NOTE: THE WHOLE "IMAGINE" PORTION IS 100% HYPOTHETICAL AND MADE UP, OR IN OTHER WORDS, BASED ON A TRUE STORY.


Imagine:
You wake up. It’s a beautiful Saturday morning. You bailed on the party last night, just cuz, but you told your friends your parents would go AWOL if you went. Of course. Your best friend tried to convince you to go, and he tried his best, but you knew there would be drinking and blatantly refused.

Okay. So you walk downstairs, humming your favorite song to yourself, make a bowl a cereal and milk and sit down and watch some TV. It turns to the news and on the headlines at the bottom it says there was a car crash early that morning and then it cuts off to go to commercials and then the next show. You decide to call your bestie to get details just because you’re curious and he always has the most inside scoop on stuff like that. You never stopped to wonder why; you just rely on him for that kind of stuff.

So you get him on speed dial and lounge on the couch waiting for him/her to pick up. No answer. Maybe he left his phone in his room and is doing something downstairs. You call his home phone.

“Hello?”

The voice is shaky, and you can’t tell who’s speaking, but you assume it’s his parents.

“Hi,” you say, “uh, is [insert name here] there?”

You hear explosive crying and the line goes dead. Confused, you call a friend you know was at the party last night, just making sure that your horrible assumption is indeed wrong.

“Hey…” he says, but you notice an unusual depressed tone in his voice.

“Um, hi. I called [insert name here]’s house but when I asked if he was there his mom or whatever hung up on me without, like, saying anything. What’s going on, man?”

You hear silence from the other end and you wait for your friend to tell you that he just went to summer camp and meant to tell you but didn’t have time because of after school stuff, or he’s probably still sleeping.

“He’s dead.”


Think:
What would you do?

What would you think?

How would you react?

Where would you go?

Would you go to anyone to talk to or for help?

If so, who would you go to?

Would you blame yourself?

Would you blame someone else?



Remember:
It’s never your fault. Know and trust yourself. It always seems like life is crashing down on you. Yes, loosing someone is hard, but just know, it could always be worse. There are still people out there who love and care about you, and would try their very best not to let anything happen to you. There are people who would risk their lives for you. You haven’t lost them, have you? When life plays at your weaknesses, then you know its time to fight back. If life gives you a thousand reasons to cry, give life a million to laugh, you know? There’s never a right time to give up, but rather a wrong time to stop trying. Every time you fall, you stand right back up again, or at least make even the slightest effort. Life was meant to ridicule you, but you were meant to get right up in life’s face and say, “I don’t give a $#!*, man. S.T.F.U! Yea, that’s right brah! Yeeeeah I’m a cool kid now! And you’re just a lose-” Well, not really, but you get the picture. The point is, believe in yourself. It may not be okay at the moment, but there’s always a beacon of hope, a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel that will inevitably lead to sanctuary.

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