seen a body bag with a real body in it. Not in real life and not with one of my friends inside. But there he was surrounded by detectives as the Emergency medical technicians were loading him into the ambulance. I'll never be able to erase that image from my mind and believe me, I have tried.

David was a close friend of mine. We had known each other since elementary school. He was the one that could make me