Here's a story I wrote for a competition (Scholastic Art & Writing Awards). I already submitted, but comment any suggestions anyways! I feel like I should cry, but I don’t. My face dry of sorrow, I perch on the chair next to your hospital bed, wallowing in memories. The memories, sweet like sugar, warm me up and fill me like a made up reality. I glance at your face. I should see your pale skin, your blue eyes closed, the veins trembling on your cheeks, but I don’t. Instead, I see your face, sparkling with happiness, the trace of cinnamon on your lip giving you away as the cookie thief. I see you laughing, dancing around the living room wearing fairy wings and a tutu. I am losing myself in all these Mariposas, each one the same and different. The high sounding wails of the machine pierce into me, and the Mariposas fall out of my mind so quickly that I startle, feeling empty without them. Reality- and not my made up one- falls ...