Alexandra

Alexandra. Greek origin; 'defender of mankind.'

"Almost finished..." I say as the words drag out of my mouth, my pink crayon sliding perfectly over the pretty paper. "Done!"

I hear Daddy giggle from being knelt over my shoulder, "That looks beautiful sweetheart." He says.

A fantastic feeling washed over my body, I think Mommy used to call it happiness. I miss Mommy, I wish she never fell. I glanced across the desk, and noticed a pencil on my desk, the small object reminding me of what day tomorrow is. My tummy was now not only filled with happiness, but nervousness too. Tomorrow was a big day, it was my first day at school.

"Daddy," I say as I tilt my head to look at my father with puppy dog eyes. "Do I have to go to school tomorrow? What if you fall like Mommy did and I can't save you?"

Daddy's eyes glistened with tears, like mine do when I graze my knee. "Oh Alexandra, of course you have to go to school. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, I'll be right outside your class as soon as that siren goes, okay?"

My heart sank all the way down to my toes, he wasn't going to be okay. That's what Mommy said, then I blinked and I was wearing a black frock with shiny shoes. Few salty tears made their way down my big cheeks, he was going to disappear too. No. No. I can't let him go. I can't go to school. Daddy's large, rough hand gently brushed away my tears. As I look up, my big blue eyes meet his, gazing at me with hope. My knees buckle as many emotions I can't explain collapse over me, and I drop to the floor. Mommy was selfish. Daddy needs her. I need her.

"Why did Mommy leave after she fell?" I ask my Father with red eyes and a heaving chest. "She was claimed by a feeling that stole so much from her, so much so that she fell and had to move to a happier place." He replied.

"Who would do such a thing?" I asked with rage, "Who would make someone fall over and leave their family, the ones they love?"

"It was an awful man; his name was cancer, my Little Lion."

Daddy has my hand grasped in his, walking in his big steps. Running alongside him, I nearly trip on my shoelace, I yell at him to stop and wait while I re-tie it. He tries to help but I push him away. I can tie my own shoelace. Looking up at him, I giggle. He looks silly with a tiny pink backpack around his shoulder, and a big, white smile slapped on his face.

"C'mon my Little Lion." He says as his hand clasps around mine again. For a few moments, we walk in silence. I try not to look at the blossoming Pohutukawa trees, they were Mommy's favourite. As we approach the classroom, a small, loving looking lady steps out and turns to us. She grins at the sight of Daddy and I, and walks towards us.

"Hello!" She says and kneels down to me, "I'm Miss Smith, your new teacher. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"My name is Alexandra Storm, Miss." I reply with a small smile, I like her. Her long brown hair looks like mine and Mommy's.

"Well, it's lovely to meet you, Miss Storm. Would you like to go and find your table while I talk to your Father? It has your name-tag on it!"

"Okay, bye Daddy!" I giggled in reply, and skipped into the colourful classroom.

"Bye bye, Little Lion, have a great day!" He yells back at me. Almost immediately, I notice a group of big, scary looking girls in the back of the room. I attempt to distract myself and find my desk. I achieve my goal and find a pink tag on a small, green desk that says 'My name is Alexandra Storm.' I put down my pink backpack Daddy had given back to me, and get out my crayons.

"Hey." One of the girls at the back of the room called out. There's no way they would be talking to me, they're too cool, so I continued getting out my stationary. "Hey you, poo-haired girl, I'm talking to you." I glanced up and saw 5 big girls coming my way. The other 4 girls giggled at the last girl's insult to my hair. I didn't say anything. I looked out the big windows to where I left my Papa. He was gone. My brain started working at a million miles a minute, thinking of what to do. "Hey! Didn't you hear me? You stupid dimwit." The ring-leader of the group says as she yanks my long hair and pushes me to the hard ground. Despite the tears coming out of my eyes, I get back up. "That wasn't very ni-" the sound of the teacher entering the room interrupted my sentence. I looked at the awful girls, who were glaring at me to keep my mouth shut and decided against what I was going to say.

"Okay everyone, please come and sit on the mat. We are going to stand up and introduce ourselves. Alexandra? You can go first." Fear floods my body as I walk up to Miss Smith. "Tell us about your Mom, Dad, siblings, where you come from, and your favourite ice-cream please." My knees buckle out just like they did yesterday, and I fall to the ground in tears. Not Mommy. I can't talk about Mommy. Everyone here has a Mommy. I don't have a Mommy. I hear the laughs of my classmates echoing in my ears. Miss Smith pats my back, trying to comfort me. Though, nothing could comfort me. Not today. Not even Daddy. Because Cancer stole my Mommy. And She's gone. Gone forever.

"With that thought, my vision drew blank." I say to the thousands of children in front of me in this hollow auditorium. "I can't remember anything past that point, 30 years ago. I know how it feels, to not understand, to have your whole world fall apart from underneath you. I understand the heart-break, the emptiness and hollowness. That is why we need to fight not fall, against this cruel, cruel disease. We can stop it. We can fight back. No man called Cancer would be able to touch our loved ones again. So join me, be kind to everyone, fight hate with love, and fundraise with me, so my company can finish creating this cure. Thank you." I finish the speech, tears rolling continuously out of my blue eyes. I gaze up into the heavens, where both my parents rest, both victims of an awful man named cancer, a man that I was so close to putting an end to. "Your lion isn't so little anymore." I whisper to them.