Autumn Love

Introduction

"I love you, to Pluto and back, sweet Juliet..."

That was the last thing my dad had said to me when he put me to bed. I was only seven at the time, and didn't know what to expect that night when he got into a car crash and had died.

He was only going to get a few groceries, he was only supposed to take twenty minutes at most, then he'd be back home, where he'd check on me to make sure I was asleep. So when he hadn't come back from the store after an hour, I got worried.

I waited for him for a few hours before I saw my mom come into my room with tears staining her cheeks as she clutched her cellphone. And that's when she told me.

"Where's dad?" I asked, confused and scared.

After my mother wiped her cheeks, dabbed at her reddened eyes with a tissue, and took a deep breath, she told me all the details.

They found his car smashed in the middle of Main Street. Fragments of his body were found in various places; the investigators said that parts of him were ejected from the car because of the impact. Witnesses said that he was on the phone when he drifted into the other lane and a semi hit the car straight on, but the other driver only had suffered minor injuries. Unfortunately, my dad had died instantly.

I was going to grow up without my dad. I was going to practice dancing alone. Now he wasn't there to walk me down the aisle once I got married. I probably never got all of the information that day about my dad's death because I was a seven year old girl who couldn't handle all of the details. I had to wait and hear it from inside my bedroom. At the time, it didn't seem real. But, unfortunately, it was.

For weeks, I'd wake up in tears because of what had happened. I still will occasionally have a nightmare where my dad will be running towards me, arms open wide, and suddenly a semi-truck will appear, speeding towards him.

I rarely ever have those nightmares anymore. But those memories of my mother, of the funeral, and of everything that everybody had told me still haunt my mind sometimes.

But I'm 18 now. I've learned how to move on, even if it meant having to mend my heart a few times.

The point is that I've grown up. But, I have a new challenge to deal with.

Senior year at Franklin High School.