Writing Exercises
Write a short story with your character who had to deal with someone close to who died. Go through each stage of grief in your story: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
My Writing
Scout stared at the newspaper where Officer Michelle Higgins smiled up at her. Scout read the obituary for the fourth time and shook her head. She crumbled up the newspaper and tossed it across the kitchen. Her mom watched her from the sink, dried her hands, and went to give her a hug, but Scout pushed her away.
“Officer Higgins will be at school working tomorrow,” Scout said matter-of-factly as she stomped off towards the stairs to go to her room. “Whoever put that in the paper made a mistake.”
“Scout, honey, I wish it was a mistake, but it’s not. You were there when it happened,” her mom said as she followed her daughter. “I know you’re hurting, honey bunny, but she’s gone.”
Scout turned and faced her mom, glaring at her. “She is not gone! You’re lying and so is whoever wrote that stupid obituary.”
“It’s okay to be angry, sweety,” her mom said and pulled Scout into a tight hug, not letting go.
“Well, maybe,” Scout said and wiggled free from her mom’s hug. “Maybe there is something I can do. I mean, I can get one of those nasty demons to bring her back to life. There is a demon who could do that. I just have to remember where they live. We talked about it in one of our classes this one time. But I am blanking and can’t remember the information right now.”
Her mom shook her head and placed her hands on Scout’s shoulders. “Yes, there is a demon who could do that. And if you remember, you will remember in your studies it talked about how it brought someone back and they were never the same again. They hated they had been brought back and took their own life.” She looked into her daughter’s eyes. “We can’t do that to Officer Higgins. You know she wouldn’t forgive us for doing that to her.” She watched as Scout’s face fell and her eyes clouded over.
“I know, but…” Scout couldn’t think of what else to say because she knew her mom was right. She knew Officer Higgins would never forgive her if she forced a demon to bring her back to life. And she couldn’t think of any other plans to save Officer Higgins, but she didn’t want her friend to be gone. “Mom, why is she gone? Why did she jump into the fight? She wasn’t a demon hunter.”
Her mom smiled at her sadly as she pulled her daughter close. “Scout, sweety, she loved you and Jennifer, and Katlyn so much. She loved all of you little demon hunters at Azriel High. She wasn’t about to let any of you get hurt, whether she was a demon hunter or just a regular human security officer.”
“We should have trained her,” Scout said. “We should have trained her.” Scout couldn’t hold it back any longer and sobbed into her mom’s shoulder, hugging her mom back this time.
Her mom held her daughter until Scout stopped sobbing and had grown tired from the crying. She turned her daughter around and led her upstairs to her bedroom. Scout crawled into her bed and her mom tucked her in so Scout could rest.
Scout looked up at her mom and whispered, “She’s really gone.”
Her mom bent down and kissed Scout’s forehead. She looked into her daughter’s water eyes and smiled sadly. “I’m sorry, honey, but yes, she is really gone.” She brushed some hair from Scout’s forehead before she stood up again.
Scout curled up into a tight ball under her sheets and closed her eyes. “I’m going to miss her.”
“We are all going to miss her, sweety. But remember, we always have our memories of her, so she won’t be gone completely. Now get some rest for now. I will come get you once dinner I’ve made dinner in a few hours.” Her mom walked across her room and closed the door behind her as she left. She walked back to the kitchen to finish washing some dishes and do a few other things before she started dinner.
Scout opened her eyes and stared out of her bedroom window for a moment. “I’m sorry, Officer Higgins. I wish I could have saved you.” She rolled away from the window and let herself fall asleep, her cheeks wet with fresh tears.
