Hello Chargers and Friends!

I am excited to introduce our newest addition to the LCCA Observer, and that is a creative writing section. We love to read and we want to read your work. We want other’s to read your work as well. This means each week, we will highlight stories written by YOU! Our fellow chargers. We want it all: poetry, lyrics, short stories, long stories. You write it, we publish it! We will publish your work and YOU get to vote. Each month the winner will get something awesome from the LCCA Observer staff! What do you have to lose? Get those creative juices flowing! All typed work can be emailed to: [email protected]

We publish new stories every Friday! Send us your work and come back to see it in print. We can publish with and without your name. **All content and language must be appropriate for school. We are not opposed to controversial topics…but if you are in doubt, come see Ms. Myers or shoot her an email at: [email protected]

We look forward to seeing your work!

Here is the first submission…

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Chapter 1

“Hello?” Came a small voice in the darkness. “Is anybody there?” She asked again but was met with silence. Olivia had no idea how long she had been in the dark. Her brain was cloudy, and she couldn’t even remember how she got there. Her thoughts were racing, and her heartbeat was like a drum in her ears.

Think, girl, think, she told herself. She knew she wouldn’t get anywhere if she couldn’t calm her mind. Deep breath in, slow breath out. Deep breath in, slow breath out. What was the last thing she remembered? The bus stop. She had been at the bus stop waiting for the Ryan St. bus to take her home from school.

She had to take the bus. Her mom worked late hours cleaning office buildings and wouldn’t be home until after homework, dinner, and bath.

Who was she with? Emma and Liam. She had been sitting with Emma and Liam who were bickering over which flavor of skittles was better sour or tropical and then nothing. Her head hurt. It was this pounding headache that reverberated like the bass in an old car that shook the doors as an extra sound effect.

That was it. An old car with bass that shook the doors coming straight for them with no time to move. Suddenly, a lone, soft lightbulb appeared several feet in front of her and what appeared to be a mirror. Olivia cautiously walked up to the dim yellow glow and peered into the mirror. Yes, she could see herself. Except it wasn’t just her reflection. The Olivia in the mirror smiled at her.

“Hello Olivia.” Said the girl in the mirror.

“Um, hello.” Olivia said back.

“I bet you are wondering where you are…or do you think you have an idea?” she asked.

Olivia stammered, “I think – I know, I mean I’m not sure. I mean, I thought I was, but no, not really.”

The girl in the reflection looked at Olivia with soothing and gentle eyes. “Shhhhhh. There, there. No need to get yourself upset, that will only make things worse.”

“What? How?”

“Do you remember the accident?” She asked pensively.

Olivia closed her eyes so she could see the accident in her mind more clearly. “Yes, I see it. I was standing at the bus stop in front of Liam and Emma who were sitting on the bench with their backpacks between their feet arguing which flavor of Skittles was better. I don’t really like either flavor, so I guess I kinda zoned out listening to music in the air pods I was sharing with Emma.” What was that song, she wondered? Olivia’s mind wandered.

It was hard to focus. When she focused, a burning sensation like a pin prick began in the center of her vision and quickly spread across her entire being.

“Good,” The girl in the reflection brought her mind back. “There was an accident and a car full of high school boys ran a red light, jumped the curb and ran right into the bus stop where you were standing. You, Emma, and Liam were struck and all three of you have been brought to the hospital.”

“What? The panic began to rise in her again and her head began to pound and a beeping sound so loud in her ears-like an alarm. It was an alarm. Even from her unconscious state she could hear the alarm of the heart rate monitor as it signaled for help.

Chapter 2

Charlotte and William Gaffney stood trembling in silence in the lobby of Good Shepherd Memorial. Holding one another up, unable to speak, unable to sit, they stood there in a daze, under water, as the world moved on around them. Their entire world lay shattered in the room just beyond them, and the pain they felt was inconsolable.

“Mrs. Gaffney?” Dr. Johnson placed a gentle hand on the trembling woman’s shoulder. “My name is Dr. Johnson, and I am the head of Neurosurgery here at GSM and I performed your daughter’s surgery. Can we step into my office to go over a few things?”

Not really convinced they heard most of what she had said, Dr. Johnson led the Gaffney’s to her office and offered them a seat, tissue, and water. Once she could see their eyes had fixed on hers, she repeated who she was and began the process of explaining their daughter’s condition to them.

She turned her computer monitor to face them. “Your daughter has suffered an intercranial hemorrhage. I had to go in and cut open her cranium to allow room for her swollen brain and to stop the bleeding. The surgery was successful, and we expect the swelling to go down in a few days.

Mrs. Gaffney let out a huge sob and collapsed into her husband’s arms. Dr. Johnson had seen this before and allowed the mother a moment to compose herself before continuing. “While we won’t know anything for certain until Olivia wakes up, there are good indications that she will survive this. We just don’t know for certain with the brain. Sometimes it is quick, and other times it is a very long process.”

Mr. Gaffney turned his attention from his wife to respond. “Thank you, Dr., can we see her now?”

“Of course,” Dr. Johnson replied. “Follow me.” And with that, the three of them left her office and headed to the elevator destined for the ICU and the unknown.

TO BE CONTINUED…