Like All Things, It Too Shall Pass

Chapter One: Amy

Like All Things, It Too Shall Pass

"Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us."

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Amy

"Daddy, Daddy, stop it, stop it!!!" I screamed as my father kept on tickling me on the couch. I was laughing so hard that I didn't hear the bell ringing.

"You want me to stop?" My dad asked me as he kept on tickling me ignoring the door.

"Is anyone going to answer the door?" My mother's voice came from the kitchen, but Dad and I were too busy to even hear what she was saying.

"I'll go get it." We heard my mother's voice said as she passed by us to go open the door. We kept on playing like that until we heard mom calling us from the living room. Dad stopped and helped me up before taking my hand and guiding me to the kitchen.

"Hello Mr. Zechariah, we heard you were home and decided to stop by to say hi." Mr. Ezekiel said looking at us both.

"Well, please come in." My dad told him still holding my hand, as my dad moved aside to let him in I noticed he had an unsettled look in his eye. His smile didn't reach his eyes, but I didn't really give it any thought. They started talking about Mr. Ezekiel's brother who had died from the military.

Mr. Ezekiel had a younger brother who was in the army with my dad, a couple weeks ago there was an incident and the jet that they were in crashed, and he didn't make it but my dad did, no one knew how that was possible, but he survived the crash. Ever since then they had the funeral and my dad was given about two weeks of break before he would have to go back on duty, and there was about three more days left before he had to go home. I was left to live with my mom. Sitting there I listened as my dad kept on apologizing to him about the death of his brother. He kept on saying that it was nothing, that it was not my father's fault. He said that it was the Lord's doing, but I must have been the only one who didn't miss the hatred in his voice as he talked because my dad didn't say anything. 

He stayed for a couple more minutes before he went back across the street to his house. He wasn't just any neighbor, he was also the priest of our church. He had a son who went to the same school as me, but we didn't really talk. While Sitting in class my thoughts went back to a couple of months ago when they called and said that my father had died in battle. That day all I could think about was his last words to me before leaving. He had a habit of leaving me with a phrase for me to memorize. We started that game when I was five. I remember him saying, "Listen honey, I'll be okay. Sometimes you just have to forget what's gone, appreciate what still remains, and look forward to what's coming next". 

My mother was devastated and so was I. I must have spent half of the time hiding in my room crying. From time to time my mom would come up to my room telling me that Jeremiah, the son of the priest, had come to see me. I would tell her to send him away, meaning I didn't want to see anyone. I can remember looking out the window from my room and looking across the street at Mr. Ezekiel's house. I could swear that I've caught him smiling looking at my house many times, but then again I didn't really give it any thoughts. I mean just because my family is in pain and grieving that doesn't mean they had to be doing the same thing.

"Amy? Amy?" Ms. Cheng's voice brought me back to reality. It was then that I realized I was reminiscing in class again.

"Yes?" I answered.