"I remember the accident like it was yesterday. Time had gone by too quickly, yet not quick enough. It felt too terrible to be real. It is a heavy burden I carry on my shoulders. It was two years ago when it happened, the accident, but people still ask me how it happened.
"It was a rainy, summer day. My identical, twin sister, Anna, and I were at the beach. The sky was a dull gray and the beach was covered in dark sand, as if the universe didn't want anyone there. The huge waves were thundering against the wet beach. A chilly breeze brushed our brown hair away from our faces. Anna was smiling at the beach. I knew how much she loved to be there, but today I felt scared. I tried to tell Anna that it was too rainy to go, that we should go another day. I wish she had said yes. I wish we had never went there and then maybe, just maybe, our lives would be better.
"Anna began walking down the beach, pulling me with her. We threw our towels on the ground and ran down to the water. The water was cold and felt as if it was biting us. After a while, I let Anna swim by herself. I sat down on my towel and watched her swim around. She had a pink bathing suit, the same as mine. Anna had picked our suits so they'd match. She was such a great sister. She was always wanted us to match. She said it had brought us closer together.
"When I looked back up, Anna was waving her arms. Then, she went underwater, and came up screaming. I got up and took off into a run. My heart was pounding and my legs felt numb. What was wrong with my sister? I pushed through the icy water, not paying attention to the cold. When I was a few yards away from her, something brushed against my leg. My instincts kicked in and my limbs spasmed. I fell underwater and began thrashing around. When something brushed my back, my legs kicked backwards.
"Underwater, I could still hear Anna screaming. It was the only thing I had to hold onto. I pushed myself above water and pushed towards her. The closer I got to her, the redder the water around me became. I stopped breathing when I saw her laying on her back, her eyes barely open. I screamed her name over and over again, but she wouldn't move. I reached out for her arm and pulled her body towards me. It was so horrible, I can't describe it. I don't know how to describe it, but what I can tell you is that there was a large portion of skin missing from her left hip and she was barely breathing.
"I swam as fast as I could, trying to get back to the shore. It was hard because of Anna, but I didn't think about it. I couldn't, especially when something bit into my leg. I was forced to let go of Anna and wave my leg around violently. By then, I knew it was a shark, but it was too late. I couldn't break through it's tight grip. Everything that my mum and dad had taught me about, in case this ever did happen, simply... left my brain. I had no memory of it, whatsoever. I kept thrashing and screaming and panicking, when the shark suddenly let go and swam away. I floated on my back, trying to catch my breath, and then my sister, with the last bit of energy she had, grabbed my hand and squeezed it. She was smiling, and she whispered, However long the night may be, the dawn will always break. With those as her last words, she closed her eyes, never to open them again."
The counselor was silent, staring at Jules, her eyes full of pity and sadness. The timer on the large clock in the room buzzed loudly, and Jules stood up and left the room. No one would ever understand her sadness, nor realize why she has the cuts on her arms. The cuts were her way of showing Anna how much she loved her, how much she felt her pain, how much she knew it should have been her. Jules should have been the one to have died that day, and she would never forget that.
