Jennifer Lew. That’s my name. Was my name. Ooh I’m still not used to being dead. I look down at my little sister, Jamie. Jamie has her head in her hands and I can feel her tears. She’s been upset ever since I died last month. I gently float down to her side…

     Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me explain why I’m still… here.

     In life, my sister and I were inseparable. Best friends. We shared everything, even secrets. We became even closer a year ago, when she was twelve and I was fourteen, when we moved from New York City to Richmond, Virginia, thus, leaving our only friends. Our new school was like a close knit family, not accepting of others, so our constant attempts to fit in and make friends failed.

     Since we had no friends at school, we had only each other to talk to, sit with at lunch.  Eventually, we also lost contact with our old friends, Mom and Dad had gotten new jobs and were never around. There was a point in time when we became depressed, ignored everyone, didn’t talk to anyone other than each other, and lost focus on our future.

     For about a month, we were in our own little shells. We were failing, dressed dark and sad, and were basically living death. We stayed like that until Mom quit her job to be with us. Then we started to get back to normal.

     Actually, we finally recovered about a week before my death.

     Anyways, when I died, I remembered a promise I’d made Jamie a long time ago. That I would never leave her. Sure, it hadn’t meant that much at the time, but as I lay there, dying, it suddenly meant so much more.

     So when the time came, I knew what I had to do. I sat up, straight out of my body, and looked right into the light before me. The urge to go to it was so strong, I almost forgot what I needed to do. An arm reached out to me from the light, and I knew that I was supposed to hold the hand, let it guide me away, but I didn’t. I would rather linger on earth for all eternity than break a promise to my sister.

     That will, that love, was what enabled me to fight the pull of the light.

     I didn’t know then what I would be getting myself into. I knew there would be consequences, but I didn’t care. It would be worth it. It is worth it.