Field of Daisies

(A Short Story)
NOTE: This is not the exact same as the way I originally wrote it, because I do not have the original copy with me. I am just going to paraphrase it, and stick to the original plot, but it may differ some from the original version, just for anyone who has read it and who reads this newer version. I hope you like it.


She was the sweetest girl in the world, Daisy, I mean. She could make you smile just with a "hello." I was lucky, quite blessed, to have her in my life, even for eleven short years. She stayed joyful, and strong, right up to the end, making even her much older brother (me) look like a baby. And here is the story I wish to tell as a tribute to her, and as a recollection of something that, in my opinion, was a miracle.
When she was diagnosed with leukemia, it was just three months before her eleventh birthday. She cried that day, after it was explained to her what "leukemia" meant. That was one of two times she cried during this struggle. Mom and I cried more. Mom said that maybe the reason she didn't get so upset was because she didn't understand, but I think it was just the opposite. Daisy knew that she could die. She accepted it and understood it fully. She was just braver than most. She knew that everyone had to die someday, and knew that if her time was nigh, then it was just the way that things were to play out. She knew God had a reason for it and she trusted in Him.
Whenever she cried the second time, it was in the hospital. The first chemotherapy treatment she had. She vomited and she was just really sick. She cried because she felt so bad.
When she lost her hair, I waited for a day when she was well enough to get out of the hospital for a while and I took her shopping. I know, a brother taking his little sister shopping. Spare me.
Anyway, she bought wigs. I spent nearly all of that week's pay check on wigs, but I didn't mind. She bought blue ones, green ones, blonde, brunette, red, pink, purple and even a multi-coloured one. And she actually wore them at the hospital. She entertained the nurses and her doctors during her entire stay.
On Halloween of that year, Daisy was extremely ill. She wanted to go trick-or-treating, though, so she dressed up as a scarecrow, saying "It's perfect, look how skinny I am now!" This statement amused her, but I hid my sadness. I pushed her around to all the nurses' stations and they gave her candy, which was often cough drops and such, considering it was a hospital. She had a lot of fun, though, and shared her treats with Mom and me.
On her birthday, we had a party and a few aunts, uncles, and cousins even showed up to celebrate with us. She had a cake and everything.
The day after her birthday, we got very grim news. She didn't seem to be getting any better. Her white count hadn't improved and the doctors estimated that she had six months to live. They said they would keep her in the hospital, to keep trying, unless we had any objections. We decided to keep trying.

One day, a few months after her birthday, I was at work, in the mechanic shop my cousin owned. The phone rang and somehow I knew it would be for me. I always expected this call while I was at work.
"David! It's for you!" Vinny, the cashier, yelled. I got out from under the car and slumped off into his "department." I picked up the phone.
"Hello? This is David."
A nurse was on the other end. "Umm....you need to come to the hospital. It's not good. Just hurry."
And I did hurry. I was just a few minutes too late, however. Mom was in hysterics, so the nurses sedated her. Daisy was still in the room. I bent and kissed her forehead. They came to take her out.

The next days were a blur. I had to make arrangements for the memorial service and the cremation. She wanted her ashes spread in the field behind the house.
At the memorial service, my aunt Linda read a poem she had written:
"Now that I am gone
From this world alone
Do not weep for me
For someday you shall see
Me again in a field of daisies."


Five years later.....

She hugs my leg as I brush my teeth. Then she yanks my shirt.
"Daddy, when are we going to go seen Granny?"
"In a few minutes, Gracelyn Daisy, just calm down," I laugh and swoop her up into my arms. "Off we go!" Leah, my wife, follows us to the car.
When we get to Mom's house, she pushes us away from the door, and toward the back of the house.
"You have to see it! You must see it!" Mom is ecstatic about something not yet apparent to me, Gracelyn, or Leah. When we get to the side of the house, Mom pushes us even faster toward the field, and she breaks into a run.
"Look David! Look Leah! Look Gracelyn! It's just like in Linda's poem!" I gasp. So do Leah and Gracelyn. There, in the field where Daisies ashes were spread, are the most beautiful, perfect daisies I had ever-and have yet-to see. A whole field of them.


AFTERNOTE: This is a work of fiction. The characters, plot, and even setting are not based upon anyone dead or living. This is an original work of fiction by the author, me, and if you copy it you will be in trouble with the law. So read and enjoy, but do not plagiarise or steal this story. Thank you.