Disclaimer: I wrote this in college as a writing exercise, but it was also a tribute to a high school classmate whose life was, in fact, cut short. She wasn’t a friend of mine, yet her death impacted me deeply. I can’t imagine what her loved ones felt…

I couldn’t believe she was gone.

I had just talked to her a couple days ago, now she was…here. The funeral home was packed with those who loved her. The line in front of her casket shuffled slowly, mournfully.

She was my age, just starting high school when a drunk driver put an end to a promising life. I realized that youth did not mean immortality, yet…she was my age.

As I passed the casket, I didn’t cry. I was still too shocked to cry. I remembered the last time I saw her. A smile and a laugh…then she was gone.