I stepped outside, the snow crushing beneath each step I took. I watched the bright sun edge toward the center of the horizon above me, the cold breeze sweeping away the remains of the colorless leaves into the velvet sky. It was beautiful, but that’s what made it so sad.
I still remember the wailing sound the sirens made as they rapidly took my grandpa away. “He’s going to be fine,” my mom said. The sound of the rain thrashing against the black road made her words sound like a whisper.
“Mhmm,” I mouthed out while my eyes still concentrated on the truck that already disappeared onto the busy road. The sound of the rain pounded against the ground like my heart pounded after I finished the mile run.
The next day the results came in and my grandpa seemed to have received brain cancer. As research shows so far, it’s incurable. I did not want to believe that my happy, kind, strong grandpa was going to die. I just couldn’t get my heart to accept, that. As long as he is still alive, there’s a chance he won’t die. Just because this disease is incurable, I still believe that hope may be born anew.
After one month, grandpa got released from the hospital. “See,” my mom said, “he got better.”
“Yea!” I smiled happily. Weeks went by and his results were only getting better; the deadly disease did not seem so deadly now.
That is until December 20th, when my mom crept into my room quietly and sat on the side of the bed beside me. Though there were no tears in her eyes I could tell by the way her voice broke something was wrong.
“What is it?” I said in an anxious tone.
“He’s…gone…he passed away today,” she said hoarsely.
“Who!?” I asked panicked, though I already knew the answer in my head.
“Grandpa.”
The words hung still for a moment as my eyes were beginning to get all blurry and my mom rushing to the other end of the bed to hug me as hard as she could. Though everyone knew this was going to happen, I believed he would get better. I believed that as long as he’s alive hope may be born anew.
The remains of the dead leaves disappeared into the crimson sky and the cold wind ceased to blow. I gritted my teeth as tears began to emerge from my eyes. Even though my grandpa died, his results still showed him getting better. His results showed hope when no one else could see it. Therefore, as long as the person’s not dead, as long as they’re alive, then hope may be born anew. I want to believe that.