The obnoxious sound of my alarm clock woke me for school just like it had every other morning. I hated the sound it made. Every morning it sounded like six fire trucks were outside my house blowing their sirens nonstop. After turning my alarm clock off, I got out of bed and walked to my bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. When I looked up into the mirror, something looked off. I was paler than usual; it looked like my skin was kinda transparent. I didn’t think much of it and continued getting ready for school. As I started to get dressed, I had remembered my mom hadn’t said good morning to me. Usually she makes sure I’m awake and makes breakfast for me. But this morning, my mom didn’t say anything and there weren’t any eggs or bacon strips waiting on the table for me when I walked downstairs.
I looked out the window in the family room at my driveway and saw both of my parent’s cars were still there. I figured they must’ve still been sleeping so I walked out the front door quietly and headed to the bus stop. When I reached the end of my block, I saw my neighborhood friends waiting for the bus as well. Julie and Nicole had their headphones in and Sarah was reading a book that she seemed very interested in so I decided not to bother any of them. When the bus arrived, we all walked onto the bus and headed toward our usual seats. As I was making my way to my seat, I noticed a random girl had been sitting in my seat. I asked her to move politely but she didn’t even respond to me. She continued looking straight out the bus window as if I wasn’t even there. I decided to ignore her weird actions and just sat in a seat across from my usual spot. I put headphones in my ears and stared out the bus window until we arrived to school.
After I got off of the bus and walked into school, I headed to my locker to get books for my first period class and to meet my best friend Marissa. Marissa and I hung out all the time and we have been best friends since elementary school. It seemed like I was standing at my locker forever. Why hadn’t she come yet? Marissa and I meet at my locker every day and walk to class together. Maybe she was absent today or was coming into school late because she overslept. I knew if I waited any longer, I would be late for class so I decided to walk alone. Walking through the bright, white hallways lined with lockers, I began to feel in a haze. It felt like I was dreaming while being awake.
While walking through this haze, I saw Marissa walking with her head down and her arm in a cast. I ran quickly up to her and asked what happened. Marissa didn’t answer me and continued walking forward with her head hanging into class. I could tell she was really upset about something so I decided it was best to leave her alone and maybe tomorrow she would be willing to explain how she got the cast on her arm.
I began walking towards my class again and I walked through the door just as the bell rang. Usually when I walk through the door, my teacher would greet me and say good morning and give me a smile. Today, he didn’t move his eyes from his computer screen when I walked through the door. Maybe he was having a bad day too.
I walked to my seat, sat down, and hoped this class would turn my horrible day into a decent day. I loved history and I had my favorite teacher for this class as well, how could I have a bad day? I tried forgetting about Marissa’s cast and why my parents had acted so unordinary this morning but all these thoughts were like a bomb of thoughts had exploded inside my head and were bouncing all around. Eventually, I began to read the do now which asked which two countries fought in the Revolutionary War. When I went to pick up my pencil, it seemed like it magically slipped out of my hand. It landed near a kid named Joe and when I asked him to get it for me he ignored me and continued working on his own do now. Rolling my eyes and sighing dramatically, I picked up my pencil, I said, “Thanks so much for the help!”
After about ten minutes, my teacher walked to the front of the classroom to begin going over the do now. He asked if anyone knew the answer and my hand shot up instantly. A couple moments later a boy in the back of the room raised his hand and my teacher called on him to answer the question instead of me. I was confused and annoyed the rest of the class period so I decided to keep to myself and just do the work assigned.
The rest of my school day was the exact same way as first period was. Everyone was acting like I didn’t exist and was ignoring me. As the day continued, each time I walked throughout the hallways, it seemed to be getting blurrier and blurrier. Something must’ve been wrong with my vision because the lockers became conjoined and looked like they were moving all over the hallway and my peers around me had like a white fog around them. After school, I began to freak out… Why has everyone been ignoring me all day? I started screaming and waving my hands at everyone I passed along the way home hoping someone would notice me and ask what was wrong. When I arrived home, my parents were still at work so I ran upstairs and looked in the mirror. What was wrong with me? Why didn’t anyone talk to me today? I ran to my room, threw myself on my bed and a river of tears began to run down my face.
I heard the short buzzer of my oven go off in the kitchen which meant dinner was almost ready. I guess I must’ve cried myself to sleep for a couple hours after school. As I started heading downstairs hoping my parents wouldn’t actually ignore me, I heard a faint whimper from the family room. I decided to remain on the stairs to try to overhear what my mom was crying about. I heard her say, “I can’t believe she’s gone John, it’s not fair that her life had to end while she was so young”.
Who was she talking about? Maybe one of her friend’s children passed away or something. I continued to listen to the conversation and I heard my dad say, “It’s ok Dianne, Sharleen is in a better place now and wouldn’t want to see you crying and upset”.

What?! Why had my dad just said I was in a better place? I sprinted down the remaining stairs into the family room where they were both sitting. I flailed my arms trying to get their attention but both remained with their heads down sitting on the couch.
After my failed attempt at getting their attention, I ran back upstairs to my room, plopped on my bed and the river of tears began to flow again. I didn’t know if I was really dead or not. If I was, how was I still in my house and how did I go through my entire day? As I was lying in my bed, an unfamiliar girl walked into my room.
“Um who are you and how did you get in my room?” I questioned the random girl.
“My name is Jessica. I got into your room by walking through the door”, she replied. “I’m here to tell you why you’re father said that and why everyone was ignoring you all day.”
I didn’t know what to say so I just stared at this odd girl waiting to hear what she had to say.
“Well, I’m sorry say but yes you are dead. Everyone has been ignoring you all day because you weren’t really there. The reason you were able to have a normal day is because in heaven, it’s like your ordinary life. The only difference is you never feel sadness or pain and you show your loved ones simple signs that you are still with them.”
“I’m… Dead…? How did that happen?” I said as tears rushed down my face.
“About two weeks ago you were in the car with your friend Marissa. She just got her license and she wanted to pick you up and drive you around for the first time. As she was driving down the really bendy road, another car coming from the other way was going way too fast, lost control of the car, and hit you and Marissa. Both of you were found by the police unconscious and were airlifted to the hospital. Marissa was fine but had a broken arm and a couple of bruises while you remained in a coma for the next two weeks. While you were in the coma, doctors had missed that you had internal bleeding from the crash and you died two weeks later in the hospital, still in a coma.”
As she recited the tragic event, I started to remember what had happened. Marissa had just got her license and asked to pick me up and take me to Panera for lunch. On the way, we were blasting Miley Cyrus’ new album and screaming all the lyrics. We turned onto a road, about five minutes away from Panera and as we were driving I remember seeing a car coming towards us at full speed. I remember screaming and feeling a rush of fear all throughout my body and then everything going black.
I looked up at Jessica and began to cry again. I was only sixteen years old and it wasn’t fair that I had to die so young. I screamed and was so angry that this had to happen to me. Why me? I was speechless and the bomb of thoughts had just exploded in my brain again. I began thinking about how my parents felt and how heartbroken they must be. I thought about Marissa, my best friend. It wasn’t fair for her that she had to live with the guilt of surviving a terrible crash and having her best friend die. I didn’t want her to think it was her fault and I wished there was something I could do to make everyone’s heart ache from my death go away.
“So who are you? Like are you dead too?” I questioned Jessica.
“Yes I’m dead as well. I’m seventeen years old and I was also killed in a car accident. But, instead of another driver taking my life, my friend was drunk driving and crashed the car into a tree. She survived and unfortunately I died on impact because she was going so fast. Both of us are angels now and it’s our job to watch over our loved ones still on earth and give them signs to show that we are still with them even though we are in heaven now,” Jessica replied with a large smile on her face.
“What is heaven? Like what do I do now that my life is over?”
“The real question is, what isn’t heaven? Heaven is everything and anything you can imagine. There’s no more sadness, no more pain, and it’s basically your favorite place ever. Like I love the beach, so heaven to me is an endless beach day. Besides watching over your loved ones on Earth, you can do whatever you want up here and you will never be sad, hurt, or in pain again”.
After hearing Jessica describe heaven, I felt at ease. I really was in a better place. When I was alive, my family and I would eat dinner at the table every night together. Watching down on my parents heartbroken and upset, I decided to show them a sign. I moved my chair out from the table a little and whispered in my mom’s ear giving her the chills. As the chair slid across the marble floor and goose bumps arose all on my mom’s body from my whisper, I saw her faintly smile.