Graduation
As Sonja lies helpless on the side of the road, she allows her mind to wander in the engulfing darkness. Two days ago at this exact time she was at her friend Monica’s house, having a great time. Two days from now at this exact time, it will be seventeen years since her birth. She flashes back through those seventeen years, and remembers the good and bad times she had; when she fell of her bike at six years old, her knee still bore that ugly scar that was left behind; the miracle of her little sister’s birth when Sonja was ten. She always feels proud to say she has a sister she can get along with, and her sister looks up to Sonja, as she should. She remembers helping her mother cope and get through the hard times after her father left them when she was twelve. They were hard times, but they made it through. A certain quote comes to Sonja’s mind every time she thinks of the ordeal; “Whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” How true that was.
Her fifteenth year was full of ups and downs. Her first boyfriend, her first kiss. Her best friend moved away, also. Whoever said that teenagers have it easy doesn’t know how horribly wrong they are. When Gina moved, Sonja was devastated. She cried herself to sleep every night for weeks.
At sixteen she got her driver’s license. This provided her with a new sense of freedom and responsibility. She boosted her marks from an eighty to a ninety-five, and held it there, with dreams to be accepted into York.
Then her last year of school started. The last year – grade twelve. It has a nice ring to any teenager’s ear. When November came, her mother took her out to find a graduation dress. After many hours of searching, she found the perfect dress: pale pink with a full skirt and silver metallic ribbon woven through. It was gorgeous.
But there’s only one thing that Sonja could never understand, and that is drinking and driving. When she hears of it happening, she becomes confused. She wonders what would strike a person to do it. Sonja’s graduation is tomorrow. The day she can dress up in her beautiful gown, curl her hair, and look absolutely amazing. It’s a sin she can’t go. Why did that man have to drink and drive, she thinks as she closes her eyes in the everlasting darkness.
