What Happens After You Die

What happens after you die?1

Natalie and Taylor were sitting in the coffee shop having their usual mid- afternoon discussion over iced lattés. They talked the regular gossip for awhile, such as what music was popular, and who was dating who. Suddenly the conversation took a disturbing turn.  2

"Hey Nat, what do you think happens after you die?"  Taylor said with a bizarre twinge in her voice.  Natalie stared at her friend not knowing how to answer the question.  Her heart beat wildly, here she talking to one of her best friends about such a difficult topic.     3

"Um, well I don’t know what really happens. I guess a lot of people cry, and am sad for a long time. The grieving period takes a while," Taylor nodded. 4

The conversation halted there and there was nothing else said.  An eerie silence came over the coffee shop. Tons of scenarios ran through Natalie's head as she thought why   Taylor would pose such a difficult question.5

Later that night at home, while doing her chemistry homework, the telephone rang.    6

"Natalie its Rachael and it sounds urgent!" Natalie's brother Joshua yelled up the stairs.  "Got it." Natalie yelled back as she reached over and picked up the extension next to her bed. 7

"Hey Rachael, what's up?"     There was silence on the end of the line.   "Hello?" Natalie suddenly wondered if it was a prank call.  8

"Hey, Nat   have you talked to Taylor today at all?" Rachel asked. There was a worried edge to her voice. 9

“Yeah we went out for coffee after school, why?"     10

“Because she just called me and said that she was contemplating suicide.”   Natalie’s heart beat faster  as the  memories of  the  conversation she had  with  Taylor  at the coffee shop, though it had  been short  and the question had posed. She never once that that her friend was reaching out for helped.   “Well, what did she say, what were her exact words?”   Natalie said in the phone indecisive on weather or not to cry.  “She said ‘What would happen if I had a whole container of pills in front of me and decided to swallow them in one handful?”    Natalie was silent for a long time.  “Nat, are you still there?” Rachael asked.  “Yeah, I’m still here,” Natalie said softly “I just can’t believe I didn’t see this coming.”  “What should we do?” Rachael asked nervously.  “I have no idea, I’m afraid to confront her about it because she’ll mostly likely deny that it’s true.”  “Well, maybe we should talk tomorrow at lunch and try to figure out what we can do to help Taylor.”   Rachael suggested.  “Okay sounds good, how about we meet by the main doors and go to McDonald’s to try to figure out a game plan?”  Natalie asked.  “Sounds good.” 11

The next day after fourth period biology Natalie was waiting for Rachael by her locker. “Ready to go?”   Natalie asked her friend.  “Yup.” Rachael said.   They headed toward junior parking and drove in silence to McDonalds.   Once they arrived at McDonalds and had gotten their food   they sat down in a corner booth. “So I can’t believe you couldn’t pick up on the obvious hint Taylor was trying to give to you.”  Rachael said in utter shock and disbelief.  “Well, to be honest at first    I didn’t think she was serious, I mean what kind of person asks a question like that to her closest friend or to anybody for that matter?”   Rachael shrugged her shoulders  “I don’t but I think  whole situation is sort of whacked out, I mean I didn’t really think that there was  something that tragically wrong in her life that she would even consider suicide.”   Natalie nodded her head in grievance although she was only half listening to what Rachael was saying.    ‘Taylor gets good grade, has a pretty decent family life, and is involved in activities at school, what could possibly make her suicidal?’  She thought to herself.   “This situation is obviously too big for us to handle ourselves, I think we should talk to someone about it.”  Natalie said.  “But who can we talk to?  I mean we just can’t go up to her mom and say “Hey, we think your daughter is suicidal.”   Rachael said nervously.   “I think we should go to one of the guidance counselors   and see if they can offer us any help or at least help us to get something out of Taylor.” Natalie suggested.  “Yeah but   what if Taylor denies everything and says she isn’t suicidal?”  Rachael said.  “She may do that at first, but eventually we’ll be able to get something out of her, it’s worth a shot.”   “Ok, we’ll make an appointment with a guidance counselor when we get back to school; I just hope you’re right about this.” Rachael said a look of uncertainty clouding her face.12

The first thing that the two girls did when they arrived back at school was head directly to the guidance office.  “Hi, I’m Natalie Emerson and this is my friend Rachael Dicarlo, we’re here to make an appointment with Mrs. Goldstein because we’re concerned about one of good friends Taylor St. John, we think she might be suicidal.”  Natalie said to the receptionist.  The receptionist looked alarmed at the mention of the word suicidal “Would you like to make that appointment right away?”   “Yes, definitely, the sooner the better.” Rachael said.    There was silence for a few minutes as the receptionist looked up Mrs. Goldstein’s schedule. “Does tomorrow morning at 9:30 work for you?  That’s the only time I see free as of right now.”   “Yes, that’s perfect.” Natalie said.  She looked at Rachael as if to say ‘Here goes nothing.’13

The next morning at 9:20 \Natalie and Rachael sat in Mrs. Goldstein’s office. Mrs. Goldstein breezed in through the door, sat down at her desk and started to shuffle papers.   “Hello girls, I hear that you’ve voiced some concern about Taylor being suicidal.”    Yes, we’re very concerned about her but I think we should wait for Taylor to get here before we discuss anything further.” Natalie said.   They waited for 5 or so minutes and then Taylor walked through the door.  “Good Morning Mrs. Goldstein.” she said greeting the guidance counselor humbly.  “Hi guys” she said giving her friends a sideways glance.  “Taylor, Rachael and Natalie are somewhat concerned about you; they seem to think you might be suicidal is this true?” Mrs. Goldstein asks.    Taylor squirmed “Umm... No”    she looked at her friends nervously   Rachael mouthed “I told you she’d deny It.” to Natalie.    Mrs. Goldstein looked at Natalie and Rachael.  “Girls, would you feel free to tell me what signs led you to believe that Taylor is suicidal?”   Natalie cleared her throat nervously.  “The other day when we went out for coffee she asked me what would happen after you die.   I was lost for words and then didn’t know what to say to efficiently answer the question.”     Taylor looked seemingly more uncomfortable.  “What’s wrong with starting conversation, we were out of things to talk about so I figured I’d start a new conversation.”    “Oh obviously Tay, that’s a bit of a morbid conversation topic don’t you think?  I mean who starts a conversation like that?” Natalie said, getting seemingly frustrated.    Rachael decided  to but in  “A few minutes after getting home from the coffee shop  Taylor called  me on the phone asked me what would happen if she had a whole container of pills in  front of her and tried to swallow them all in one handful?.”   Taylor’s jaw dropped “Rachael Dicarlo, how could you could accuse me of such a thing, I never said that.”  She said defiantly.   “Yes, you did and I got scared so after I hung up with you   I called Natalie and told her what you said.” Rachael said,      Mrs.  Goldstein looked at the three girls with critical eyes and took a deep breath.  “Taylor, may I ask you what brought about this sudden outburst of dramatic behavior?  I’ve always known you as the kind of person not to go things that would seek attention.”   Taylor’s face flushed a deep crimson and the room was pin drop quiet for about 10 minutes.  “Ok, you want to know the truth? I’ll tell you.  I’ve been having a lot of troubles at home over the past couple of months   My parents have been going through a  divorce and it’s been rough on me  because my mom is a person I look up to  a role model and kind of like a best friend.   I hate to see my parents fight the way they do.  My older brother and I haven’t been getting along too well lately either; we always seem to find something to disagree on.   So I feel like I have really no one to turn to at home because my brother and I are fighting and the tension is just too great between my parents to talk to them about anything.”     Natalie and Rachael sat back in their chairs totally dumbstruck and the room was once again quiet for 5 or so minutes.14

“Oh Taylor, why didn’t you tell us?” You know we’re always here for you.”  Rachael said about close to bursting into tears.  Natalie couldn’t say anything.   She was utterly shocked that Taylor had to find such a dramatic way to see help from her friends.  This was totally unlike her.  Taylor had always been the type of person to look adversity in the face and get through the rough spots of her life asking her friends when she needed it the most.  “I don’t know. “ Taylor said “I guess I thought I could take things into my own hands and that was the best way I could deal with things. “   Natalie finally mustered up the courage to throw in her two senses “Tay, no matter which way you look at things there’s always a pot of gold at every rainbow, death is never a way to solve problems   it just causes more problems for everyone else involved.”   Mrs. Goldstein took a sip of her coffee.  “Taylor, have you tried to make an effort to talk to your parents and tell them how you feel?”  She asked   “No, I haven’t Things have been so crazy with the divorce and other stuff that I haven’t had time to talk to them.”   Mrs. Goldstien nodded her head and spoke calmly. “Do you think I would be a good idea to talk to them instead of scaring the wits out of the people that care about you most?”    Taylor was quiet for a moment and then let out heavy sigh. “Yeah I suppose it couldn’t hurt but our schedules seem so busy and we never really have that much time to talk.”    Mrs. Goldstien gave Taylor a cold hard stare  “ Well then make time, say maybe after dinner get the whole family together and tell them how you have  been feeling  and what has been bothering you.” 15

“And Tay, just  always remember that no matter what happens you always have us and can always talk to us about anything.”   Natalie said, straining her voice and trying to hold the tears back.   Rachael, who had already been crying for a good ten minutes or so, got up from her chair   and whispered   “Come here.”  Taylor walked into her outstretched arms completely dissolved in tears Natalie was quick to join the hug fest.   Once the tears dissolved, Rachael, Natalie and Taylor thanked Mrs. Goldstein for her helped and walked out of the guidance office arms linked.  Taylor was smiling.  Everyone was quiet.   Then finally Taylor spoke “I want to thank you guys for looking out for me. You guys are the best friends a girl could ever ask for.” Natalie and Rachael exchanged a smile, happy that everything had worked out smoothly...  “Anytime kiddo, we’re always here for you.” Rachael said.  Natalie nodded in agreement and whispered the one word that could come to her mind.  “Always.” 16