"Unfair" death?(Rachel) Andrew smiled at the autumn sky and pulled on his boots. It was a nice morning in autumn and he was about to run over to his friends' house when he heard a feeble voice from behind.
"Anders... Today-y is your mother's birthday, don't you remember?"
Andrew turned around and groaned when he saw his grandfather, walking towards him as he said.
"Yeah I know grandpa! But I just want to visit Josie first!" Andrews groaned
"Please take a jacket before you go Anders"
"For sake! I'm Andrew! Not Anders! Grandpa! You're 67 and your memory is as bad as a pebble? Too bad!"
"Dear! Andrew! Speak nicely please!" Grandfather said, "Everyone needs respect! Here! Take your jacket!"
But before grandfather can hand Andrew over his jacket, Andrew had darted away, unable to take any more of his grandfather's absurd mind.
When he arrived at Josie's house, Josie was standing at the door porch, tears streaming silently down her cheeks as she greeted Andrew's arrival.
Josie invited him in for tea and as she poured tea into Andrew's teacup, Andrew blurted out,
"Why are you crying Jose?"
Josie looked at him, shaking her head as she poured warm tea into her teacup.
"Tell me what's wrong" Andrew urged gently
Josie stayed silent and sipped her tea. Josie put the cup down and cleared her throat.
"He-Hem... Well, my grandmother died from serious cancer"
Andrew suddenly started laughing the moment he hear the word "died". Josie thought the idea of her grandma dying wasn't fun so she snapped back,
"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?"
Andrew wiped some tea from his mouth and chuckled, "Grannies are big ol' fools who will always wander around, trying to mess you up and make your life bad than worse! Josie!"
"You're so wicked!" Josie cried, "Wait until your nana dies! You'll then know the pain of losing someone!"
"Nah! Don't care!" Andrew said firmly, "I'm going back!" he said, taking his rucksack and leaving, "Thanks for the tea!"
Josie looked angrily at Andrew as he walked back home, mouthing "Absurd Jose! Doesn't knows how to celebrate such moments!"
Time flew by and soon enough, Andrew was a tall, gangling teenager of 13. His grandfather was weakening by each year passing by and now, he was an old man of 72.
As Andrew's 14th birthday was approaching, mother told him that grandfather is not doing well and is needing medical attention. She seemed worried as she told her son about this, but on the other hand, Andrew was nonetheless happy!
Just days before Andrew's birthday, tragic struck as Andrew's grandpa passed away in the hospital as an old man of 72. Mother wept for the whole day, and surprisingly, Andrew couldn't help but burst into tears! They stayed by each other, crying and mourning the death of grandpa.
Andrew attended his grandpa's funeral and when it was time to bury his beloved grandpa, Andrew turned to his mother.
"Mother... Life is so unfair!"
Mother turned over to her son, her tears gleaming in the sunlight.
"What's unfair sweetie?" Mother asked
"Death!"
Mother hesitated. It seems like a hard question to her. Finally, she told him to wait for the burial to complete and she'll talk about it.
Back at home, Andrew couldn't stop thinking of how unfair death is. Death must have randomly and with not reason, stole grandpa away from the family, forever and into the arms of the afterlife. As mother put her leather handbag down, she started
"Dearie, when you were small, did you spend a lot of time with Grandpa?"
Andrew hesitated, fighting back snot and tears before saying, "No"
"Yeah. Do you think Death gave us such a short time to spend with Grandpa before he died?"
"Yes!" Andrew said without hesitation
"The actual answer is no" Mother said
Andrew looked at her, surprised.
"How could it be a no?! Death is unfair!"
"Sweetie! Let me talk!" Mother said, "Okay... When you were small, you'll always avoid grandpa the most as you can. Grandpa is sad. He loves you but you don't love him. You spend more time on Josie or your friends but not on Grandpa. And the day before he died, you tried to spend all your time with him. But 24 hours isn't enough, right? Making the moment beside grandpa short, right?"
Andrew hesitated. Mother was right.
"So, was it my fault... to spend such little time beside Grandpa?"
"Yes", Mother said, crying, "If you had been beside him, you would feel being beside Grandpa longer. Five years and 24 hours are a great difference in time, right?"
Andrew nodded
"So, to conclude, enjoy your time with people that you love when they're still there. Once they're gone, you can't do anything to get them back. You can't even trade your most valuable item to just have them back. It's life."

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