Grand Favourite Ambys 2024
𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.
Elizabeth Reid learned, at seventeen, that she was going to die. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, she's faced with a question that no one should have to answer.
How...
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The sun filters through the leaves, dappling the clearing with patches of warm light. I lean against our oak tree, its rough bark pressing into my back, and watch as Nathan chases Meri around in circles. Her high-pitched giggles fill the air, mingling with the rustle of leaves and chirping of birds.
It's a perfect day for a birthday picnic. The kind of day that makes you forget, just for a moment, that anything bad could ever happen.
"Careful, you two!" Mum calls out as Meri stumbles, nearly face-planting into the grass. Nathan scoops her up just in time, swinging her onto his shoulders.
"I've got her, Mrs Reid," he says, grinning. "No grass stains on my watch."
I smile, watching them. Nathan's always been good with kids, but he's especially brilliant with Meri. It makes my heart ache in a way I can't quite describe.
Dad appears at my side, offering me a paper plate piled high with food. "Thought you might be hungry," he says softly.
I take it, even though I'm not really. Eating's been a struggle lately, but I know it makes them feel better when I try. "Thanks, Dad."
He settles down next to me, his own plate balanced on his knee. For a while, we just sit in silence, watching Nathan and Meri's game evolve into some sort of complicated tag involving invisible force fields and time freezes.
"How are you feeling today?" Dad asks eventually, his voice casual in that way that means he's trying not to worry me.
I shrug. "Okay. Bit tired, but that's nothing new."
He nods, and I can see him fighting the urge to press for more details. Instead, he says, "It's nice, this. Being out here, all together."
"Yeah," I agree. "It is."
We lapse back into silence. I pick at my food, managing a few bites of sandwich and crisps. It's good - Mum always makes the best picnics - but everything tastes a bit like cardboard these days.
After a while, Nathan and Meri collapse onto the grass near us, both red-faced and panting.
"Having fun?" I ask, grinning at them.
"Your sister," Nathan gasps dramatically, "is trying to kill me. On my birthday, no less!"
Meri giggles, poking him in the side. "You're just slow, old man!"
"Old man?" Nathan clutches his chest in mock outrage. "I'll have you know I'm in the prime of my youth!"
"Yeah, but you're a proper grown-up now," Meri points out. "Eighteen's ancient."
We all laugh at that, and I catch Dad wiping away a fake tear. "Hear that, Beth? We're practically fossils."
"Speak for yourself, I'm still seventeen," I tease.
