Whippet Tales May 2013 Edition 1 VOL.1, Issue 1, May 2013 | Page 16

"How to Save a Life"
by Veronica Dannemiller

Sirens wailed in the night, breaking the silence of what would have been a normal night.
Lila fought the haze in her mind knowing that nothing would ever be the same again. Her life as
she knew it was over. If only she had known before that one mistake could take away
everything.
She had never been so scared in her entire life. She could hear the rushed, commanding
voices of the EMTs but could not make out what they were saying. Everything was in a jumble
and nothing seemed to make sense. She felt like she wasn't quite there. Her side hurt like no
pain she'd ever known, and she wasn't quite sure how she was still conscious. There had been
blood, so much blood. She wasn't sure how much was hers and how much belonged to her
worst sin. She was sure she would die; there was no way she could live through this. She wasn't
even sure that she wanted to. Anything was better than having to face reality.
She felt the tears streaming down her face as the truth hit her hard. She was a murderer.
She had taken away someone's life – she deserved to die. She hadn't meant for anyone to get
hurt or she wouldn't have turned when she did. She hadn't seen the car coming; she hadn't
known. She shook uncontrollably as she remembered how they pulled him away, trying to stop
his bleeding even though she knew it was hope