Crimson Reminders

The crimson rose lay smashed into the carpet as she looked out the window into the midday sun. Caroline Sawyer willed herself not to cry. Crying in her family was looked down upon, it showed weakness and weakness was just something her mother and father would not tolerate. The thoughts spun through her head like a tornado tearing away at her brain. He was gone. Her best friend since she could remember was gone in an instant. The one reminder was the lone red rose crumpled on the floor that Caroline could not even bring herself to look at. Jason...she thought as memories pummeled the inside of her skull. Caroline collapsed in a heap of exhaustion on the floor next to the rose.

She couldn’t believe that just yesterday they had made plans for the upcoming summer and now what would she do? No Jason, no plans, no anything. Her parents didn’t understand how much he meant to her. He was just another boy in the life of Caroline Sawyer. But god, Jason was so much more to her.

She still remembers the day they met. It was the first day of kindergarten, Caroline was so excited to finally start school. She had always been jealous when her two older sisters had gotten to go off to school while she sat in the small house alone. Caroline had walked into the kindergarten classroom with butterflies the size of pterodactyls in her stomach but she was ready to go. The teacher was a friendly dark haired woman around 35 who welcomed Caroline and placed her in a seat next to a small red-head freckled faced boy, who she would come to know as Jason and the best friend anyone could ask for. Jason was very shy and some of the other kids in the class liked to pick on him but Caroline was always full of energy and ready to defend him at any time.

As Caroline and Jason got older they grew closer. There was never a day they didn’t see each other and neither of them would have had it any other way. They rode bikes, went on picnics, and even sat up late telling scary stories in a tent in Jason’s backyard. They had so many good times.

High school came and they both attended Regan High, it was a pretty typical high school. By this time Caroline had grown out of her childhood awkwardness and was becoming a very beautiful girl. However, Jason continued to be the lanky red head Caroline had met in kindergarten. He was still being picked on but as in kindergarten Caroline was ready to defend her best friend whenever he needed her.

The memories started to fade as Caroline drifted back to a very dark reality. Jason was gone. She would never see that goofy grin of his again. No more late night phone calls, no more defending him in the halls, and no more childish games.

Caroline’s gaze slipped and she glanced down at the red rose lying limply on the floor. She couldn’t hold back the grief she felt any longer. In one loud torrent the tears began flowing steadily down her cheeks. She couldn’t even think anymore, the only thing she could feel were the cold tears sliding out of her eyes. She picked up the fragile rose and clutched it to her chest. This rose would only be the beginning of a long curvy path to nowhere. Jason had always told her whenever she was having a rough time to look at a rose, it would remind her that there are still so many beautiful things in the world. When Jason hadn’t returned home after school yesterday she had run directly to the garden, plucking the most beautiful rose she could find. She stared at the rose for a long time, it had comforted her before but this time she knew it wouldn’t be enough. Caroline knew the only thing that would help now was the knowledge that her friend was alive and well. When Jason’s parents had called this morning to tell her that Jason’s car was found and that the collision had killed him instantly all of Caroline’s previous hopes were destroyed.

Caroline’s parents came into the room when they heard her sobbing. As usual, they were disappointed that she hadn’t held it together. They looked at Caroline and told her she needed to get over it, his accident was a tragedy but he was just a boy. Caroline looked at them in amazement how could they be so cold she thought. She had just lost her best friend of 12 years in a devastating car accident. Caroline ignored the scolding from her parents until they decided she wasn’t going to listen and they left the her room, shutting the door behind them.

She was not ready to let go of Jason, she could never let go of Jason. Caroline curled up on the floor holding the rose and continued to cry. She let all of the memories flood back. She remembered all the happy times she and Jason had shared. Caroline could still not come up with an answer to the question nagging at the back of her mind, why? The world needed more people like Jason Monroe, and now he had been taken away.

Caroline closed her eyes and pictured Jason in her mind. His wild red hair, abundant freckles, and ice blue eyes, but the feature she remembered best was his pearly grin that made his eyes light up. He could light a room with that smile. She held his picture in her head for a long time. The image of him holding a deep red rose seemed to calm her hysteric crying. In her mind he laid the rose on her bed but as soon as he did he evaporated into nothing. She couldn’t get this picture to return. He really was gone forever.

Caroline slowly pried her eyes open to peek at her bed. It was just a silly hope but somehow she could feel his presence. She peered cautiously around the room but didn’t see Jason. Although, what she did see shocked her. Just where Jason had lain the rose in her mind there lay a single red rose. The most beautiful rose she had ever seen. She maneuvered off the floor and slowly approached the mysterious rose. She held out her hand and gently touched the silken red petals with her finger tips. It was real. Caroline carefully picked up the wonderful reminder she knew Jason had left.

Caroline knows she will never really overcome the grief of losing her best friend but she can tell with a little help from Jason she would be okay. Whenever Caroline gets down and needs her best friend she just pictures him with a beautiful red rose that he always leaves behind as a reminder that there are still beautiful things in the world.