A.N. This is not a true story except for the first paragraph. Jessica is not the name of a close friend I have. No one I know has died for quite a while. I don't know where the idea for this story came up but I wrote it anyway. I hope you enjoy this. It's pretty short, only one page but I seem to be only writing short stories so far. Well, I am working on a longer story but that won't be up for a while. Thanks for reading this story and please review.

Remembering Jessica

She had been my friend since the 1st grade. Sure, we had our differences, and our conflicts. But that was what made our friendship last. I remember she would get mad at me for not talking about what she wanted to talk about, or when I would not talk to her because she got an A+ on her spelling test and I only got an A-. One time, we played tag in the library and I tripped over a book. I got a huge bruise on my knee, a cut on my chin and a knot on my face. All we did, while walking to the nurse's office, was laugh. It hurt like hell, but with her there, I walked out of that library limping, but with a smile on my face. When she fell down the stairs, all I did was laugh at her. What? It lightened up the mood and she wasn't seriously injured.

But God can be cruel, and take away one of the best things in my life. She had just got her driver's license and was taking me for a joy ride. It was a small car, I don't remember the type, and as she pulled onto the freeway, for the first time without her parents, a diesel truck ran into us. I am only glad that she didn't feel the pain for more than a few seconds.

The funeral took place a few weeks later. I was there to say good-bye, with all of her other friends. As I walked around the depressing funeral home for a while, thinking that she wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want people to walk around whispering in hush voices about how they were sorry she was gone. If people were to mourn her, she would want them to remember the good times in her life, or the jokes she would try to play us. She would want us to tell about the time she slipped over some grease while running to take some ones order, and how snorted when she giggled. Those were the things to remember.

I got up on the podium and looked at the crowed. Everyone noticed I was going to talk, and so they all turned towards me and waited. My knees started to shake, and I wondered why I was doing this. I looked through the crowd for a clue as to what to say.

I saw her, way in the back, in the same clothes she wore on the day she died. She was smiling and giving me two thumbs up. She seemed really hyper and was running in and out of people, making faces at them, even though they didn't seem to see or feel her. Not yet anyway. I smiled. She seemed to put the words in my mouth. I knew exactly what to say.

Thanks Jessica, I need that.