Tomorrow’s A New Day

Nouf Ismail

Copyright © 2014 by Nouf Ismail.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014910351

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4990-8691-1

                Softcover        978-1-4990-8690-4

                eBook             978-1-4990-8692-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/17/2014

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First I’d like to thank god for giving me a chance to do this. I’d also like to thank my parents and my siblings for supporting and helping me throughout the process. My dad for being my role model and my mom for supporting me and believing in me. Thank you my brothers Fahad and Abdulla for going through my work and helping me since the very beginning and my other two siblings Saud and Arwa for their constant support.

I’d also like to thank my friends for being there for me and pushing me to do my best. They’ve encouraged and motivated me in many ways. I can’t thank you enough for your support and love.

I’d also like to thank a very special person, my teacher Carmelita Williams for showing me that I have a talent. I wouldn’t have started taking my writing seriously if it wasn’t for her. She told me that I’ll make it one day so here I am now thanking her for believing in me even though I was just a kid.

Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone that ever supported me and believed in me.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I’d like to dedicate this book to everyone who pushed me to do it. I’ve had a lot of obstacles throughout the way. I’d also like to dedicate it to everyone who didn’t believe in me because I worked hard just to prove that I could do it, so thank you.

Don’t do this, Lindsey, don’t do this! said Carrie.

You’re still young— you have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t do this, just come down, said James.

NOOOOOO, they all screamed in unison.

What do you think happened next? I asked my students.

A student asked, Well, what’s the beginning?

Well, does every story have to have a beginning to have an ending? I asked with mockery.

The student gave me a surprising answer. I expected her to be quiet but her answer was astonishing.

Well, Ms. Peters, how did you come here today? she asked.

I looked at her and said, By my car.

And then she asked me, Well, were you awake from the night before?

Well, this is an odd question, but no, I was asleep and then I woke up and came here, I answered.

And then she said something that made me stand in front of my class like a statue.

She said, Well, Ms. Peters, when you woke up, this was the beginning of your day, and when you’ll sleep at night, it’ll be the end of your day. Everything has a beginning and an ending whether we like it or not, because if the ending was at the start, it’ll be called the beginning.

I stood there for a while in bewilderment. I was speechless. I tried to convince her that she didn’t want to hear the story, but she said that nothing I would say could change her mind. So another student came up with an idea.

He said that if Melissa could tell us a story and I would want to know the ending, I’d have to tell them my story. I agreed to that deal because I was never really a curious person. So I thought that I had nothing to worry about.

Well, I was sitting in a restaurant when I got the phone call. I answered the phone immediately after I saw that Max was calling. Max and I have been together for four years. We wanted to celebrate our anniversary in our favourite restaurant but he was an hour late. I tried to make up excuses for why he wasn’t there but the fact that he could be hurt never left my mind. So I answered the phone and the only thing I remember was hearing the officer say, ‘Hello, Melissa? I’m Officer Joey and I’m very sorry to inform you that the owner of this phone has been in a serious car accident and his case is critical.’ The officer kept talking but I couldn’t hear anything after that. I tried to convince myself that I was sleeping. I started walking around, asking the people if this was reality or just the dark side of my mind playing games on me. I still remember the way people looked at me when I talked. I still remember their faces. They were all scared but that wasn’t fair. They didn’t understand. I wasn’t sure if I lost the only person that ever mattered to me forever. I was crying and trying to get myself together at the same time. I finally found my way and went to the hospital.

She stopped her story and started crying. To be honest, I was a little bit worried after hearing the first part because I really wanted her to continue but then we all told her to stop and that she didn’t have to continue because she looked like she was telling us a story that caused her a lot of pain. But she wiped her tears and continued.

The nurse took me to his room. As soon as I saw his face through the glass window I started crying. I couldn’t help it. I had mixed emotions. I was both thankful and sad. I was thankful that he was still alive but I was also sad because he looked like he was in a lot of pain. I wiped my tears and went in. I tried to fake a smile but as soon as he touched my face my eyes gave up. I started crying like a baby. He tried to make me feel better by talking about our future but then suddenly his face’s expression changed. His heart beat stopped so the doctors started rushing into the room. They told me to back off because they’ll try to save him. They failed the first time. We had only two more chances and then it could be the end. I tried to stay positive but I couldn’t. My heart was beating so fast it felt like everyone in the room could hear it. They tried it for the second time and then—

She stopped talking. We all looked at her with glaring eyes. We wanted to know what happened.

So I asked her, What happened next?

So, do you want to know what happened? she asked.

Yes! I replied immediately.

Well then, I guess we have to hear your story first and with the beginning this time, said Melissa.

I looked at her and smiled because she won. She got what she wanted and I had to tell them the story. I felt defeated and I’ve never liked that feeling but I had no choice. It was a fair game.

A student then asked an interesting question. He asked Melissa, Is it a true story? Were you really in that story?

She looked at him and said, No, but it’s the story of my mom and dad. I just said my name so you guys would be more interested in hearing it.

I looked at my desk and then looked at my students. I asked her, What’s your dad’s name and what does he do?

Jack Anderson—he used to be an artist, she said.

Jack Anderson Jr.? I asked.

Yeah, how did you know that? she asked anxiously.

No reason, I just heard the name before, I said.

But the truth was I knew him and I knew the name because the story seemed familiar after I heard it. I knew how the story ended. But I didn’t say anything because I saw the look on her face when she won our deal. She looked like she was overwhelmed with joy.

I looked at Melissa and said, "Well, class, I guess I’m going to have to tell you my story. So here it goes.

Well, there was this girl called Lindsey. She had two siblings: an older sister called Jessica and a younger brother called Alex.

Before I continued, Melissa stopped me and asked, Do you know this girl? Lindsey?

Well, not really, I actually found her diary. It’s a long story, I answered.

Well then, read us her diary. It’ll be more interesting, she said.

The whole class seemed to agree with her so I took out the diary and started reading. But I started from the ending since it was where I started before.

Death—I want to die right now. I’m standing on the edge of the cliff with a million thoughts in my head; the wind is blowing on my face and through my hair. I can hear my name being called by unfamiliar voices. I can see everyone I know standing and calling my name. I just took a breath. Is it the end? Was this my last breath?

Then I started reading from the beginning.

Hi, diary,

The reason I