Hello there, dear readers!

If you've chanced upon this author's note than it must mean that you have just read two thousand, seven hundred and eighty nine words written by yours truly. It was quite a pleasure to have been able to write this little story here, and besides being a contest entry, it is a tribute to all the school shootings that have happened, be it the Columbia school shooting, or even the recent, non-school Colorado shooting - (if you didn't get it, then yes, Hyoyeon died in a school shooting, I'm sorry!)

I really wanted to show what goes on behind the scenes of these shootings; it might seem like just a news event to us; something we read about, get shocked by, but honestly, our lives go on after that. But these victims don't get to go on with their lives, they don't get to do things they wanted to do and love the people they love. These people had lives, promises, memories, dates, just like Hyoyeon did. And the people around them - their lives aren't quite the same anymore, as portrayed by Hyukjae. A little part of them slips away, and it takes a long time to heal from these wounds. Life is so, darn precious, it's the gift that all of us have, and is the gift we had all better darn treasure.I hope all of you have enjoyed this journey as much as I have, God bless all of you.

With lots of love,

Jess