Silence in the Night - Original WritingThe gunshot wound had left her paralyzed, her body stiff and cold. She could hear her own labored breathing, her vision was blurry and even though she could see people rushing towards her, she could make out what they were shouting. Was this really it, the end of a lifetime of struggle to be where she was? Sweat ran down her forehead, she could barely move her hands. They were shaking, trying to hold on to the closest thing possible. Fear reflected in her eyes and on everyone's faces, she was dying and everyone knew it. Suddenly, nothing seemed important anymore, the book review was due tomorrow, the car was left at the mechanic all week, the suit was waiting at the dry cleaners waiting to be picked up, the divorce papers were arriving... Everything What she remembered was yelling at the waitress for spilling coffee on her new silk blouse, and the look on the waitress's face. How the waitress's eyes were watery, trying to hold back her tears so she wouldn't show a sign of weakness, the fuss she was making over who would pay the dry cleaning bill. Her beautiful silk blouse was now gushing with blood, it was in ruins. No dry cleaner would do it. bloodstains were never removed, his whole life was a stain. She realized that she was not a praised woman, she wondered if anyone would even think of going to her funeral. How could she have let herself rot like this, she remembered when she was a happy girl, those hot summers at Bodega. Bay. Where her aunt made iced tea while she ran around the yard, grass brushing her knees as she jumped on the ground to try to catch the neighbor's cat. The gentle gentle breeze that caressed her face as she sat on the porch at night, looking up at the stars. Wrapped around a wool cardigan her grandmother made for her when she was nine, chatting about how we