The Last Moments | Teen Ink

The Last Moments

April 18, 2012
By shinegirl24 BRONZE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
shinegirl24 BRONZE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
3 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
"All, everything I understand, I understand only because I love." Leo Tolstoy


So this is what it feels like to die, I think because it is the only thing about me that still works the way it should. I hear a faint but obnoxious beeping sound that seems to be coming from the end of a long tunnel, and I waste a few seconds trying to think of what it could be before deciding that it can’t possibly matter. I can tell my senses are failing; my eyes see only blurry, disconnected images that come as if swimming towards me in a black void. I can see my mother’s haggard face screaming, but I’m not sure who she’s talking to anymore. I can see my brother’s tear-filled eyes staring at me with horror, because he knows that there’s no hope of me living to see another day. All I can think for a moment of is how glad I am that she’ll have him to lean on after I’m gone when they're whisked from my view, replaced by unfamiliar people in scrubs and masks, fluttering frantically over me. I can vaguely feel someone pushing up and down on my chest, and I’m grateful that they can keep my heart going for a while because I am certainly no longer up to the task.


Someone grabs my left hand, squeezing my fingers until I’m sure they must be numb, and I empty the last of my strength to turn my head and satisfy my curiosity. It’s Matthew, and although his blue eyes are frantic I can’t help but feel much more at peace now that he’s here with me. I find myself fixated on his lips, his perfect lips, which I know so well. They’re saying something, but I am beyond being able to decipher his message, so I just watch them and imagine he’s singing me a lullaby. The deep voice I almost hear soothes all my new fears about what comes next. I feel tiny pinprick of new pain on my finger, and I force my eyes away from his face to this interesting sensation. His diamond, so shiny and lovely on my ring finger, has cut into my skin, and I see a tiny drop of blood fall from my hand onto his strong fingers. It doesn’t seem a fair trade; tonight, he has given me my ring, and his promise to love me forever, when all I can give him now is my own blood and the fate of becoming a widower before he even reaches the altar.


I look deep into his eyes and hope he understands everything that I want to tell him now, that I love him more than I have been able to let him know, that I hope he can live well and be happy when I’m gone and maybe even find someone else who loves him like I do. I try to make my lips move to match what I’d like to say, but my time on Earth is up. I slowly succumb to the swirling vortex that engulfs me, tugging me wherever it chooses because I don’t have the strength or even the willpower to fight anymore. Just before I leave my body, I see a small smile light his face and I can believe that he understood my message, or at least that he knows that I left this world thinking of him. I capture his image in my memory and vow to savor it forever as I am pulled away to the other side.


The author's comments:
I wrote this piece because of a peculiar feeling I had after finishing a test. I hope it means as much to you as it does to me.

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 2 comments.


A_Journey GOLD said...
on Jan. 12 2013 at 7:46 pm
A_Journey GOLD, Tampa, Florida
16 articles 2 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
The Muse of Poetry should not know that roses in manure grow. ~The Formula, Langston Hughes
You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted ties. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dirt, I rise. ~Still I Rise, Maya Angelou

Oh my god  this is amazing! Your story totally captivated me :) You are so talented. I love how you didn't feel a need to explain why she ended up in her state,  and just described her feelings.

Da kid said...
on Aug. 11 2012 at 8:40 pm
This is a little bizarre, but a decent attempt