Based Off Of ‘GoodBye’ By Avril Lavigne The Writer KnockOut Round Prompt 2 (first time writing in 3rd person POV)
“You know I love you right?” Raven asked her boyfriend, Keith, turning her head to the side so that she could look at him. They were currently lying in the grassy field of the meadow where they’d had their first date.
Keith turned his head also; he pulled his eyebrows together in confusion, “Of course,” he answered as he wondered why she’d randomly brought up the question.
Raven gave him a sad smile “Good.” She said before turning her head to look back up at the night sky watching the stars twinkle.
Keith frowned as he observed Raven. Lately, she’d been acting weird. Instead of being her usually energetic self, she was always tired. She’d been falling behind in school and failing most of her classes when she used to be a straight A student. Her silky black hair was dull and falling out. Whenever he would ask her what was going on she’d lie, or change the subject.
It just wasn’t normal.
“Raven, please tell me what’s wrong.” he said sitting up before gently tugging her into a sitting position too.
Instead of answering him, Raven simply looked away as she picked a flower from the ground. The only noise in the meadow was the sound of crickets and the waterfall that was only a couple of feet away from where they were sitting.
“It’s nothing Keith,” she finally said looking at him. He could tell that she was lying but her eyes were actually filled with happiness.
That was one of the things that always puzzled him about Raven. She could be saying one thing but her bright blue eyes would be saying otherwise.
“Lets go down to the creek,” she suggested, standing up and grabbing his hand. He knew she was only trying to change the topic but instead of calling her out on it, he let her drag him down to the creek that the waterfall ran off into.
To say the waterfall was beautiful would be an understatement. The only thing not good about the river was the shard edged rocks at the bottom; they were worst at the part the waterfall ran into. Keith had been familiar with the place every since he was a little boy and his dad used to take him. When he’d asked Raven out for the first time he knew he just had to take her there. Every since then the meadow and waterfall had been their special place.
Keith stripped down to his boxers jumping into the creek without a second warning and ended up splashing Raven.
Raven simply smiled as she watched Keith jump into the water. She felt the beads of water seep through her clothes but she didn’t mind.
“Are you going to come in or not?” Keith asked as his head popped up out of the water.
Raven smiled at him before taking off her shoes and jumping in the water with the rest of her clothes on.
Keith frowned when he saw Raven still had all her clothes on. They’d been dating for four years and he’d seen her completely naked when they had become very intimate so he had no idea why she’d chosen to keep her clothes on. His frown deepened as he realized that was another new weird thing she’d been doing: hiding her body. Lately she’d been wearing baggy clothes. When they were on the verge of being intimate she’d always stop or leave; Keith not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable never pushed the topic. She’d always had a nice body so he didn’t understand why she hid it. He’d broken out of his thoughts when Raven pushed his shoulders down, dunking his head under the water. Deciding that he didn’t want to ruin the night, he pushed all his worries to the side.
Keith woke up to the sound of his phone ringing and he let out a grunt. After coming home from his date with Raven the night before he’d jumped in the shower before watching TV for a couple of hours, so he’d only went to sleep a couple of hours ago, considering its only six in the morning.
Who could be calling him this early, he wondered to himself.
His question was answered when Raven’s parents told him the news.
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The sound of the violins playing filled Keith’s ears as he tried to avoid eye contact with anyone. He was surrounded by Raven’s friends and family but he knew they were all staring at him with pity. He knew all of these people yet he didn’t feel that any of them knew his pain. They could only guess how strong his feelings for Raven had been, and how it felt when he lost her.
The preacher commenced the funeral and soon it was time to lower her to the ground.
“We therefore commit her body to the ground; Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of Resurrection to eternal life.” The preacher said with sadness on his face before the choir started to sing the final song for Raven.
Keith was on his knees beside Raven’s grave crying as everyone else began to leave. He just couldn’t bring himself to move, yet. A light tap on the shoulder caused him to turn his head around. Before him stood Raven’s father Jeff, he didn’t look too well but what could you expect when his 18 year old daughter just passed away.
For a minute it was just silence as the two stared at each other; it vaguely reminded Keith of when him and Raven had been in the meadow the night before she died. Keith looked and saw that Jeff held a letter in his hand.
“Raven wanted for me and Dona to give this to you.” Jeff finally said passing the letter to Keith who hesitantly took it. Dona was Raven’s mother, who was currently bawling her eyes out inside of her car; Keith understood why she hadn’t come with Jeff.
“Thank you,” he said and Jeff nodded before leaving to go comfort his wife.
As he finally left Raven’s funeral, Keith couldn’t help but blame himself for Raven’s death. He knew there was nothing he could’ve done to stop it but he still felt the guilt. He sat in truck for a little bit as he stared at the letter Raven had left for him with her parents.
Finally finding the willpower, he opened it.
Dear Keith,
If you’re reading this than obviously the cancer finally won. I know you’re wondering why I didn’t tell you that I was dying. Well its simple, I didn’t want you to mope around or worry about me. The battle for my life was lost a long time ago, and there was no point in continuing to try to fight. There was nothing that could’ve saved me so I wanted to spend my last days with you as if they were normal. Its stubborn you know, the cancer. I’ve been battling it every since I was six years old. It left, it came it left, and came right back, really it was just a repetitive pattern. Unfortunately this time the pattern was broken and it didn’t leave. Now that I think about it, it did leave; I just left with it. I’m going to miss you, your brown eyes, the way you try to take care of me. How you made even bad times better. Please don’t hold on to this for the rest of your life. I want for you to move on and find someone that’s worthy enough for you. I want you to forget about me, but don’t forget that I will always love you. Please, take care of yourself. Until I see you some day in what they call ‘the afterlife’, goodbye.
Love,
Raven.
Keith couldn’t help the tears that had been running down his face since he first got that call. He didn’t understand what Raven meant; he couldn’t move on without her. He’d known her since they were kids, even if that didn’t turn into love until they got to high school. He’d seen his future with her when he’d dreamt at night. A nice house in Beverly Hills away from the small town they had grown up in. With him being a lawyer and Raven being a doctor their kids would get everything they needed and more.
He began to drive to their special place and pulled the car to a stop by the bottom of the waterfall. He climbed the hill up to the meadow before stopping right on the edge of the waterfall. The tears stopped running down his face as he realized this may be the only way to be reunited with Raven. A small smile made its way onto his face, Raven was wrong.
With that in mind he jumped off the cliff heading right for the rocky bottom. It didn’t matter though, he had his note from Raven, and his last thought; maybe this isn’t goodbye.
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