• It was a mere normal Thursday evening as I stood barefoot, leaning against the small brown filing cabinet. Upon hearing my name, I turned quickly to face my half-way drunk dad holding a
    small white scale in his hands. "Sam!! How do you work this thing?" is what he said from the other side of the room. After carefully, yet harshly explaining to him that he needed to set the scale on
    the floor, tap it once, wait for the zero, then step on it completely, he ever so shyly mumbled out a number. Shaking my head, I laughed and mentioned how I would tease him for the rest of his life. From here I turned and headed back to my bedroom.

    The following morning, April eighteenth, I woke up around 8:00am. Oddly, the air smelt.. felt.. dead. Something just did not seem right. I knew my parents were supposed to go to the river that day, and I figured they just slept in a bit. I headed back to bed, only sleeping for about an house and a half before waking back up. Everything seemed fine until I opened my door and walked through the hallway. The minute I looked around the corner, I seen my mom sitting at the table crying. Outside the window were police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances. To the side stood probably a dozen or more cops, paramedics, and the sort. My dad was no where in sight...

    "What's going on?!!!!?!!" Is about all I could say. No one would tell me what was happening. Then came the yelling, I was demanding to know what had happened. Then I knew... Through the dining room.. family room.. past the baren hallway and into my parents room.. my dad lay in bed, no longer breathing.. no longer fore for me. All I could do was sit... sit and try to cry.. but only shake and talk to myself. I was in disbelief. Shock. My life would never be the same again. This was obvious.

    I rush to the phone, picked it up, then headed back my room. Warm tears just started running down my face without pause. Pulling open the long white drawer on my desk, I quickly picked up a small piece of paper. "Josh: 714-***-****" appears. Shaking, my fingers manage to press the right buttons and the phone begins to ring. No answer. I smash down on the redial button before even hearing a dial tone. Still no answer. "Josh.... p-p-p-please call back.. It's urgent. I REALLY need you right now. Please call back as soon as you can." That was all I could say to the silent end of the phone after the "beep" of the voicemail. I stood there.. trying to fully comprehend what the reality of the matter was.

    I must have faded out the reality.. the next thing I know I am outside, calling the school, I had to get ahold of Kevin. The only person I could think of that I knew would be there for me when I needed him the most. It was a failed attempt, the school was on lockdown, ruining all chance I had of getting in touch with him. My fist met the wooden poles of the sidewalk covering. I walked back inside, tossing the paperback phone book on the couch. I slowly made my way back up the stairs, towards the table, surrounded my paramedics and cops, and slunk down into a chair.

    In and out people walked from the room where my dad lay cold and gray. A detective collected all of the medication my dad was presribed and taking. Recorded them, then away he went with the meds. Up pulls a very plain white van. A bald man approaches the house, knocks, and enters. He is here for my dad's body.. My mom and I walk to my room, and sit on the bed. All we can here is the sound of the cart being dragged through the house. I try to fight off the tears, but they continue to come. After a few minutes of silence, we here the cart again. They were removing him from the house and placing him in the white van to be delivered to the morgue for his autopsy.. So he was forever gone, never to be seen again happy and smiling.