Stand Of Honor by Cathryn Williams

looked up at them both and smiled. She told them she loved them and that she would always be with them. They each held one of her hands and cried, telling her to hold on and to not leave them. While they were trying to talk to her and keep her with them, they had felt another presence. She remembered seeing Zane drop to his knees with tears in his eyes. She found out later that he had still been in class and had run out when he heard what had happened. Her mother had also treated Zane like a son.
    By the time the paramedics arrived, her mother was gone. As they carried her body away, Nick turned to the boy who had just killed his mother. The officers had not taken him away yet. Nick had lost control, punching him in the face. The impact knocked the boy down to the ground. Nick went to kick him, but Zane had stopped him, pulling him away. She remembered seeing Zane speak softly to Nick, and whatever he had said made Nick stop. She’d always wondered what Zane had said to calm him down.
    The funeral had been a few days later. Several students were there, proving that they had known the goodness in her mother and how much she had truly cared for them. Many of them cried as well and told her father how much their mother had done for them.
    The metal detectors had been installed just a few days later and the school patrol started the following day. Melanie had heard that the violence in the school dropped drastically after that day and she liked to think her mother would be smiling down, knowing that things had changed for the better.
    It had been a long time before any of them could go a day without crying over her. There had been so many hard days. Over a year passed before their father finally started clearing out some of her clothes and going through her things.
    While they had been looking at some pictures and pulling out old boxes, they found three letters, each one had a name on it. Their mother had always left little notes for them throughout the house, sometimes she would find one under her pillow. One time, her mother had even left her a funny note in the shower about not using all the hot water.
    This note had been more serious, though. It had been a letter addressed to each of them in the even that anything were to ever happen to her. They all had sat on the floor, each of them reading their personal letter.
    Melanie’s letter was about telling her how much she loved her and how proud she was of her accomplishments. She told Melanie to work hard and to always follow her dreams. She also told Melanie that just because she may not be around anymore didn’t mean that she was gone; she was just watching from a distance and would forever be in her heart.
    The letters ended up slightly lifting their spirits. That past year had been so difficult, however these last bits of communication from her helped them all start to keep their heads up and live their lives to their fullest potential. Their mother wouldn’t want to see them sad; she had always wanted their happiness.
    As Melanie walked aimlessly, lost in her thoughts, she heard a vehicle approach and looked over to see Zane pull up next to her. She brushed her tears aside and looked at him. What was he doing here?
    He read the question in her eyes. “Nick called me. Get in,” he said softly. She assumed Nick told him what had happened earlier with her father.
    She nodded , sliding into his vehicle. He then held her hand as he drove her to his place in silence.
    They walked in , and without a word, went to his bedroom. She still felt lost in her memories, her heart aching. She missed her mother so much.
    He pulled her shoes off and told her to lay down. Then, he pulled off his shoes and shirt, lying down on the bed beside her. He pulled her close, stroking her hair.
    “I miss her , too,” he whispered in her ear, pulling her tighter against his body.
    Her last thought was of her father stroking her mother’s hair as she cried herself to sleep.

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