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Angela
knew that Charlotte, her best friend, was having
a rough time. Charlotte was moody and depressed.
She was withdrawn around everyone except for
Angela. She instigated arguments with her mom
and had violent confrontations with her sister.
Most of all, Charlotte’s bleak and desperate
poetry worried Angela.
No
one was on good speaking terms with Charlotte.
For most of her friends, Charlotte had become
too difficult. They had no interest in hanging
out with someone who was so bleak and in so much
pain. Angela was the only one who could reach
her. Angela spent most of her time inside with
her troubled friend. Then a day came when Angela
had to move across town, but Charlotte would no
longer be her neighbor, and they would be
spending far less time together.
One
day she was out playing with her new neighbors,
when her mother told her Charlotte had called.
Angela went to the phone to return the call. No
answer. She left a message on Charlotte’s
machine, “Hi Charlotte, its Angela. Call me
back.”
About
half an hour later Charlotte called, “Angela,
I have to tell you something. When you called, I
was in the basement. I had a gun to my head. I
was about to kill myself, but then I heard your
voice on the machine upstairs.” Angela
collapsed into her chair.
“When
I heard your voice I realized someone loves me,
and I am so lucky that it is you. I’m going to
get help, because I love you, too.”
Charlotte
hung up the phone. Angela went right over to
Charlotte’s house, and they sat on the porch
swinging and cried.
(Note-
We received this story from a young reader who
wanted her story told but wishes to remain
anonymous.)
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