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Community Partners
The Chicago Fire Foundation and our community partners are dedicated to enriching the lives of the Chicagoland community. The following is a list of our current charity partners. We are excited to work with these organizations and continue our outreach into the community.
Launched in April 2007, MLS W.O.R.K.S. is Major League Soccer's community outreach initiative dedicated to addressing important social issues and serves as a platform for both League and club philanthropic programs. MLS W.O.R.K.S. seeks to establish Major League Soccer as a leader for improving the lives of people through sport.
MLS W.O.R.K.S. supports both national and international organizations dedicated to bettering the world we live in, including the UNICEF, the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Grassroot Soccer, Hope & Heroes and many others.
The Chicago Fire are proud to support the Don't Cross the Line campaign. Click here to learn more and take the pledge!
City Year is an education-focused, nonprofit organization that combats the nation's dropout epidemic by uniting young people of all backgrounds for a full year of full-time service in high-need schools. These young people, referred to as "corps members," keep students in school and on track to graduation by serving as tutors, mentors, and role models. City Year currently has locations in 25 U.S. cities and two international affiliates.
As a part of a new partnership with City Year Chicago, the Chicago Fire Soccer Club is sponsoring 11 City Year corps members who will work full time at Carl Schurz High School. Over the course of the 2013-2014 school year, corps members will help impact the lives of more than 730 ninth grade students. The partnership was made possible by a grant from the Hauptman Family Foundation.
The Chicago Fire Foundation is proud to partner with the Greater Chicago Food Depository and support their efforts to help collect food and raise awareness for the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in Cook County who struggle to find food every day. The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago's food bank, is a nonprofit food distribution and training center providing food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in the community.
The Food Depository distributes donated and purchased food through a network of 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters to 678,000 adults and children in Cook County every year. Last year, the Food Depository distributed 64 million pounds of nonperishable food and fresh produce, dairy products and meat, the equivalent of 134,800 meals every day.
On Saturday, June 29 the Chicago Fire participated in the 28th Annual Hunger Walk at Soldier Field, a benefit for the Greater Chicago Food Depository's member soup kitchens, pantries and shelters.
On Tuesday, August 27, 2013 the Fire front office staff volunteered at the food depository warehouse and helped to sort and distribute over 20,000 pounds of food to benefit over 650 local shelters and food banks. Click here for photos. Click here to view the video.
On Saturday, September 1st, during the Chicago Fire vs. Houston Dynamo match, the Chicago Fire hosted a food drive to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
During the annual Locker Room Sale on December 13th, the Chicago Fire Foundation offered fans to bring in five or more canned food items to receive 10 percent off of their total purchase. Over two overflowing bins were collected to help feed families across Chicagoland. Thank you to all the fans and supporters who donated and helped us feed thousands in the Chicagoland area!
Special Olympics is a global organization that unleashes the human spirit through the transformative power and joy of sport, every day around the world. The Chicago Fire is proud to support Special Olympics of Illinois in their mission to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.
World Sport Chicago is an independent, non-profit organization that teaches positive values and leadership through sport. The organization acts on the belief that sport has the power to strengthen individuals, and in turn, Chicago's communities. World Sport Chicago promotes programs and events and collaborates with several community partners, public agencies and Chicago's professional sports teams to deliver impact and change.
In 2013, the Chicago Fire Foundation in partnership with World Sport Chicago launched the P.L.A.Y.S. Program which focuses specifically on developing social and emotional learning characteristics in elementary school students.
Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), created in 2001, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve student achievement in Chicago's high-poverty, chronically failing schools through its disciplined transformation process, built on a foundation of specially trained AUSL teachers. In 2013, the Chicago Fire Foundation launched the soccer and academic focused P.L.A.Y.S. Program in 8 AUSL schools throughout Chicago.
Urban Initiatives is a nonprofit organization that runs a health and education soccer program, called the Work to Play Program, in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). By actively engaging participants in extracurricular activities at a young age, Urban Initiatives empowers youth to live a healthy lifestyle, value education, and enhance their personal and social development. The Chicago Fire Foundation is proud to partner with Urban Initiatives to utilize a collaborative, whole child approach to development in order to provide children with the opportunity to reach their full potential.
America SCORES Chicago partners with schools to provide a high-quality, team-based program that integrates soccer, poetry, and service-learning. The Chicago Fire Foundation is proud to partner with America SCORES Chicago to help grow the sports of soccer by providing children in undeserved communities in the Chicagoland area with the opportunity to experience the beautiful game
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago provides hope, stability and opportunity for more than 13,840 young people per year throughout 32 Clubs in the Chicago area. Each Club is supervised by caring and trained professionals who engage kids in more than 200 activities each year. Club leaders and staff members believe their work is an opportunity to positively shape the future of America. Boys & Girls Clubs' programs have taken members from the Clubhouse to the White House; from the game room to the corporate boardroom; and from the drum corps to Orchestra Hall. The Chicago Fire Foundation is excited to partner with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago and support its mission to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
The Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is Illinois' only freestanding hospital exclusively for kids. Ranked #1 in almost every major pediatric specialty, they provide superior pediatric healthcare in a compassionate, family-centered environment. Through this partnership, the Chicago Fire Foundation will work with Lurie Children's Institute for Sports Medicine to provide funding for its Knee Injury Prevention Program (KIPP) which is designed to lower the risk of ACL injuries in athletes.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. As a part of the MLS W.O.R.K.S. Soccer Kicks Cancer campaign, Chicago Fire captain Logan Pause was recognized as the September "Humanitarian of the Month" for his work with St. Jude as one of four MLS ambassadors.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is an organization with a mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS has dedicated itself to being one of the top-rated voluntary health agencies in terms of dollars that directly fund their mission.
In 2013, the Chicago Fire Foundation partnered with the LLS for their "Soccer Kicks for Cancer" program. Youth soccer players solicited pledges for every time the player touched a soccer ball over a ten-day period, with the goal of 2,000 touches. In support of LLS' great cause and their alignment with the values of the Foundation, CFF gave over $10,000 in 2013. We look to continue our partnership and expand the program in 2014.
As a part of Soccer Kicks Cancer, MLS, MLS W.O.R.K.S, and the Chicago Fire participated in the 2013 MOVEMBER, a moustache growing campaign that raises awareness for men's health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives.

subset: commoncrawl


text: The sixteenth-century miniatures presented here concern the life and miracles of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, called Mē vlāna (Our Master), the most famous member of the Mevlevī order and Persia's greatest Sufi mystic and poet. He was born in Balkh in 1207, but his family emigrated after his father foresaw the Mongol conquest. They eventually resettled in Konya, Turkey, then the capital of Anatolian Rūm (thus Rūmī), where the poet died on 17 December 1273. Several Persian accounts of Rūmī's life have been written, the first by his son, Sultan Walad. The third, laden with moralizing miracle stories, was ordered by Rūmī's grandson Ulu ˓Ārif Chelebi. It was written by the dervish Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad, called Aflākī (d. 1360). Aflākī also incorporated verses from Rūmī's works, notably his six-volume Masnavī (a poetical form of rhyming couplets) and the Dīvān-i-Shams al-Dīn Tabrīzī, named after Shams of Tabriz, the mystic who changed Rūmī's life and transformed him into a poet when they met in 1244. In 1590—three and a half centuries after Aflākī wrote his life of Rūmī—the Ottoman sultan Mūrad III ordered a Turkish translation of a 1540 abridged version of Aflākī's text entitled Tarjuma-i Thawāqib-i manāqib (Stars of the Legend). The translator was Darvīsh Mahmud Mesnevī Khān of Konya. Two illustrated copies of the Murād translation, both made in Baghdad, survive. One, dated 1599, is held by Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, and has twenty-two miniatures. The other, richer manuscript is held by the Morgan. It dates to the 1590s and includes twenty-nine miniatures. They are all featured here, along with two folios from other collections that are believed to have once been part of the Morgan manuscript.


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Wood Cook's Tools Collection
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RIP-IT Foxy: FOXY3 -11 Fastpitch With FREE RIP-IT Roo
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Got a question about the RIP-IT Foxy: FOXY3 -11 Fastpitch With FREE RIP-IT Roo? Ask our team of experts, and they will respond within 24 hours.
Ask A QuestionIs there much of a difference in "pop" between the -11 and -12 FOXY? My daugther is only 9 years old but she has a strong swing and is 5', and 94 lbs. She swings an Easton Cyclone 29"/20oz right now, but I'm thinking of moving her to a 29" or 30" FOXY.
There is not going to be a difference at all in the pop between the RIP-IT Elite Foxy: FOXY3 -11 Fastpitch bat or the RIP-IT Elite Foxy: FOXY4 -12 Fastpitch bat. The only difference between the two bats is going to be the length to weight ratio, meaning that a 30" in the -11 is going to be a 19 oz. bat and a 30" in -12 is going to be a 28 oz. bat.
I see this same bat online but does not say Elite Foxy3. Just Foxy3. Is there a difference in the bat or is it the same one?
Unfortunately, without being able to see the exact bat that you saw on the website, the only information that I can give you is on what we currently have in stock. The RIP-IT Elite Foxy: FOXY3 -11 Fastpitch bat is a single wall one-piece alloy design.
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No fluff, just performance. The ALL NEW RIP-IT FOXY youth fastpitch bat is the only bat made and endorsed by a back-to-back NCAA national champion. Kristie Fox introduces the RIP-IT Foxy! One issue with youth bats is that the design is often modeled after the college level bats on the market. The problem with this is players swinging the youth fastpitch bats typically have slower bat speeds and less power than those swinging college level bats. The Foxy bat is designed to achieve maximum flex at slower bat speeds, meaning that youth players are able to get the walls of the bat to flex properly, and get optimum performance. This bat is not just a redesign of a previous bat, but a whole new evolution in bat technology. Other manufacturers continue to use the same manufacturing process they have used year after year, simply applying a new paint job to technology that is becoming more and more outdated. RIP-ITs tempered ballistic alloy blend is a new bat material designed by RIP-IT that is superior in both performance and durability when compared to composite and aluminum bats. This alloy blend feels like a composite bat, but requires no break-in and is hot right out of the wrapper. The blend also allows RIP-IT to adopt a full-barrel flex technology which achieves a maximum flex along the entire length of the barrel, making the barrel one giant sweet spot. The weight in the barrel is also precisely distributed throughout the barrel to ensure that the barrel "whips through" the strike zone to contact the ball with maximum bat speed for unbelievable power transfer. Vibration Dampening Micro-Layer technology inside the barrel and the one-piece design of the bat works to eliminate vibration in the bat. The one-piece design makes sure that all the energy available is transferred to the ball and not lost due to being absorbed by the joint of two-piece bats. Less wasted energy means the ball really jumps off of this bat. When performance matters, just RIP-IT. Free shipping.
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Walkthrough Part 45 Cheat for Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist Of Dusk
Home / Playstation 3 / All Cheats /This page contains Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist Of Dusk Video Walkthroughs for Playstation 3 called "Walkthrough Part 45" and has been posted or updated on May 27, 2013 by AyaAnnyGaming. Let us know what you think of this Video by thumbs voting.
- Developer: Gust
- Publisher: Koei Tecmo Games
- Genre: Role-Playing General
- Release Date: Mar 5, 2013
- ESRB: Teen
Walkthrough Part 45
Watch this step-by-step Video Walkthrough for Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist Of Dusk (Playstation 3), which will help and guide you through each and every level part of this game and also assist you to find all secrets and solutions to complete this game.
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Stuck on this game? Set a specific, clearly defined question and let others answer your question or view answers to previously asked questions. If you think you are an Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist Of Dusk expert then please try to help others with their questions.
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Hello everyone,
I would love to read your comments from the beginning if you're a new reader. It would bring the reader and writer closer as you go along. I like to get to know everyone, so if you would like to comment on each chapter, I would love it.
Thanks D
When all is lost, what is there to hope for? This is a twist two years after Edward leaves. What happens when a new guy arrives in Forks, a guy that makes Edward return?
Familiar Strangers
Chapter 1
"No! You have him mistaken for someone else, you...have...to..." My words felt foreign to me, as did my slumping body that melted into nothingness behind me. I felt my body hit hard as I fell, not able to stand upright. I couldn't describe my pain, my shock, my disbelief, nothing felt right, as if the whole world was off its orbit. I looked up to the stars and found none, nothing but a black mass of emptiness. My ears felt muffled as a strange shadowed figure came into view, his lips moving as if he were speaking, but I couldn't hear him.
"Ms. Swan, Bella, can you hear me?"
An alien...he didn't look quite right to me. Nothing looked right. I couldn't form words, even in my own head. Why is he looking at me like that, his eyes bulged, his mouth moving so fast that he carelessly spit as he spoke.
"Bella, breathe, you have to breathe for me. Everything will be alright, just breathe."
"Officer Platt, maybe we should call the ambulance. She's taken it pretty hard."
The lights were so bright that it hurt my eyes. I wanted to cover my eyes, but I couldn't perform that simple task because I couldn't feel my arms or anything else for that matter. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I feel anything? I was beginning to lose focus of the pretty lights. Where was my dad? Why wasn't he here to help me? Surely he must have heard something was wrong with my limbs. Did I get hit by a car or something? It wouldn't be the first time, I suppose. I could barely hear the voices around me, and I tried my best to listen to them so I could find out what had happened to me.
"Oh no…! You shouldn't have told her like this, not after that family just dumped her the way they did. You should have had Billy Black come to tell her," Adele, Bella's neighbor, scoffed the officer.
"We are to tell the next of kin, ma'am. There isn't anything else we could have done in this situation," Officer Platt countered.
"Charlie was all she had left here. That poor girl, you should let her boss know that she won't be in for a while. How is she supposed to handle the details of the funeral all by her lonesome?"
No, no, no, it can't be… Char…Dad is...gone?… Funeral? If I couldn't feel anything before, I sure couldn't now, except for a piercing scream which I couldn't quite place.
"Adele! See what you've gone and done? You shouldn't have said anything so close to her. Ouch, she has some lungs on her," Officer Platt almost screamed out.
"I'm going to give her a sedative and then we'll take her in."
"He was a good cop, Arlene, and this was his only child, so take good care of her. Geez, she's gonna need a lot of support. We should round everyone up and help with the arrangements. I don't think Bella is going to be in any shape to handle this much or at all," Officer Platt suggested to the rest of the officers.
"Well, I'll get a hold of the Blacks and let them know, and I will get a hold of others that can help. That poor girl lost everyone she cared about. I wouldn't be surprised if she loses her mind after this," Adele almost said to herself as she walked away with curlers and a pink long ruffled nightgown on.
My head was spinning, darkness invaded my brain. I couldn't feel, couldn't stay coherent enough to hear anything, and the pretty lights were fading fast. What was happening? Why did I feel so lost, so alone, so...desperate to let it all end right here and now? The lights dimmed out like the wind blowing out a candle. The lights were the only thing keeping me at the surface and at one point I wanted to stay at that surface, but now, for some odd reason, I couldn't exactly say why, but now I welcomed the darkness. It was home to me for so long inside, now it felt right to allow it to consume me on the outside as well. Ceasing to exist, lingering in the dark, never to feel the pain, the loss, the utter desperation that I felt every single day.
Bella, just let it all go. Just disappear, and you will not feel anything anymore.
I could swear that was my voice bouncing off of something, yet I didn't mutter a word of it. I never contemplated suicide, it really never crossed my mind, but whatever had happened to me or was happening to me, I knew it wasn't suicide. I was sure it was death coming, creeping up on me slowly. Even though I should have been afraid of it, I wasn't. It had become my closest kin and I embraced it with open arms. No matter how death found me now, it was here and I wasn't going to shy away from it. What was the point really? Somehow I knew I had lost everyone deep down in my bones, so why should I fear the ultimate ending?
I relaxed my mind and hoped for the best in the next life, if there was one. I wondered if I would see that bright tunnel of light from near-death experiences that others have talked about. I didn't belong in hell, that I was sure of, so I was truly hoping not to feel the depths of hell's burning flames crawling up my feet to engulf me. So I waited, I waited for something to happen, and it took forever to happen to be honest, but finally the bright light came. Only glimpses of it came in between the darkness. It played its own game back and forth for a while. It confused me. Wait...was this a sign telling me that I was in limbo? Even in death nothing could go right, why am I not surprised?
"Bella, are you back?"
A voice... I heard a voice! Was it a long lost family member that perished some time ago? I wondered on that idea at first, until I took in the words that voice spoke. Am I back? What did that mean? Had I been here before in another life or something? The statement begged me to ask for the answer, and so I did, or tried really, but my throat constricted against me and left me little to work with, but I tried a little harder, and finally I said "Back?" That was all I could muster. My throat screamed in agony for relief, for...water? That threw me off. Why would I need the water, why would I be thirsty? I was dead after all, right?
"Bella, open your eyes for me please. It will be alright, sweetie. We'll take care of you."
I couldn't really explain what was happening now, but I had this sneaking suspicion that maybe I hadn't died. I could feel my body, I could smell a distinct aroma of rubbing alcohol, and I could most certainly feel the woman that spoke to me touching my arm, patting if you will. As she asked, I slowly opened my eyes and I was blasted with the bright light above me. Then the woman came into view with her blue button-up nurse shirt that was covered with clouds. Her smile saddened me and I couldn't figure out why.
"There you are, sweetie. We have been waiting a while for you to come around. Did you know you have been out of it for almost a week? They were worried that your comatose state would stick its ugly face around longer than it has, but I knew you would come around sooner. You're a strong young woman, Bella. Charlie would be proud of you..."
"Would be?" Why did she say that? I was confused.
"Oh no, I've gone and said too much. Please forgive me, Bella. I-I will go and get someone for you. I'm so sorry..." she spat out, covering her mouth in disgust as she walked away quickly, not giving me any time to ask her again what she meant. It didn't take long to come to terms that I was still alive as I sat there in the hospital room alone, and it didn't take me much longer to pick apart what she had said, and I lost it.
My dad, my dad was gone. I remember now. Officer Platt caught me as I was walking to the house. He looked grim, his eyes were empty. I greeted him with a nice tone, although his expression worried me a little. I wondered what had happened. Police business, I was sure of that, and he was probably looking for Char…Dad, so I smiled hiding the worry I had and told him that my dad wasn't home, that he should be at the station, but he would have known that, right? I stopped mid-sentence, stiffening my body. I couldn't quite explain why I did that, but I knew I should have. Another officer came into view and stood behind him, and before I knew it my mouth opened and asked the question that anyone dreaded in this situation.
"What is this about officer?"
"Ms. Sw…Bella, can we go inside and talk?"
"No." My voice was stern; it had to be, because I couldn't move from my spot if I tried. Just tell me what it is. Where is my dad? Why isn't he here? Just tell me what is wrong?" I was asking questions so fast that I swear I couldn't breathe. My chest constricted, my legs wobbly, my heart sped so fast that I felt that a race car wouldn't be able to keep the same pace, and there it was, the answer to all my questions came in the form of three words...he passed away.
My heart sunk, no, it just evaporated right there in the hospital room and I couldn't breathe again, but my tears welled up so much that I couldn't see anything anymore. Almost a week? That's how long I've been out of it the nurse said. Did I...Do I not get to say goodbye to my dad? Did they have the funeral without me?
"Oh, Bella," I heard a voice say, but I couldn't respond. I couldn't breathe. I was trying but I couldn't.
"Thomas, get a paper bag, quick. Bella is hyperventilating."
A few seconds later I was feeling something pressed against my mouth and told to breathe and try to relax. I shut my eyes tightly and tried to heave their pleas and then finally, gradually, I had calmed down enough to open them again, but not without tears still claiming their destination down my cheeks. An older woman was bent over the side of the bed, trying to console me with her saddened eyes.
"Bella, my name is Pamela, and I'm the grief counselor here at the hospital. It's clear to me that you understand the tragedy of your father's death and I'm truly sorry for your loss..."
"Please...I just want to know if his...funeral has already taken place. Did I...miss saying...goodbye?" I interrupted her. I didn't want to hear the babble that she was taught to say, it wasn't important to me. What was important is what I had asked her.
"Bella, you can always say your goodbyes in other ways, sweetie. It doesn't have to..."
"So what you are trying to work around is the fact that I did miss saying goodbye to him, am I right?"
Her eyes fell to her lap, realizing that I wasn't going to let her finish as she hoped, and then she said in a whisper, "Yes, I'm afraid so, Bella. They tried to wait..."
"I wasn't strong enough..."
"No sweetie, don't blame yourself. It wasn't that you weren't strong, and no one is blaming you for not being there. Some people take this sort of news harder than others. What happened to you only shows how much you loved him, is all. You should never try and blame yourself. As I said before, you can say goodbye in other ways. He knows you loved him and not being able to be there for the funeral itself doesn't mean that you loved him any less," she trailed off with a somber look.
I couldn't talk anymore after that. I needed to think, to grieve, and she understood that and let me be.
Another day had gone by and I was to be released today. I was told that Billy and Jacob were going to take me home, which was of little comfort to me, only because I didn't want to sit in a car with someone I didn't know. Although my health was good, the hospital argued with me about their protocol to seat me in a wheelchair to get to the entrance downstairs. I was fine and they knew that, but my stubbornness apparently didn't win them over and I was stuck in a wheelchair. I was greeted at the entrance by Billy, and it was odd because I was actually eye-level with him in his own wheelchair, and then Jacob came strolling behind with his head down, watching his feet.
"Bella," Billy strained to keep his voice steady. "I'm sorry, honey. Charlie was my closest friend. He will be greatly missed. Here, I have something for you, it's a picture..."
I held out my hand for him to stop. I just couldn't handle anything right now but going home. I needed to rest and wrap my head around all this...alone. I was grateful for the ride, but other than that, I just couldn't handle anything, and he understood quickly. Almost to my street I felt guilty for the way I treated him earlier, and whispered that I was sorry for my behavior, but it was his turn to stop me.
"Bella, I understand, I really do. No need to be sorry. I will keep the picture until you're ready for it, alright," he said as he smiled as big as the grand canyon trying to ease my worry.
We pulled into the drive and my body tensed. I wasn't expecting this, or better said, I just didn't think about how it would affect me, coming back to the house knowing my dad wouldn't be there. My hand that had a hold of the inside knob tightened its grip as the rest of me began to shake uncontrollably. Jacob ran to my side of the vehicle and opened my door gently. Although I didn't know him that well, he could see my fear and his eyes reflected mine. He held my hands and helped me out and said "Bella, if it's too soon for you to be here, we can take you somewhere else."
It became clear to me as soon as he said that that yes, it was too soon and I knew where I wanted to be, but I wanted to be there alone, so I asked them to take me to my dad's resting place and they had no problem with it, but what they did have a problem with was dropping me off after I said thank you for their help and that I would walk home. They argued, but in the end it was my decision, and although they almost growled at me over it, they finally left me at the front gate of the cemetery, where above me it said
~~~~~~Forks Cemetery~~~~~~.
My skin ran cold. The sky began to turn different colors as it came close to turning to its slumber for the night. I never asked them to show me where he was in there. It was silly to do so when I knew I just had to look for the freshest grave. Just thinking of that made me cringe. From now on, whenever I wanted to speak to my dad, this...this place...is where I would have to come. Never will I see his smile warm me, never will I hear his laughter or see the smirk on his face when he was at a loss for words, never would I hear him screaming at his favorite team on the television when they would lose a game and never...would I hear him say...I love you, Bells. It just didn't seem real to be standing here right now, standing here knowing that I had to say goodbye in this way, having to say goodbye to him period. Why did I lose everyone that I cared about?
The night sky was coming fast; I could see hues of gray, pink and yellow off on the horizon, darkening the quiet, too quiet, deafening cemetery. I had to mentally push myself to walk past the gate and enter. It was almost like a force of nature fighting against me when I tried. Trying to get past it after dark was like a warning from beyond saying:
No living person allowed past this point after dark
Acting as if I was about to alter the worlds of the living and the dead, I quickly chalked it up to just being my nerves, and I was almost certain that my brain was against me too, trying to convince me that I shouldn't be here yet.
I wasn't strong enough when he passed to be here when they had the funeral, so I was adamant that I was going to be strong enough to do this now, no matter how much I wanted to put this off, so I pushed through the invisible force that tried to stop me, whether it be the powers of beyond or just me trying to stop me, and I walked through, but not without still having reservations of what I was doing so soon. I walked what seemed like forever, even though this cemetery was small to me. I knew I was walking at a snail's pace, but I had to find my courage and make it strong, because it was fading fast, and then two rows to my right in the right corner, there it was, a heaving pile of fresh dirt below a plaque that I was certain had my dad's name on it. I stood still for a long, long moment and I felt the tears flow, the cold night air chilling them down my cheeks. I shut my eyes tightly and opened them forcing myself to walk. The closer I got, the closer the name on the plaque came into focus, and when I knew I could read it clearly, I stopped again and read it,
Charles D. Swan
Loving and Devoted Father
In the arms of an angel
May you reach your heaven
Rest in Peace
I read everything but the dates. I couldn't read that part, the last date would have been too much, too... final. I wasn't ready to let go that way yet. I knelt down beside the lump of dirt and cried aloud. I wept not only for the loss of my dad, but for the loss of the only man that I would ever love, the loss of the only person I would ever call my sister. In this...place, I felt that it was the only place that I would be able to finally say my goodbyes to them in the end when that came. In a sense, I would have to bury them all in this one grave. I knew moving on wasn't an option, but to come here and speak to my dad and to the rest of them as if they all lied here somehow gave me a strange yet comfortable feeling. My mind truly worked backwards.
I decided to lie down next to my dad and talk to him in whispers, hoping somehow, somewhere, he would hear me, and I stayed that way for a while until I heard a familiar voice that stunned the air right out of me and I knew I must have fallen asleep.
"I'm so sorry, Bella. I would have come sooner if I would have known."
That...voice...it haunted me for so long, and I tried my best to bury that part of my brain that kept it to memory and I thought I had finally erased it, but I see now that I was very wrong. I shut my eyes tightly, whispering under my shaken breath "You're not real, you're not real. Please stop haunting me. I can't take it anymore, especially not now." Chanting that over and over until... again... I heard that voice that made my heart pound in my chest and also made it plummet to god knows where in despair.
"Bella, I can assure you that I am real. I promise I'm not haunting you."
I don't know what came over me then. I stood up so fast that I surprised myself and went in the direction of his voice, finger ready to push through his ghostly image to prove he was haunting me. I stared the trickster in the eyes while I went at him saying "Not real, huh, what do you call this then?" I pushed my finger towards his chest hard and ---just as I thought--- it went right through Edward's ghostly image. The mirage of Edward returning after I buried him inside for so long had squeezed my heart tight, as if there was much left to hurt. I felt one single tear fall down my cheek and it enraged me.
Author's Note: I'd like to thank my friend Seugnet for her fabulous work on editing this first chapter. It is now perfect because of your help. Thank you so very much dear.
Also, if anyone would love to leave a comment, I would surely read them and reply. If you would like to leave a comment for each chapter that is fine as well, I will still reply even more so because I enjoy reading your thoughts on each so please do not hesistate to leave one. Please sit back and enjoy and I hope to hear from you.
Tags: Addicted, Aniya, Aro, Broken, Delilah, Dreams, Familiar, Gabriel, Lost, Strangers, More…Vampire, Witch, ghost
Hey Nicole,
I'm kind of getting used to reading that to be honest, LOL. I have an idea and I wonder if I should even try it...Hm...What would you think if I tried to write a real book by myself? I'm nervous that I may not be able to pull it off. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Will do soon bug.
update soon please!! delilah!!!!
I promise I will soon Nayely. Nice to see you.
To my missing readers,
If you are all out there, let me know. Otherwise I will be forced to add your name to the missing readers list and search for you until I hear from you, LOLOLOL. I would love to hear from all of you again. I will make a list and send it out looking for you.Just a heads up, LOL.
No one truly knows when our plight ends;
What if the end is never?
Oh the things I come up with when i'm trying to write a chapter, lol. I know; can we all say; D is a little strange at times, LOL? Sorry guys, in a wierd mood today, lol. I'll try and refrain from posting anything like this again...
I will try to do soon Bug.
Hey i finally managed to catch up :) and so sorry for not commenting sooner. I absolutely love this story, you are such a great writer and can't wait for more.
I love Gabriel as a character but there's just something about him that is odd, which makes me want Bella to end up with Edward still i think.
I loved the whole ghost story line with Charlie too, it's something i never even considered before but it really works.
Your write amazing description that is just the right length to set the scene and explain what is happening that's why i am hooked on the story i think.
Can't wait for more, please update soon and i promise to continue to read and start commenting more often now i have caught up. x x
Hi Hannah,
Oh that's alright, you're here now, right, lol? Well thank you.
Hm, you are not alone in that. There are a few others that think something is up with Gabriel too. I couldn't tell you though if you are correct in your idea or not. Good luck with that.
Ooh, I did wonder how everyone would react to the ghost scene. It is practical considering that we are all writing about supernatural elements. So happy that you like the add on.
Wow, that was so nice of you to say Hannah. Thank you.
I am going to try and write some today. I thought last night was going to be the day, but I was so very tired. I should be able to get something out today hopefully. Oh I would love to read your comments on each chapter. That's wonderful. I hope to see you back again soon.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
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