FicWad

I was nine. When the best and worst thing happened. And every day I recall it, I still feel overwhelmed with guilt. It wasn't my fault, yet I could've done something. Could've tried.

I was an only child. For years my parents tried to have a baby. For years they failed. Then one night, and hopefully we all know how, they got lucky. That was me. Mom called ma her 'Precious Gift'.When I was about six they tried for a sibling for me. Mom was never able to have another child, though. The doctors were amazed that she was able to have me. I was a 'special gift from the Heavans'. Ya, right.

For ever since I could remember we had been a happy family.Special picknicks, late afternoon B-B-Ques, walks through the park.We were happy. When I was eight I had a friend who had a dysfunctional family. I never thought that could happen to me. Never thought my life could be ripped up by the seams. How niave.

It was late August, when the leaves are just starting to change color. It was a Saturday, my favourite day of the week. We were hiking. There's not alot of big cities in Wyoming, and wilderness was plentiful.We lived in an old house a couple of miles from town. Next to a lake, surrounded by forest.

There was a big dirt path leading through the woods, slowly up amountain.We were hiking that path. I remember that horrific event perfectly.

Dad was wearing jean shorts with a red shirt. He had insisted on wearing his sunglasses and walked with a cigarette in hand. His sandy brown hair went well with his caramel eyes.

Mom. Mom was beautiful on her last day. Her light-brown hair was crimped, and it sparkled in the sunlight. And her eyes. I remember her eyes the most. They were always full of happiness, full of love and laughter. She wore a crisp yellow shirt that day, and a pink skirt that billowed around her like a protective fortress.

Last but not least, me. My hair was like my mom's: light-brown. But unlike my mom, my eyes were hazel. Freckles ran across my sun-kissed cheeks. I was wearing a cutesy pink shirt and jean capris.

We were walking by a ledge that jutted out over rocky hills. That's where it happened.

In the middle of walking, Dad stopped. "Hey, this looks like the perfect place for a picture," he said.

Mom flashed him a smile. "Why, that's a great idea, Rick."

Still to this day I curse my father for that suggstion. If only he had kept quiet. If only we hadn't been by that ledge. If only, if only.

"Emily, come over here by me," Dad gestured for me to come over to a rock by him. I stumbled over to him, a clumsy nine year-old.

"Hold on a sec," Mom said as she fumbled around in her backpack. "Oh, here it-hey, I'm stuck!"

That ring. That stupid ring. It was silver, witha pink, heart-shaped gem. I had given it to her on her birthday. Now that stupid ring was caught on a lose string.Mom gave a hard tug, and the ring came flying free. Unfortunatly, it also flew off her finger.

These next moments seemed to go by in slow motion. Probably because they were the most horrendous.

The ring went rolling down the ledge. Mom scrambled after it.But her foot slipped on the dirt, and she went sliding down, taking a mini avalanche of dirt with her. She cried out as she slid off the ledge. At the last possible moment, she turned and grabbed a big root coming out of the ground. There she hung, over the rocky terrain below.

"ANNE!!!!!!" Dad scrambled down after her.

I was frozen. I was too terrified to move. Inside I urged my legs to move, but they wouldn't obey. All I could think about was sliding down and off the ledge. I watched, a silent statue.

Dad reached Mom, and grabbed her hand. He tried too pull her back up, but she only slipped down further. Dad was desperately saying something, tears streaming down his face. Mom put her free hand on Dad's cheek and wiped away a tear. Then, time semed to speed up. A beautiful, sad smile. Rock crumbling. A hand slipped. My mother, my best friend, vanished from my sight, vanished from my life forever.

"ANNE!!!!!!!!!" My dad half-yelled, half-sobbed. "No, no, no." He whipped out his cell phone and punched in three numbers. 911."Oh my god, my wife just fell of a ledge, she's, she's bleeding and-"

I shut his voice out. I couldn't take it. The world seemed to freeze. Only threee words registered in my brain: Mom is dead. I staggered back, I couldn't breathe. The world seemed to spin around me. My body swayed, then fell to the ground.The last thing I remembered was the cry of sirens, and approaching flashing lights......