Is Recovery On The Way?

Chapter 4

****A.N.~ This chapter was edited and revised by my awesome friend. She is an amazing writer. Her account on her is @trulygreen.*****

-Megan's mind while unconscious-

I watched.

A little blonde girl and a red headed boy climbing through a bunch of trees, maybe an orchard, laughing and just having a good time, and they both looked to be around nine or ten. Then they walked up to another boy with familiarity and friendliness, maybe t hirteen or fourteen years old with black hair, who looked like he was a cowboy at heart by the way he dressed and talked. He lead the two away, towards a worn wooden plank acting as a bridge across a river, or creek, maybe. While the Cowboy and Red Head stalked over the balance beam first, the Blonde Girl followed even less timidly behind. Once across the bridge, they walked down a grassy slope, staining their blue jeans in the process. After this, they came to a homemade fort. It was built in the trees with more wooden planks, and had living tree branches as benches. Inside was another boy who looked a l ittle younger than the Cowboy, who had red hair just like the little boy. The little girl seemed very drawn to the Cowboy, but in a purely platonic, sisterly way. The Red Heads looked to be family, too. After meeting up, they all just hung out, talked, and horsed around. The boys even climbed a tree at one point.

Later in the evening, someone yelled what must have been their names, "Michael! Nathan! Cade! Megan!" In response to the call they all ran to a house up the gravel road, feet crunching all the way, and minds trying to find ways for the day not to end. The Cowboy and Blonde girl entered a calm, yellow house, while the Red Heads split off to a neighboring home not far down the road. Both sets of siblings seemed to live way out in the country, with flat squares of land on all sides of their households. After coming home, The Girl and Cowboy both ate dinner with what looked to be their family. There was another little girl, also blonde, that looked to be two or three, and a boy with darker hair about a year older. A couple that looked to be their mother and father joined the four children at the table. After saying Grace, thy plunge into the meal, smiles on every family member's face.

Then, without warning, everything fades to black.

After what seems like forever, and yet still no time at all, another image floods my mind.

I watched them make a promise.

The same Blonde Girl from before, but older now, maybe fifteen. She was sitting in a bed room with the same little boy from before, and he was older now, too. They were talking about a guy who went to the local high school, who had just killed himself. Then and there, they both swore, eye to eye, that they would never even think of suicide.

Again, everything fades away.

Another lapse, and another image. This time it was early in the morning, the sun just dawning through The Girl's window as she crawls out of bed. It's obvious she was older now, around seventeen, as she got ready quickly, and left her room. Her movements were stiff and familiar as she left the house and walked out to the back yard, opened the back door of the garage, and started to measure animal food from feed bags. Then the same boy from before walked up and said good morning, the deep change in his voice displaying his age to match hers once again.Then they both headed to the goat pin not too far from the garage. He carefully opened the gate, sure not to let the small goats out, singing to himself all the while. The Girl seemed to find this odd, and voiced this opinion to him as they continued their morning chores. In response The Boy pointed out that she was one of the only ones who had heard him even try to sing, and the most often. This seemed to confuse the girl, but she agreed and went along with it. Once they got the goats and chickens fed, put the buckets up, and shut the garage they both went back up to the house. Once inside, they both headed eagerly in the direction of the kitchen. The Girl looked in the fridge absently, and then the pantry, but ended up eating only a breakfast bar. She tried to get The Boy to eat, but he claimed he wasn't hungry. Then they left their home, looking very much like it had when they were little, and climbed into The Girl's truck. Her Dad drove them to school quickly, and dropped them off in the back of their school. They both put their instruments in the designated cubbies that lined a little alcove that lead to what looked like an orchestra or band room. Then they walked down the halls to her locker, and after she got her books The Girl stood up and joined her group of friends -including The Girls crazy brunette friend who was drop dead gorgeous, loud, and seemed pretty awesome. The group of giggly girls started talking, messing around, and teasing each other like every other congregation of teenagers. Too soon The Girl had to leave and go to class, and so she walked through the crowded halls alone.

I watched what looked to be the start of a normal day.

Shortly after getting to her classroom, right before the bell was supposed to ring, a siren went off, and over the intercom a stern sounding man stated that the school was going into lockdown. The teacher ushered everyone into the back of the room, and on the floor. A useless and utterly feeble seeming hiding spot demanded by the school board. After a long, near silent amount of time all of the students, including The Girl, were evacuated and put on a mockingly sunny yellow school bus with no explanation. Once at a shopping plaza on the other side of town, she got off and started looking for her family -and The Boy. When she found her Dad and Uncle she asked where The Boy was, anxious tears rolled down her face, but no one knew anything.

She soon found one of her friends from earlier.

She begged her to tell her it wasn't true. When she asked again and again if it was true she offered her nothing but a solemn nod. She was breaking down, sobbing and hurting in a way no seventeen year old ever should.

Then, mercifully, every thing fades to black.