Losing A Friend

PREFACE

Monday: 4:57 AM

The young man was taking his usual route for his morning jogs; it was a chilly morning; every breath he would let out could be seen in the cold weather. It was the first snowfall of the year, and the snow was slowly piling on.

Nothing felt off until he turned the corner to an apartment building. From a distance, he could see the outline of something on the snowy sidewalk. He slowed his pace as he came near it; his stomach immediately tightened, and his breath caught.

He felt as his stomach grew tighter with every step he took, his throat was closing as he tried not to panic; he felt sick to his stomach.

As he stared, he felt horrified. He pulled out his phone once he knew that it wasn't an object or an animal.

No, it was a human.

More specifically, a young dark-haired girl.

Within minutes he could hear sirens from both an ambulance and police. He walked away from the body, sitting a couple of feet away from it. The shock was running through him, and he never imagined having to witness someone's dead body.

Police arrived a couple of minutes later, immediately approaching him, the ambulance immediately halted and out came the paramedics, running to the young woman's body. He watched as they took her pulse and shook their heads.

"Sir, did you witness what happened?"

The jogger shook his head, "No, I was...I just found her."

The police officer nodded, "What were you doing up so early, son?"

"I–I was taking my usual jog...I thought–I thought it was an animal–a dog or something, not..." The jogger went quiet as he stared at the body.

The officer watched the jogger before tapping his shoulder and asking him to accompany him to the station.

The jogger nodded and followed the officer. He got into the car and glanced out the window, watching as two vans pulled up and out came a forensic team and the coroner.

He turned back to look at the body, as the officer drove away, he watched as the body became smaller and smaller until finally, he could no longer see it.

3 Weeks After

He stared at the metal box on his dining table. Next to the box laid a key. It had been sitting there for a couple of days. He did not know if he should open it or not.

In all honesty, he was still shaken up. He was still in shock.  He didn't want to believe that she was gone.

Yet, he knew it was true. He was at the funeral. He saw her pale body in the casket. He saw how she no longer held any color in her face. She was cold when he went to touch her hand. He didn't cry. He didn't yell in anger. He didn't feel sad. He was just lost.

Then two days after the funeral, he received a phone call.

It was her attorney. He asked for him to meet up at his office that he had something to give him.

When he arrived, the man in the suit gave him his apologies for his loss. He didn't respond.

The man in the suit then cleared his throat and guided him to a seat. The man in the suit then sat down and began talking about her.

He listened but didn't feel like talking. He could tell the man in the suit felt uncomfortable.

The man in the suit then proceeded to take out a metal box with a key. He placed it on his desk.

The man in the suit then told him that this was left to him from her.

That was why he now sat staring at the metal box and key at his house.