• My best friend, Jacob died a while ago in a subway. He and I were taking the subway home from school, and going to our favorite spot on the platform – Smack dab in the middle. We were walking, as we talked when a tall, dark skinned shady guy stuck his leg out purposely, as a comical trick. Unfortunately, Jacob did not see the man’s foot, and tripped over it. He rolled to the left, and fell onto the train tracks. By then, a group of people were yelling to stay down. A train was coming. Jacob immediately jumped and tried to start climbing on the platform to no avail. Apparently, there was some food grease on the floor, making him slip back. The train conductor saw him, but the train did not brake in time. Jacob was crushed under the heavy mass of the train.


    Eventually, the man who tripped him was found and sued, but money does not pay for a life. Day by day, I thought about the good times we had, the jokes we shared, and the years we’ve known each other. Because of one silly mishap, a whole life was taken. It was as if someone just ripped ten years of friendship into shreds in the matter of a minute. For the first few days, I was not a sight to see, dark circles under my eyes, falling asleep everywhere, and tear stains. But as the days progressed, I got used to having an empty spot next to me in the classroom, no one to talk to on the train, and a heart void of friendship.


    I started to turn to other things to take my mind off of the incident; I took track, started socializing with other people, and eventually grew out of the incident that once injured my past life. I used to be the outcast of the classroom, but now I was the one with crowds surrounding me, talking and asking about how I was doing. But the most important lesson I learned from Jacob’s death was that time goes on, and you go along with it.