manda . r a i

[[WHY]] PAGE ONE
An Honarable Mention Winning Story

Amber was perfect. Or so it seemed. She was a straight A+ student, her work was always done neatly and on time. Her figure was to die for, her long legs and curves were the envy of many of her classmates. She was neither too fat, nor too thin; she was perfect. Amber was respected by most of her peers; oh sure there were always the ones who teased and got mad at her for being perfect, but she lived with them. There weren't too many. She was kind, warm-hearted, funny, caring, generous, and always ready to help out. Her teachers adored her, they loved having her come after class to help correct papers. Everyone trusted her. Her family was totally proud of her, they showed her off to everyone they met. She received gifts and compliments graciously, always remembering to say "thank you". She always seemed happy, always ready with a smile or a hug. She was perfect, as perfect as anyone could be. So why did it happen? Why did she kill herself?

Over five hundred people attended her funeral. Five hundred. That many people to mourn the lost of one. One. Amber. She probably didn't know. Didn't know that so many people loved her, admired her. They all sang songs, her favorite songs. People went up to give speeches on how great Amber was to them. "She let me have her crayons in kindergarten..." "She consoled me over my break up with Ted..." "She was wonderful, loving..." "Thank you for all the things you did for me.." But even all those remarks and memories couldn't cover up the one question that no one could answer except Amber herself: Why?

They all lined up to drop flowers in Amber's casket. Sunflowers were her favorite. It stood for sunshine, happiness. Amber used to put sunflowers everywhere around her room. She had sunflower hats, sunflower clothes, everything had a sunflower on it. She was so happy. Warm tears streamed down everyone's cheeks as they each dropped a sunflower into her casket, saying a few words as they did so. She finally seemed at peace. Peace at last. It must've been where she wanted to go, or else why would she have done it? Her parents stood in front of the casket, numbly nodding to everyone who passed. They were obviously in shock. Lines creased their foreheads, and their eyes were swollen red from crying. They could barely stand up by themselves, chairs sat behind them in case they should fall. Their child, their only child was gone. Gone forever. Their perfect little girl was dead.
The casket filled up with more flowers, so much that they had to bring in extra bags for them. People dropped in huge sunflowers, as big and warm as the sun. It was their last way to express their love and sadness. They wanted her to be remembered forever, as the amazing girl she was, not the way she died.

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