Five Stages

It was a sunny day, it doesn't happen like it does in the dramas. There is no slow 360 camera and there is definitely no foreshadowing. You don't see it coming, it happens quicker than a blink of an eye. It was a bright sunny day... Everything seemed normal. We were walking out of the ice-cream store, we were happy and we were laughing. We looked away for a split second and there was a flash of a bright, white light. After my eyes cleared up there he was... Dead. 

The car ran him over, we didn't see it coming, there was no warning. I kneeled down, I prodded him, shook him, listened for his heartbeat. He didn't move. His heart was silent, it was still. He was eerily still and I knew I was crying. The car that hit him sped off ages ago, it was a hit and run. Everybody stared at me, they called for help. The ambulance came and they gathered around him, they touched his neck and they looked at each other with grim expressions. They moved him onto a stretcher but didn't take him to the hospital. They just waited for his parents to come and when they did they left, leaving Jimin behind with his parents. It felt like the sun was mocking me. It was warm, sunny and bright, but I felt cold, sad and dark.

***

At his funeral it was sunny too. The cool breeze felt like a sharp slap. His other friends came to mourn his death. There were six of them, they didn't cry though. I on the other hand cried a lot. Everyone wore black, it's practically a custom for funerals. We put flowers on his coffin then they lowered him into the hole. I felt hollow and lifeless, I didn't want to be reminded of his death.   

My parent were mourning his death too, our families were close. We were practically raised together. I didn't talk to them when I got home, I didn't even spare them a look. I just went straight to my room and tried not to cry. I heard them cry though. My dad tried to comfort my mum. My mum was hysterical, my father was a little less sad, but sad nonetheless.   

I didn't want to accept it, Jimin wasn't dead. No he just went in a holiday somewhere, he'll come back when he wants to. I stayed in my room for weeks, my parents never bothered me. I ate whenever they weren't home and I didn't go to school. My parents cried every night. They thought Jimin was dead, he's not though. He's just gone on a holiday, he'll be back soon they'll see.

***

Jimin was dead and it was all my fault. I blamed myself for his death. If I didn't take him to the ice-cream store, he'd still be alive. He'd be alive, he would be dancing, singing, he'd go to school and he'd still be here. I screamed and yelled, I threw things and I cried. Why did Jimin have to die? It was my fault, it was all my fault.

After a while I realised it wasn't my fault, it was actually the drivers fault. He came out of nowhere and ran him over. He didn't even stop to see if Jimin was okay! He just kept on driving and left Jimin to die. I tried looking for the driver so I could get revenge, but I never found him. He disappeared just like Jimin did. The difference was that I knew where Jimin was, he was in a coffin under the ground. I don't know where the driver was.

I ended up trashing my room, releasing all of my anger out on my room. Items had been thrown around the room. Everything's was a complete mess. But I still felt angry. I wasn't satisfied. I screamed and yelled some more, I muffled my screams with a pillow. I ended up falling asleep due to exhaustion.    

 ***

I begged to God, I begged for him to bring Jimin back to life. I'd give anything in return for Jimin's life, I'll even sacrifice myself. I prayed at home, I went to the church and prayed there for God to answer my prayers. I also begged to God to turn back time to the day of Jimin's death and stop myself from going to the ice-cream store, I offered to give him anything in exchange but it never happened. Either God didn't want to revive Jimin and reverse time or he just couldn't hear me. Every time I went to sleep I would pray that Jimin would be here when I was woke up. When I was awake I looked for Jimin. He was nowhere to be seen. He was still dead, underneath the ground. 

***

I went to the park Jimin and I used to play at when we were kids. It wasn't a park anymore unfortunately, it was just a barren hill. But it still had a tree, our tree. Jimin's name and my name had been carved into the tree. It was sloppy handwriting, but we were kids back then so it can be excused. I ran my fingers over our names and slowly I started to breakdown. Tears fell and my body started to shake violently. I gasped for breath and sniffled. I hiccuped and my legs gave out on me. I kneeled on the floor and rested my head against the trunk of the tree. 

Why did you have to die? I hate this so much! Why did we go out that day? Why did I crave ice-cream so much? 

Many questions ran though my mind and my tears never stopped flowing. I eventually stopped crying and I just sat there, leaning against the tree. It was still sunny, but this time I felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I didn't feel cold, sad and dark anymore. I felt normal. Slowly but surely I fell asleep.

***

I started to walk mindlessly and ended up outside the ice-cream store Jimin was killed. There was a crash and a yell and sounds of screaming. I started to run so I could see what the problem was. There was a man outside of a car, a girl underneath the car and a boy hovering over the girl. I ran to them, but I stopped dead in my tracks. The boy who was hovering over the girl was Jimin. But he should be here, he's dead! Jimin hugged the girl close to his chest, he cried, he whispered into her ears and I approached them slowly.   

When I reached them my heart stopped. The girl Jimin was holding was me! I was lifeless in Jimin's arms and he was crying. I stood in front of him and he didn't look up at me. I waved my arms in front of him and I screamed in face and there was no response.

I saw was a flash of light. I remember walking out of the ice-cream store. I was happy, I was laughing. Jimin followed me, he was happy and laughing too. His face suddenly became scared and he called out for me. All of a sudden I felt something slam into me and I snapped back into reality.

I stood there, I watched Jimin cry over my dead body and I sighed. 

I remember now

It wasn't Jimin who was hit by the car, it was me.

The ambulance came and put my body on a stretcher and Jimin waited close to them. I smiled a small smile and I walked over to Jimin, he still did not see me or acknowledge my presence. I wrapped my arms around him and sighed into his chest.

"Don't be sad, be happy okay? I want you to live a happy life without me, don't look back on our memories with sadness, but remember them as fun, happy times. I know it'll be hard at the beginning, but you can get over it quickly. I believe you can! I'm sorry I have to leave you like this, but I know you'll be fine right? You have many friends and you have such a loveable personality! I'll miss you of course, but you can do just fine without me. Also take care of my parents if you can... I know they'll be struggling." I told him

Jimin did not respond whatsoever and I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. I tried to wipe his tears away but it was useless, tears still ran down his face. I went onto my tippy-toes and gently kissed Jimin's forehead

"Don't forget me okay?" I whispered

I let go of him and I felt very light. I closed my eyes and let out a small sigh.

"Goodbye Jimin"

It felt like I was floating away, but it also felt like I was disappearing. Slowly but surely it was fading away, I was leaving everyone I loved behind. But I was fine with it, I'm alright. I'm not mad or sad. I felt at peace. There was a bright flash of light again and then 

If you haven't guessed it the story is named 'the five stages' after the five stages of grief.
If you need help identifying each stage I'll put it down below this authors note.
I hope you enjoyed this story and I hope it's not too fast paced. I wanted it to be a one-shot, it's like a small project I'm doing because I'm currently writing another story
Is you're confused about the ending because the last sentence is incomplete, no I haven't forgotten to write something, it's supposed to be like that, it's supposed to represent Nothingness, the OC has disappeared and doesn't exist anymore.
The OC was also dead for the entire story

The five stages:
The five stages of grief are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance

Denial is when the OC is saying that Jimin wasn't dead, he was on holidays somewhere. But in actuality the denial is the OC not accepting she is dead, she thinks she is the one that is alive not Jimin and everything that is happening is a figment of her imagination. 

Anger is when the OC blames herself for Jimin's death. She says that if she did go to the ice-cream store that Jimin would still be alive. Actually she's mad at herself because she would be alive because if they didn't go to the ice-cream store the OC would of never been killed so the OC is blaming herself for her death. She also blames the driver who hit Jimin/her, if they weren't hit they'd be alive

Bargaining is when the OC begs God to revive Jimin and that she'll sacrifice her life in exchange for his. She also begs to reverse time so that she can prevent herself from going to the ice-cream stores and she says she'll give God anything if he does it.

Depression is when the OC goes to the top of the hill where Jimin and the OC used to play at when they were kids, there is a tree with their names and she starts to cry when she runs her fingers over the names. This could mean she's depressed about Jimin's death or subconsciously depressed about her own death.

Acceptance is when the OC realises it's not Jimin who was killed, but it was her who was killed. She comes to terms with her death and she disappears after she accepts her death.