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"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love."  Washington Irving

"Come on!" Rae yells, "It's right up here!"

We are on our bikes, and I'm following her to a path by the river near our house. Rae dragged me out of the house minutes ago, saying that I had to see something right away. She also said to bring scissors.

Rae's dirty blonde hair flies behind her, the wind from the bike pushing it backwards. I pedal faster to keep up with her, wondering how my little sister has more stamina than I do.

When we reach the bank of the river, Rae jumps off her bike and runs down to the water. I yell after her, telling her to slow down. God, she's going to seriously hurt herself one day.

When I catch up to her, my eyes catch on a duck in the water. It's tangled up in a fishing net, thrashing against it and trying to escape. It's quacking, but it sounds like more of a scream.

Rae looks up at me, tears falling down her cheeks. She says, "We have to help her, Kizzy."

The duck is only getting itself more tangled as it flaps its wings, trying to fly away, but the net is holding it down. We should not be touching a wild animal, but the duck looks so helpless.

"Okay," I say. "Give me the scissors, which you shouldn't be running with, by the way."

"This isn't the time for silly lectures, Kizzy," she says, her voice full of sass. She points at the duck and says, "It needs us."

"I'm going to cut away some of the netting, okay? I'm not here to hurt you," I say out loud to the duck as I kneel down closer to it, as if the duck can understand what I'm saying. It thrashes even more as I reach the net, and I know I'm just scaring her even more.

I cut through the net, and the duck seems to calm down. I snip away at it, slowly freeing more and more of the duck until she slips out, swimming away rapidly. It quacks, finally free.

Rae yells, "We saved her!"

"She's lucky you found her, bug." I smile.

A male duck approaches, quacking loudly as they swim around each other, locking their necks together. It looks like they're having a reunion.

"Aww," Rae coos. "He was waiting for her."

It's a cute sight, and I'm happy we were able to help them.

Rae says, "Promise me we'll stay like that, Kizzy. We'll never leave each other."

"Of course not," I say, pulling her into a hug, "You're never getting rid of me."

-

The beeping of the hospital monitors fills my ears.

The familiar sound punches me right in the gut as Harry follows me down the halls of the care center. The world slows as we near room B120. Her room.

I walk in, seeing her feet under the blanket at the bottom of her bed. As I walk further into the room, more and more of her becomes visible, until I can see her face. She's hooked up to a bunch of machines, keeping her alive.

I look at her beautiful face, at the faint freckles that litter her cheeks, at her pink lips. Her long, dirty blonde hair flows around her head, reaching her chest.

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