Personal Narrative-Dead Shrim Goda

On 09/12/2016, I Deputy Daniel Pruitt was dispatched to 52455 West Highway 16 for an unattended death compliant. I arrived on scene st 6:45pm and meet with Creek County EMS unit 40.

Cozy coffee shops, warm summers, friendly hugs…1.2.3. Disastrous events occur all the time. We are always aware that someone, somewhere in the world, is hurtling forwards into tragedy. Tragic endings leave behind unanswered questions, unfulfilled dreams, unspoken thoughts. Those who love you are left behind, in the dust of your presence, spent to forever remember only your memory, not your existence. Crisp slices of toast, piping hot cups of tea, fresh strawberries…1.2.3. We all tend to forget an end exists. We spend our lives compiling as many happy memories as we can, fully enjoying the good days, deeply mourning the sad ones. When tragedy strikes, only then are we reminded that the end is there, and we scurry and try once again to make the most out of

On a Saturday morning, around 10am, my family was getting ready for my niece’s (Maritza) 4-year-old birthday party. After 12:30pm we were already at my sister’s (Adele) house, ready to give my niece a hug and her annual present. At the moment Maritza wasn’t home, so I stalled for a bit. Chatted with their neighbor, few high school friends, and their wife’s. Finally, she showed up along with her father. The first person she hugs is me, I’m her favorite uncle, according to her, as she hugs my legs and looked up and says, “hey uncle J.” I replied “hey?” with a bit of a curiosity on my mind. Her lip had a big red lump. I managed to not ask her what had happened on her lip. I’m thinking it’s a “I fell down” type accident. The party went off, and

On the fifth of February, I went to my church, Villa Rica Christian Church. In my church, there is a nursery for kids ranging from birth to two. The first toy was a rectangular box that has shaped holes on the lid. On the lid, there are four shapes—triangle, square, star, and circle. The second toy, is a panel with four different popups of Sesame Street characters. To trigger the popup, a kid has to either turn, press, or push a button. The third toy is a child-like abacus with five rows of beads that vary by colors—red, yellow, blue, green, and orange.

*disclaimer: bare with me... the next 5 chapters are crap because i wrote them over a year ago...chapter 19 will be the start of some great shit*

I’d heard the name before. Shasta. For some reason her name stuck with me the most. After my the first class ended, I walked up to her and started to speak. “Shasta! It hasta be Shasta!” she blurted out. What? I must have looked super confused because she started laughing hysterically “I’m sorry, I knew someone would ask about my name.” She grinned really hard. Is she gonna tell me? “Oh yeah sorry I’m named after a Soft drink and what I said before, yeah that was the slogan in the 1950s.” That’s roughly how my first encounter with Shas went.

"Tehgan" is what she calls me. Kennedy my older sister had an amazing life. She was treated like a queen. She got anything she wanted, she got a brand new car too. I loved to watch Kennedy dance, she was wonderful. She had a career, until she messed up the rest of her life. Kennedy had a best friend (Taylor). Taylor didn't care what she did neither did her parents. We Kennedy got her car the only rule was to not take it to Taylors house. Taylor had party's, drank, smoke, and did drugs.

I hear it from my bed, my mom’s flip-flops hitting the floor. Dread fills me as the footsteps get closer and closer. “Si se la pasa ahorita”. She forces the phone into my hand and mouths that es tu abuelita. She walks out and I’m left with silence on the other line. I take a deep breath and practice the words in my head as quickly as I can. “Hola Abuelita, como estas?” A million things run through my head. I could tell her about my friends, my grades, the movie that I saw or how I really love her and how I miss her, but none of that comes out. It’s a quick “how are you?...I’m good...Say hi to everyone for me. I love you” I hurriedly end the conversation, pushing the phone back into my mom’s hands and running away to my room.

Please, oh please let the words come. I sit, and stare, and type, and I backspace. No one will like it. My work is crap. Crap, crap, crap. I crumple my paper watch it fall. The clock taunts with its ticking reminding me of all I want to forget. It creates a beat; a song. Poetic chords and dismal notes ring in my ears. But no, this is thought I should avoid. I am great- better than great. People will love this. Oh please, please, please let them love this. Will my legacy amount to nothing more than abysmal hope? This is the last time I think of it. Oh please don’t let me think of it. The blank page stares at me and I begin to write. One word, then another, then another, and another. You will never know what comes out onto the page until it is

Aileana and I made plans to jog along the beach and then go out surfing today. We decided to meet on the beach around nine this morning. I thought I would surprise her later with something different she would delight in. I wanted this to be a special day of having fun and enjoying each other. She now felt up to exercise. Her ribs still gave her a few twinges when taking deep breaths, but her face was back to its beautiful contours with her lush lips back to their kissable self.

Breathe The grass looked greener The sun looked brighter The ground felt lower The sky rose higher Still inside I was empty

It was a blazing, sunny summer day in Richmond when my Mom took my brother and I to the toy store. When we got there we saw the massive ToysRus sign in the big blue sky. As we were getting out of the car and we were in complete awe of the all the toys we could see through the vast windows. As we got inside our eyes sparkled with excitement and shock. We were running through the store and then we saw some red and blue remote control cars we had to have. But there was a dilemma we both wanted the red car and after a few moments of brawling my Mom awarded the prized red car to him. I was sore, but I soon got over it because I still got a appealing blue car. Not long after we got home my brother was bragging about how he had obtained the red

I set the pen on the paper and grabbed my bags rushing myself out the door. I got in my car and texted Ashton.

I don’t know why I remember that game so vividly. That game that went on for what seemed like forever. The cushion between my bent up gaming chair at 3:00 in the morning was flattened between the seat and my bottom. My eyes were glued to the monitor as my character ran down the middle lane to join the heat of the battle. As the 50 minute marker hit I started to lose my ability to think properly. My mind was fried from the last two games I played. But neither of them lasted as long as this one was. Most of these games lasted between 20-30 minutes. Yet here we were: Isabelle, myself, and three other random people fighting for our lives in this game. My character, Soraka, got to run down the fields of justice to join the fight while I sat alone in my darkened den watching the surroundings around her. As Soraka passed the trees and rocks that forged the path towards the enemy’s base an alert came from Isabelle.

After another hour of driving, we finally arrive in the front of the towering white modeling studio. My insides are doing crazy gymnastics as i get out of Mikasa small car and shut the door behind me as Mikasa follows. She glances my way noticing my anxouis behanvior. She tries to reassure me by smiling reassuringly and giving my arm a good squeeze, but that doesnt make me feel any better. I've been preparing myself for this photshoot for weeks and weeks leading up to this antipacpation. I've took many selfies, tried different poses, ive been working out a lot more, and have been looking up youtube storytime videos on how peoples experiences were modling for a brand. But nothing can prepare a person for the real thing. We both reach the newly