Praise for
Between Good and Bad
"Trew explores the morality of what it means to be human. The characters in these stories seek an after; however, Trew never gives us exactly what that after is."
–Tyler Michael Jacobs, 5th year SHP Creative Writing Instructor
Dedications
For my mom who always supported me and gave me inspiration.
Contents
How NOT to Grieve Your Best Friend’s Death
The Haunting of Delanor Manor
How NOT to Grieve Your Best Friend’s Death
If you look back far enough, you can see the very reason why I am in this position. I never thought that something I did three summers ago would affect me today. I usually start off the day with my normal routine: take a shower, eat some breakfast, and do whatever I want for the rest of the day. But that day did not start out that way. I woke up to a text from my best friend’s mom saying that my best friend in the entire world, Ally, had been in a terrible car accident. According to the medics and police, she had been driving home from a party drunk when she ran a stop light resulting in another car hitting hers. I wasn’t ready for the pain I had experienced that day and it hit me with the force of a train. I mean, Ally hardly ever drank and if she did, it wasn’t enough to get drunk but I also knew that she was smart enough to never drive if she had been drinking. I didn’t completely listen to what the paramedics were saying because I had my own truth to believe- Ally wasn’t driving drunk and she didn’t run a stop light, it was the other person’s fault for the accident and they were to blame for the entire thing. After I found out about Ally’s death, I started to lash out at everyone because they kept telling me everything was going to be okay.
But I wasn’t the only one in despair that day. I had to take in consideration how her family was feeling, how her other friends were feeling, how the other driver’s friends and family were feeling, and so many more people. I didn’t forget that it hurt them too but in that moment, the only pain that mattered to me was mine. It was uncomfortable having to deal with that kind of pain, and like many others dealing with the same pain, I chose to make some not great decisions that I still deeply regret to this day.
As fast as I could, I jumped in my car and sped over to Ally’s parent’s house. I demanded to know the truth and not what the paramedics had said, but I was greatly disappointed when
Ally’s mom, Laurel, told me the exact same thing that I didn’t want to believe. I wished Ally was there because I had so many questions for her. Why did she do it? Was it on purpose or an accident? But I guess we’ll never know since ghosts don’t exist, right?
After I had talked to Ally’s parents, I headed to mine and Ally’s favorite hangout spot. There was this area behind the graveyard that was beautiful with magnificent flowers covering every inch of the ground in a huge open clearing that we deemed as our spot. I just needed some time to clear my head, and after a while it worked but not for long. As I was sitting on the grass, thinking about what had happened, I became overwhelmed by the feeling that I was being watched. Looking around I didn’t see anyone so I decided to start searching around the inside of the tree line. To my dismay, there was nobody there, making me assume that it was just a silly thought and I was being paranoid. But I kept getting the feeling that I wasn’t alone.
The town of Smallville has always been notorious for crimes and murder, but nothing had happened for at least a decade. It was a small chance that someone could have been watching me, so I stayed for a while longer. But after some more time passed by, I realized I should have taken the chance to leave while I still had it. Still having the overwhelming feeling of being watched, there started to be a lot of rustling noises in the trees. And if that doesn’t make you scared and nervous when you’re a young teenage girl all alone where no one will probably find you, I don’t know what will. It definitely scared me, more than it probably should have. But as a few seconds pass, someone steps out into the clearing, revealing that it was one of my other friends, Noah.
“Noah! You scared me. What are you doing here? Did you follow me?” I had asked him in a fright.
“I just really needed someone to talk to about Ally’s death,” he slowly explained. “She promised she’d never leave and she did. I’m sorry for sneaking up on you, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay, Noah. We can talk about it now if you want to or we can go somewhere else if you would like.”
“I may have a place in mind.”
He didn’t offer up any information about where we were going, except for the fact that we’d never been there before. The drive only took a few minutes to get there and when we arrived I was shocked. He had brought me to a bar. We were only nineteen-years-old. Nineteen-year-olds aren’t supposed to be drinking, especially not in bars.
“What are we doing here? You know we’re not allowed in bars, right?” I asked him. “We’re practically old enough so we might as well start practicing,” he said with a shrug. I was too emotionally destroyed and tired to fight with him. Plus, a drink to drown my
sorrows sounded like a great idea. We stayed at the bar, and tried different drinks, mingled with other people, and I even danced a little bit. As I had expected, I couldn't handle the alcohol very well, considering it was my first time ever drinking. Noah was completely wasted even though he said he would only have one drink. Yeah, that plan didn’t work too well. It only took about an hour for both of us to down five drinks and Noah was supposed to be the one driving us back home. But our houses are only a few blocks away so we decided it would be fine. We also decided that since I was way less drunk than him, that I would be the one driving us back home. “Noah? Are you ready to go yet?” I slurred.
“Yeah, sure, just one second.”
As I waited outside for Noah to finish his drink, I realized that bars weren’t as nice as some people made them seem. At least this particular one wasn’t. It was crowded and loud, the air was stuffy and stale, and there was so much moisture in the room from all of the sweating bodies that it made every surface sticky. There weren’t enough chairs in the room to seat everyone so most people were just standing wherever there was room and it definitely wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world. Thankfully we had gotten there at just the right time before everyone started piling in, and had snatched two seats at the bar.
I waited about fifteen more minutes until Noah emerged from the bar, clearly proving that he was wasted by how he was stumbling around, presumably looking for me. He turned his head and a huge grin lit up his face when his eyes landed on me. He stumbled towards me and it took way longer than it would have if he was completely sober. When he got to me, he gave me a huge bear-hug that seemed to last forever. He was clearly drunk, as he has never once hugged me in the ten years we’ve known each other. The hug caught me off-guard and, for some reason unknown to me, I leaned in. After the hug, I suggested that I drive because he was clearly not able to drive, but then again neither was I. He hopped in the passenger seat and I got into the driver’s seat.
As I drove we listened to music and sang along until we came to a certain stop light. The light where the accident happened. At this point, it’s all just a blur but it still hurts. My eyes start to well up with tears, blurring my vision. My emotions start to take control and for a minute I forget where I am, what I’m doing. Until it’s too late. We both scream as we spin off of the road. The car tumbles and rolls to a stop and we both sigh in relief. After what seemed to be a couple of minutes, I got out of the car and looked around for the reason for our spin-out. Right when I step out of the car, I regret everything. On the other side of the road is a car completely flipped
upside down. But what I saw next terrified me more than anything I’ve ever seen. In the driver's seat was a boy around my age, hanging upside down with his seatbelt wrapped around his neck. And to make matters worse, there was a younger child in the backseat that you could tell had been thrown around by the bruises everywhere on her body.
“Oh my god. What have I done?”
“Relax, Layla, it’ll be okay, I promise,” Noah said.
“No, you don’t understand. I could go to jail for this. I killed someone. And a kid. And to make it worse I was drunk and that is definitely not forgivable for any reason. We have to get out of here before we get caught. I can’t get in trouble, Noah. My parents would kill me,” I explained through my tears.
“Okay, then let’s leave for now and we’ll come back later and try to fix the problem. But I don’t think we can drive that car home. It might look a little suspicious,” Noah said as he rubbed circles on my back. “We could hide it in the old barn down by the train tracks.” “Yeah, okay.”
We got back in the car and, avoiding all of the main roads, drove to the barn. I parked the car in the bar and we shut the doors as quietly as we could. The walk home was a lot longer than I would have liked but eventually we made it home. My parents were already asleep when I got home. As I made my way upstairs, I started to think about what had happened. I got drunk at a bar. I had driven drunk. I had killed two people. And to make it all worse, I’m hiding from my actions. I know I should tell someone, but I can’t take that kind of responsibility right now. I’m supposed to go to college in a few months and I even got a scholarship.
I’ll just go to bed and think about what to do tomorrow. A good night’s sleep sounds perfect. I went to bed and I awoke in the morning to banging on the front door.
“Layla, can you get that please?” my mother hollered up to me.
“Yes, mom. I just need to change first,” I replied.
When I opened the door, I was greeted by a familiar face. “Good morning. I thought you might like some coffee after what happened last night,” Noah offered.
“You. Are. A. Lifesaver,” I said between sips of the deliciously steaming coffee in my hand. “Really, I can’t thank you enough for this. Would you like to come up to my room? We should probably try to come up with a plan sooner than later.” I led him up the stairs to my room and shut the door behind us. “So… Any ideas? I mean, we could just leave the car there and pretend it never happened. It’s not like anyone ever goes over there anymore.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what else to do, so maybe that wouldn’t be the worst idea. Just until we can figure something out. I mean, I’m not against turning ourselves in because the consequences are going to be a lot worse later than they would be now,” Noah said cautiously.
“Yeah, I get that but, who says they are ever going to find out. Obviously they know that there was an accident last night, but they don’t have cameras over there and I’m pretty sure there weren’t any passersby anywhere, especially that late at night.”
And that was the end of the story. Like I said, no one ever went to the barn until a couple weeks ago, when it went up in flames. The firefighters rushed to the scene and put out the fire before it could spread. What they found inside was a huge surprise and miracle to them but a devastation for me. They have finally found the car, resulting in them finding mine and Noah’s DNA all over it. They already identified it as the suspect’s car from the night three summers ago. I don’t know what’s gonna happen now, but all I can do is hope for the best. For mine and Noah’s safety.
The Haunting of Delanor Manor
I never really actually knew my grandfather since he was never around, but I never did hear many good things about him. Apparently, he was a drug addict and he was always overworking, with never enough time to spend with his family. He had a lot of money, but never spent it on anything good. Most of the time his money went straight to alcohol and drugs. It’s kind of surprising that he even had enough money to live since he spent most of it on unnecessary things. But the one good thing he did buy was the Delanor Manor. The Manor was his pride and joy after he bought it. Almost every Friday, he would throw a huge party and invite a lot of rich and special people to celebrate nothing. He would host afternoon tea parties on Sundays, even though he didn’t drink tea and all of the maidens would attend. At one of those tea parties, a lovely woman with bright blue eyes and long, luscious, brown locks, caught his eye. That woman just so happens to be my grandmother. A couple years after they had met on that Sunday, they had gotten married.
They were married for 50 years before my grandmother died. For months after, Grandfather lived in a constant state of despair and he stopped throwing weekly parties. He never left the house unless he needed groceries or something of great importance. And then all of a sudden, he suffered a stroke. Nobody knows what caused it, but there are some theories that he died from broken heart syndrome. He lived alone so by the time someone found him, he had already been dead for a long time. The only thing that he had left was his beloved manor. And that manor now belongs to the only living relative he had left, me.
My parents died when I was only 6, so I’ve been in the foster care system ever since. But now that I’m 18 and I (sort of) have my life together, I’m allowed to go off on my own and try to give myself the life that my parents would have wanted me to have. I don’t remember much, but I’ve been told that they were the best parents a kid could ever hope for. I do still have a couple
pictures to remember them by which is really nice, but it doesn’t help with all of the sadness I feel when I think about them.
So now that Grandfather is dead, I have inherited the house, and since I have no place to go, I’ve decided to move in and make it my own. The house is huge and is definitely not made for just one person to be living there. It should be home to a big, bustling family with tons of children. It should host big family dinners around the holidays and joyous get-togethers. The magic of the house shouldn’t be worn away, just because of me. I don’t have a family to share the space with, and I never will. I don’t have any friends I could invite either. I’m all alone in this world and I always will be.
As I drive up the long driveway to the house, I start to get a feeling that something bad is gonna happen or that something bad is waiting for me at the end of the drive. The feeling isn’t strong enough to deter me. I need this house to be able to make something out of my life. When I get to the end of the driveway, I step out of the car and marvel at the beauty of the house. It really is a wonderful masterpiece to look at. I can only imagine how much it must cost. It has to be at least a million dollars. Maybe I could sell it when I get my life together.
The door doesn't open as easily as I had hoped, so I had to put my full body weight into it. When I finally got it to budge, it opened with a shrill squeak that must have been heard for miles. The interior of the house was modern and sleek, but there was a thin layer of dust covering everything. You could still tell that the house had been extremely loved and taken care of when my grandfather had lived here. Sometimes, I think that he cared more about the manor than he did his own family. But it’s too late to ask him now.
I decide that it’s probably best to pick out which bedroom I want sooner than later, so that I actually have a place to sleep tonight. All of the bedrooms are on the second floor, and they are
all massive. Usually there is only one master bedroom in an entire house but, all of the bedrooms would be considered a master here. Because I’m such a baby when it comes to things like stalkers or even robbers, I chose the bedroom closest to the stairs. That way, I have an easier chance of escaping if needed.
Underneath the huge window overlooking the lake sat the bed with two antique nightstands on both sides, one with a lamp and the other with a stack of books. There is also a grand piano in the right corner of the room, which looks like it hasn't been touched in years. A
walk-in closet occupied the whole left wall. It’s basically the same size as the room itself. There’s even a private bathroom with a jetted tub and a separate shower.
I could admire everything about this place all day, but I really need to get some stuff done. Instead, I work on unpacking all of my clothes and toiletries, which doesn’t take very long since I don’t have much. Then, I get to work on moving some of the boxes into the rooms that they belong in, like the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. Finally, I head to the store to buy some much needed groceries. But the worst thing about living in the Manor is that the closest town is 45 minutes away.
It feels like the drive takes a lot longer than it actually does, but eventually I make it to the store. Thankfully, it’s not too crowded when I get there, so hopefully I can get the shopping done faster and then I can actually get back around a decent time. It only takes about half an hour to find everything I need and then I’m on my way again.
The first thing I notice is that the front door is wide open. I’m pretty sure that I shut the door on my way out, but maybe I didn’t shut it all the way and the wind blew it open. But when I step in the door, I don’t anymore think it was the wind. There are boxes strewn everywhere and all the stuff inside the boxes is thrown every which way. It almost looked like someone had a
rage and just started throwing things any place they could. But that can’t be the case, since no one lives even remotely close to the property.
I’ll figure it out later, but for now I really need to put the groceries away. What I found out a little too late was that either the power was out or all of the appliances needed to be replaced, immediately. Personally, I think it’s just the latter. Getting new appliances is not an easy job, though, and it could take days to get all of them. I genuinely do not think that I have the patience right now to wait an entire week, just for appliances that should already have been working. Grandfather, why did you have to leave me appliances that don’t work? Great. Now I’m talking to myself.
Instead of continuing to worry over something that can easily be fixed, I head up to my room to do anything other than complain. As the door creeps open, I notice something strange. When I left, my bed wasn’t made because I didn’t have any sheets, but now it is well-made and very clean. It also smells a lot nicer, like someone vacuumed and cleaned the entire room. I’m probably just imagining it because it’s not possible, but it sure feels and smells very real to me. I decide to ignore it for now since it’s not exactly hurting me and it’s kind of nice. It makes the house feel more home-y and less lonely and empty.
As I lay on my bed for a couple hours, I start to get a feeling that I’m being watched. Which is basically impossible considering I’m probably the only human being in at least a 30 mile radius. The Manor is literally in the middle of nowhere. All there is around here is trees and more trees and even more boring trees everywhere you look.
After a couple more hours, I still had that same gut-wrenching feeling that I wasn’t alone anymore. I checked every room downstairs and there was nobody, as expected. But as I was going up the stairs to the second floor, I saw a faint flicker of light coming from the end of the
hallway. Thinking that it was just a bulb that needed to be changed, I headed towards the light. There was nothing there so I decided to check the surrounding rooms for anything suspicious and after a couple of tries I found something definitely out of the ordinary. In one of the bedrooms was a mirror and, what looked like lipstick, had been used to write, “GET OUT. YOU’RE NOT WELCOME HERE.” There’s no way my grandfather wrote that before he died and I definitely didn’t write it either. Heck, I didn’t even know there was a room down here. No one else has access to this house, so maybe it’s just my mind playing tricks on me. Nope, it’s definitely real alright.
I ran from the room, screaming as loud as possible as I went down the stairs and out the front door straight towards my car. I hopped in the car, and drove as fast as I could down the long driveway. I wasn’t sure where I was going but I knew I had to get out of there. I’m no stickler about ghosts and stuff, but at this point that’s the only reasonable solution. Well, not really reasonable, but you know what I mean. The only way that could actually be possible at this moment. Before I knew it, I had ended up in the town I had visited earlier for my groceries. Earlier, I saw that there was a little cafe downtown, so I headed there in hopes that it hadn’t closed already. Lucky for me, it was open when I arrived.
I chose a small secluded table in the back corner of the cafe, even though nobody else was in there. As soon as I sat down, the polite waitress came over and took my order. I ordered a large vanilla latte with a double shot and a lot of caramel sauce. At this point, I just need a ton of sugar to hopefully get me past thinking about what just happened. It still feels so surreal. Obviously, most people don’t believe that ghosts exist, and I didn’t either, but right now, it seems like the only slightly reasonable explanation. The library probably has some books on ghosts so I might have to try some of those out and see if I can get any solutions on how to rid the Manor of
these ghosts. I don’t really have high hopes in what the books will probably tell me, but at this point, I’m open to anything as long as it’s an easier solution and it works quickly. Soon, I finish the most sugary coffee I’ve ever had, and then I’m on my home again. This time the drive feels much longer, but I guess it’s just because I’ve actually had some time to process the whole situation, even if it still doesn’t make much sense at the moment. I walk in the door and I’m surprised to find that the mess that had been there when I left was now completely cleaned up. There were no signs that anything had ever happened, so even if I did decide to tell someone, they probably wouldn’t believe me anyway since there is no proof. But that’s never going to happen because I don't have anyone anymore.
I head up to my room and lay on my bed. Eventually, I slowly doze off until I’m awoken by a loud crashing noise coming from my bathroom. I looked towards the door and noticed that the light was on. Weird. I don’t remember turning the light on when I got home. I pushed the door open, and as I was about to step into the bathroom, I noticed all of the glass shards on the floor. The crashing noise had come from the mirror when it must have fallen off the wall. But what’s even more suspicious is the hole in the wall where the mirror used to hang. It almost looks like a secret little hide-away where you could hide something small and it would never be found. Looking closer, I can see that there are some things hidden inside: a couple hundred bucks, a picture, and what looks to be a love letter. It reads:
Dear Laura,
My love for you is more than words could ever explain. From the moment I saw you, I knew that you were to be my wife and the mother of my future kids. I knew right away that I wanted to have a life with you and only you. Everyday, you are my motivation. I think about how you are always waiting for me at home and it makes my day feel easier. You are my very reason
for my existence. I live for you. I live for the life we have together. I live for our future. I love you so very much, and I don’t know how to express these feelings, but I hope you know that my love for you is endless. I will love you until the day I die.
Forever and Always,
George
Who knew my grandfather was such a romantic. I always just assumed he was cold-hearted and only loved certain people only half as much as himself. But, it seems that he loved my grandmother more than anything in the entire world. I wish I could have met her before she died. Maybe then I would be able to understand why he loved her so much. I wonder if she was selfless and loving and romantic. If she was kind and sweet and always helped others. But there’s no point in dwelling on something that I’ll never know. Soon, I realize how tired I am and what time it is so I decide to get some much needed rest and worry about the mess tomorrow.
When I wake up in the morning, I head straight to the bathroom to clean up the mess, but the shattered glass is completely gone. The whole bathroom is shiny and smells good, as if someone had just recently deep-cleaned it. Again, not possible since I’m the only one who lives here and, now that my grandfather is gone, I’m not aware of any maids or servants that still come around. I think that after grandfather died, they all assumed that they were out of a job, and I guess they were kind of right. It’s not like I have the money to pay them, so they wouldn’t be getting much and that wouldn’t be fair to them. I still don’t understand how this is happening though. Nothing about what has been happening makes any sense. I don’t know what to do either, but it’s starting to kind of freak me out.
I head downstairs to make some breakfast, instead there are already waffles and strawberries on a plate in the spot I usually sit in. Well, whoever it is must be watching me if
they know exactly where I sit. And that realization freaks me out the most. If they watch me eat, just imagine what else they watch me do. No, nevermind, I’d rather not think about that. Maybe, hopefully, it’s someone that’s really nice and they just want to be kind. If that’s the case, it’s a little awkward that they would be in my house. Especially when the doors are always locked. Maybe I should get some security cameras installed and then I can catch whoever it is in the act, which will hopefully cause them to stop this nonsense. If they really are just a nice person, they shouldn’t have to hide who they are. They should want to be seen for their acts of kindness, not go unrecognized.
The security cameras are scheduled to be installed tomorrow, so hopefully nothing else happens today. I don’t really have any plans for the day anyway, except sitting at home, so even I might be able to catch them. I’ll probably just watch random movies all day and eat a lot of yummy ice cream. Personally, I think that mint chocolate chip is the best ice cream in the entire world, even though it’s not the most popular flavor. I wonder what their favorite flavor is. Maybe they are boring and just like vanilla or chocolate or maybe they’re experimental and fun and like cotton candy.
…
A couple hours pass and I get a call from the security company saying that they could come over now, instead of tomorrow to get the cameras installed. Obviously, I said yes, because the sooner the better. I don’t want to miss anything that could be important or something that is very suspicious. At least, when I’m not home, since I usually wouldn’t be able to know or see what’s going on.
As soon as they arrive, they get straight to work. For only a couple cameras, they sure brought a large group of people. I’m only getting them installed by the front door and the back
door. They suggested that I should get some more on the side of the Manor, just to have a full view of everything, but I can’t afford that many. Unlike some people, I don't have thousands of dollars in my bank account to spend whenever I feel like it. I barely even have a job at this point, and I barely even make enough to get by. Somehow, I manage though and that’s all that matters now.
Once the crew is done installing the cameras, one of them shows me what app to get and how to use it. They also show me how to uninstall them by myself if I ever need to. I thank them for coming today instead of tomorrow and then they are on their way back to wherever they came from. I decide to go on a quick walk since I’ve been cooped up in the house all day and my legs are starting to hurt and I think I’m getting a migraine. A little fresh air would be really nice right about now.
On my walk, I encountered many deer hiding in the cover of the trees and bushes around the lake. It was super nice out so almost everywhere you looked, there was some sort of animal. There were deer, rabbits, frogs, and even foxes, which I did not want to get close to at all. It’s so beautiful around the lake. Trees, flowers, and bushes are everywhere, decorating the abundant space. The lake itself was crystal clear, and glimmered in the sunlight like thousands of diamonds. The water was smooth and there were no signs of disturbance. The only sounds you could hear were the chirping of birds and the howl of the wind in the trees. It was quiet and peaceful. The perfect place, especially to get away for a while.
I stayed out at the lake for a few hours to try and clear my mind. It soon got dark so I headed back to the house to get started on making dinner. When I walked in the door, I noticed that there was mail on the kitchen counter, which hadn’t been there before. I walked over to the counter and picked up one of the envelopes that had my name on it. It didn’t have a return
address on it so I’m not too sure who it’s from. I opened it anyway and it wasn’t much but it was enough to freak me out.
You don’t know me but I know you. You’ve never seen me but I’ve seen you. I watch you everyday. I watch everything you do. So be careful or you may find yourself in a place you never thought you’d be. Do me and yourself a favor and leave this place. LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK AGAIN.
How do they know me but I don’t know them? And it turns out that my suspicions were correct, someone has been watching me. I don’t know who and I don’t know how but hopefully the cameras can give me the answers I need and quickly. And if they don’t work out, well then that’s kind of the end of my hope. But the security company is said to be one of the best camera companies in the entire country so I have hopes as of right now.
…
As midnight nears, I find myself getting more and more anxious. The cameras still haven’t caught anything but I’m starting to think that whoever it is is inside because I keep hearing footsteps coming from upstairs. I don’t feel like there’s anywhere I can go in case of an emergency, so I’m just going to have to stick it out and see what happens, no matter how scared I am. While I wait for there to be some sign of anything, I continue to alternate between watching TV and reading a book. At least I’m doing something productive instead of just doing something that rots my brain the entire time I’ve been down here.
Eventually, I doze off but I’m soon awoken by another loud crashing sound coming from the kitchen. As I investigate the source, I see a few pots and pans laying on the floor. It doesn’t make sense because how could they possibly end up on the floor when they were in the cabinets? And the cabinets aren’t even open, so it’s almost like someone opened the cabinets and swept all of the pots and pans out onto the floor. I’m starting to think that maybe I’m not cut out for this. Maybe I should leave before I start to regret my decision. But then I realize, I don’t have anywhere else to go. I don’t have another home, I don’t have any more family left, and I definitely don’t have any friends. And in that moment I realized that my worst fear had come true. There really was a ghost and it wanted me gone in any way possible. It seems like it's willing to do whatever it can to get what it wants and I don’t know what to do anymore. The only thing I can do is try to survive away from the Manor. But the real question is, how does one survive without hope? Because I lost mine a long time ago.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my mom and step-mom for always supporting me in all of my writing and for giving me inspiration and encouragement when I needed it.
Thank you to my wonderful classmates for giving me feedback.
Thank you to my instructor for helping me improve and also giving me inspiration to write when I really needed to.