• It was a warm summer day when Gwen and her friend Tammy went to the beach. Gwen was swimming in the Mattawa River while her friend Tammy was diving from the dock. Gwen looked toward the beach and noticed several teenage guys playing volleyball. One of the boys caught her eye, he was a native boy with shoulder length black hair. Tammy swam over to Gwen and nudged her arm “Wow, those guys are pretty good. I wonder if any of them are single.” Tammy said as she watched them play. Gwen looked back at Tammy and shook her head “Is that all you think about? I mean come on we’re still young yet. No sense in getting into something we can’t deal with.” Tammy rolled her eyes “You are so old fashioned.” Gwen looked back at the native boy, then turned around and dunked Tammy under the water. She began swimming quickly back to shore, then ran to her bike with her towel. She waited for 2 minutes and Tammy was out of the water and was at her own bike beside Gwen. “Thanks for waiting Gwen.” Tammy said as she got onto her bike. “Ready to head for home?” Gwen said as she began biking. As the two girls drove their bikes home they talked about Tammy’s birthday party the next day.

    “Your bringing me to Ottawa!? Tammy’s birthday party is tomorrow I have to be there I’m her best friend!” Gwen exclaimed to her mother upon hearing the news at the dinner table. “Why would you tell Aunt Debra and Uncle Tom I’d go stay with them for the summer? You know I can’t stand it there. Laura hates me and she always has her friends over and they always poke fun at me for being a small town girl.” Gwen turned around pouting. Her mother rolled her eyes and served dinner “Gwen you’re going, and that’s that.” Gwen growled under her breath and began eating her dinner. When she finished she went to her room and called Tammy “I’m sorry I can’t go, mom is sending me to my aunts.” Tammy understood and the two girls talked on the phone for almost a half an hour as Gwen packed her things. Near the end of the phone call, Gwen heard a loud crashing noise on Tammy’s end. “I have to go Gwen, have fun in Ottawa.” she said before hanging up to phone. Gwen looked at the phone for a moment then hung up against her better judgment. She called her other friend Tiffany and told her that she would be going to Ottawa. Tiffany agreed that she would stop by in the morning to pick up Tammy’s gift and take it to the party for Gwen. That night, Gwen tosses restlessly in her bed as she couldn’t bear leaving the next morning.

    It was early in the morning when Gwen left for Ottawa. It took almost 2 hours and the ride there wasn’t very scenic. When the pulled up the long cement driveway Gwen looked at the house. It was beautiful brick layered home with a wrap around porch. It wasn’t the house she didn’t like being in though, it was being with her cousin Laura and her family. When the car stopped Gwen’s father Theodore removed her bag from the trunk, then forcefully removed Gwen from the car. “Dad I don’t want to stay here! Why are you doing this to me?” Gwen cried out. Theodore stopped a moment then when Gwen gave up fighting he dragged her from the car. “It’s not my choice it’s your mother’s.” He rang the doorbell and waited. A Latino women came to the door inviting them in and took the suitcase. Gwen looked around the foyer and swallowed a large lump in her throat. There is no way I can stay here, it’s just so fancy… she thought as she saw the figurines and decorative crystal china placed prominently in the china cabinet. Laura came from around the corner and look over Gwen “Tom and Debra aren’t here right now. They’ll be back in about an hour .” Laura turned and walked away. Gwen looked at her father “Please don’t make me stay here with her.” Theodore looked at Gwen, gave her a hug and left. Gwen stood there speechless and almost on the brink of tears. How can he do this to me? she thought as she wiped a tear from her eyes.

    After an hour had passed Gwen’s things were in what she remembered to be Laura’s old bedroom. It was really small, almost cramped. She lied down on the bed and turned on the news. It was odd how here timing was so perfect. The news report was walking down an all to familiar street to Gwen. “Last night in our little town a tragedy occurred. 16 year old Tammy Garner was found dead in her bedroom. The service will be held on Thursday 14th, and Lillian Garner is accepting donations for the wake. This is Drew Garner, Tammy’s father and local news man, reporting from Mattawa.” Gwen’s jaw dropped as she heard those words and her eyes began welling up with tears. She called her mother and was told yet again, “You’re not coming back here just to go to a wake and a funeral.” Gwen hung up on her mother and sat on the bed crying. Laura walked in and saw her sitting there on the bed and rolled her eyes “Debra told me to come tell you supper is ready.” Laura turned around and headed back downstairs and sat at the dinning room table.

    Gwen pulled herself together and went downstairs and sat at the dinning table across from Laura. As she walked into the room, Debra, Thomas, and Laura all stared at her until she sat down. Gwen waved a little and looked down at her plate. It appeared to be Chinese take out. There were egg rolls, chicken balls, chicken fried rice, a small bowl of wonton soup, and a pepper steak stir fry. It looked very odd to say the least but Gwen would eat it out of respect. She reached for a fork but was puzzled when she picked up two chop sticks. She looked at them questioningly. She had never eaten with chopsticks before, so this was going to be really awkward. She held them oddly in her hand then looked up to see them all looking at her oddly again. Gwen smiled slightly and tried holding them the way Laura did “I’ve never eaten with chopsticks before.” She was frowning again as she ate, trying to think of how she would get to Tammy’s funeral but she couldn‘t think of a thing. Gwen looked up and saw Laura grinning “So, cousin, I here your best friend just died.” Gwen dropped the chopsticks, rather shocked that Laura actually said that. Laura was smiling as she ate and waited for Gwen to answer.

    Gwen clenched her hand and looked back up at Laura. “Yes dear, tell us about that.” Debra said as she folded her hands ready to listen so she could spread the juicy gossip. Gwen looked questioningly at her Aunt Debra and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I’d rather not talk about this, I just want to go home.” Gwen said then continued eating. She was quiet all through dinner as Laura spoke of what had happened to Tammy. Gwen felt anger welling up inside her as she tried blocking out the chatter at the table. When she had enough she slammed her hand down on the table “I’ve had with you all!” Gwen got up and ran crying from the table. She reached the room and shut the door behind her as she cried on the pillow. Debra and Thomas looked at each other, then at Laura “Take her out with you tonight. I don’t feel like dealing with her waterworks right now. Laura rolled her eye’s “Fine.” She said then went up to her room to get changed for going out. After about two hours Gwen heard a knock on the door. “Hey cousin let’s go, we’re going out.” Laura came into the room and started trifling through Gwen’s stuff. “Hey, what are you doing?!” Gwen asked angrily. Laura grabbed her arm and dragged Gwen to her room. “You’re coming out with me and some of my friends, and judging by the clothes you brought you have no style. Thankfully you‘re the same size as me.” Laura picked out a black sweater and a pair of skinny jeans. “Put these on, there’s a bathroom across the hall.” Laura said as she began taking out jewellery and making matches.


    Gwen put on the outfit and walked back into Laura’s room “You actually wear this? It’s so uncomfortable.” Laura looked at Gwen “Uncomfortable yes, but it highly accents your shape.” Laura sped over to Gwen and removed her hair from the plain ponytail and took her crimper to Gwen’s hair. When Laura finished her hair she took out her makeup kit and accented Gwen’s green eyes with dark mascara and accented her lips with a burgundy coloured lipstick. “You don’t look half bad when you clean up.” Laura said as Gwen got up and turned to look in the mirror. Her jaw dropped as she looked at herself, then she turned to Laura “I look like a $10 hooker!” Laura smirked “I was going for $50, but 10 is good enough. Let’s go, James is waiting in the driveway.” From outside the sound of a car horn sounded. Laura grabbed Gwen’s hand and the two went racing down the stairs. “See you later Debra.” Laura said as she darted out the door with Gwen behind her.

    James was waiting in his car “What took you so long,” he asked as he opened the passenger door “and who’s the red head?” Gwen got into the back seat and Laura sat in the front. She kissed James then he started down the driveway “She’s my cousin, Gwen.” He looked in the rear-view mirror at Gwen “She’s hot, guess all the women in your family are bombshells.” Laura rolled her eyes “Yea, guess so. Where are we going anyways?” James looked at her. “Well, we have to pick up Timmy, Kelly, and Michael. Then we’re off to the movie theatre.” After about 15 minutes all of Laura’s friends were in the car was full. Two of the boys they picked up were eyeing on Gwen as if they were wolves and she was a piece of meat. It felt rather awkward but Gwen kind of liked the attention. Kelly on the other hand wasn’t as thrilled, because last time Gwen was there she looked like a hillbilly and now she looked even better then Kelly and Laura. Michael and Timmy both fought over who would sit beside her. In the end, both ended up beside her but on opposite sides. After they watched the movie only Timmy and Michael continued with Laura, James, and Gwen. Kelly left halfway through the movie after she noticed Timmy flirting with Gwen.

    On the way back they stopped by James house for a drink. Laura and the others got out as Gwen just looked at the house. Laura pulled Gwen’s arm “Come on, you’re not going to make me look stupid again.” James’s house was really big and very clean a lot like Laura’s. They went down into the basement and an older guy who seemed about twenty was sitting on the floor with a bag of weed. Gwen saw it thinking it was just some herbs and sat down beside him. James took down a bong from the closet in his bedroom downstairs and brought it into the room. “Who’s up for round three?”

    Laura laughed and raised her hand. Gwen sat there as everyone passed the bong around smoking up. Then it came around to her “Come on Gwecousin, it’s fun. You’ll never feel better.” Michael said. Gwen took it and with her better judgment tried passing it on to Laura. “No way cousin, not till you do it.” Laura said then chimed in again “It’ll help you forget Tammy.” Gwen frowned and thought of her dead friend. Then she took a huge toke of the bong. It gave her a rush, and she took another toke then passed it on to Laura who took a toke and spoke happily “There we go cousin, now you’re really acting like a Thornjin.” The group passed the bong around several times till everyone was high out of their minds. Gwen took a pop from a case and chugged it then passed out.




    The next morning Gwen woke up in the bed at Laura’s house. She was so hungry and the light was hurting her head. She put on her sunglasses to avoid the light and made her way to the kitchen where she found Laura taking toaster strudels out of the toaster. “Morning cousin. How was your night?” she asked as she handed Gwen a plate with two toaster strudels on it. Gwen looked up and smiled “Last night, was so fun. Hey do you think we can go out again tonight?” she asked as she gobbled down the strudels. Laura nodded and laughed “You were so green last night, I had to get James to drive us home.” Gwen laughed and turned on the kitchen television and again there was a report on Tammy, but this time it was her mother being interviewed. “Lillian, what happened yesterday to your daughter?” asked the reporter.

    Tammy’s mom was wiping tears from her eyes “Well William, I have always disapproved of my daughter hanging around with one of her friends, Gwen, and she disobeyed me. I couldn’t handle it anymore, and when I went to walk upstairs something in my mind snapped when I heard her talking on the phone. I dropped a laundry basket as I heard her fall to the ground. When I got to her room I found her hanging from the ceiling. I tried to bring her back but it was to late.”

    Gwen pressed the power button on the television “I can’t stand that woman!” she screamed as she walked back upstairs and raided Laura’s closet. She came down in a black mini skirt and a white halter top. Her hair was done up again and so was her makeup. She stood in the doorway and put on a pair of platforms “Let’s go hang out with your friends, I can’t stay here anymore I need to do something.” Laura nodded and went upstairs. During the two hours it took Laura to get ready Gwen was on the computer. She received an instant message from an unknown user. “Hello.” said the unknown user. Gwen looked at the message and responded “Hello, who is this?” The unknown messenger messaged back “I’m me, who are you?” Gwen looked oddly at the computer. She began typing again “You’re the one who messaged me.” The message popped up again “Ah very clever.” Gwen looked questioningly at the computer “Who’s me?”

    “I’m me and you are you.” said the message again. Gwen tried looking for the email of the user, but it wasn’t visible. “Fine. Then why are you messaging me?“ she asked now getting pissed off. “I’m messaging you because I want to talk.” said the message again. “Talk about what? Why do you want to talk me?“ Gwen asked in confusion. “I want to talk to a human.” the message sent again. Gwen looked around the room and shut the laptop. Gwen got a glass of orange juice from the fridge. She sat back at the laptop and opened it again “Done drinking?” the message asked. Gwen’s eyes widened “How did you know what I was doing?” after a moment the messenger wrote back “I know all.” Gwen thought a moment then typed back responding to a prior statement “Not particular about which human huh?” she asked in response to the previous message. “No, it’s just a coincidence.” the message said. “Fine then. What about life?” she asked. “Do you value yours?” it read. Gwen stopped for a moment and thought about it “Of course I do.” the message reply was almost instant “Good that’s all I ask.” Gwen responded back to it in confusion “Why do you ask?” The message took a few minutes but finally responded “Because he is coming and I want to make sure you are ready.“ Again confused Gwen responded back “He is coming? Who’s coming?” she asked. The message responded back “I don’t know who he is. I’m just here to help.” Gwen responded again “Will you help? Wait what am I ready for?”


    “I’ll help as long as I’m needed. I’ve got nothing better to do. You’re ready to meet me.” The messenger said. “WHO ARE YOU?” Gwen asked in anger this time. “Haven’t we already been over this? I’m me.” it spoke again. “FINE. What’s your name?” Gwen asked. “You are quite clever. My name is Bringer. I’m the bringer of gifts.” “Bringer?” Gwen asked as she heard Laura doing her hair from upstairs. “Yes though I prefer Bridget.” she spoke back.
    “So what gifts?” Gwen asked, her interest had been picked. “If you want to find out you’ll have to meet me.” Gwen hurried to type back “Meet you where?” Bridget responded back “The clock in the town centre.” “My town centre?” Gwen asked. “Yep see you there.” Bridget typed in. “Wait. When shall I meet you?” Gwen asked hurriedly.

    “Oh whenever. I'll be there.” Bridget responded. “Whenever?” Gwen asked and as soon as she hit send, Bridget was offline. Gwen hit her hand onto the table “s**t.” she said and then heard Laura coming down the stairs. “Hey Laura, feel like going for a drive?” she asked as Laura called her boyfriend James. Within ten minutes James was at Laura’s house and all three were in the car. “Hey cousin why do you want to go to Mattawa? Are you going to show us around and take us to the fireworks place?” Laura asked. Gwen smiled at Laura “Yea, they have a great selection. You will love it.” Gwen was lying through her teeth, but Laura didn’t know that. After they reached Mattawa, Gwen showed Laura and James around town. Laura seemed to actually like it, which really surprised Gwen. Then they came around to the fireworks shop which was only a block away from the town clock. As they looked around Gwen noticed it was getting dark. “Hey Laura, I’m going to go down the street to the library. I have to return some books I took out the other day.” Laura nodded and she kept going around the store looking at all the cool fireworks.

    Gwen made her way to the library across from the clock tower and dropped off her books. When she turned around she saw a tall women in a black cloak leaning against a tree. She walked over to the women and spoke quietly “Are you Bridget?” The women turned toward Gwen who was surprised by her appearance. The woman had two different coloured eyes and she looked like death. Her hands were boney and her face looked sunken in “Yessss,” she hissed in response “ I am Bridget. Are you the one known asss Gwen?” Gwen was scared of Bridget’s speech patterns. “Yes, my name is Gwen. Why did you ask for me?” Bridget grinned “Assss I ssssaid, I am the bringer of giftssss. I have come to grant you a gift that no otherssss on the planet have.” Gwen thought for a moment and asked inquisitively “Is it a gift of my choice?” Bridget nodded in response. Gwen though for a moment “I want to be able to see, hear, and talk to ghosts.” Bridget extended her bony hand “We have a deal then, do you accept this gift?” Gwen nodded yes and went to shake Bridget’s hand.

    As Gwen’s hand touched Bridget’s, Bridget opened her mouth and a large fog flowed from her mouth and surrounded Gwen. Gwen tried releasing her hand from Bridget’s but was unsuccessful. When the fog disappeared so did Bridget. Gwen watched as the fog dispersed and as she opened her mouth it swarmed straight in. She gasped as she lost breath for a moment but then she got her breath back. She hurried back to the shop and as she got there Laura and James were just exiting the store with several bags of fireworks. “The library was still open?” Laura asked. Gwen looked back at her and nodded “Yea, it was open. I returned the books.” With that they entered the car and headed back to Ottawa. It felt like a long ride to Gwen, and she fell asleep after a few minutes in the back.

    When the Gwen and the others got back to Ottawa, Gwen asked to be dropped off at the Thornjin home so she could sleep. Laura and James dropped her off but before leaving her Laura asked if she was alright. “Yea, I’ll be fine.” Gwen said as she watched the two drive off again. She walked up the driveway and held her head. For some odd reason she heard a low humming noise, almost like a humming bird. Gwen entered the house and announced her arrival. Her Aunt Debra walked down the stair case and greeted her. “Hello Gwen, welcome back. How was your day today?” she asked as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. Gwen felt a chill up her spine as if a cold draft had entered the room. “It was fun, just got a little cold is all.” Gwen said as she went to walk toward the stairs. When she was but 3 feet away from Debra she tripped and fell forward flying up toward her Aunt who yelled and attempted to catch Gwen.

    Gwen , however, did not land safely in her aunts arms but continued falling to the floor. When she landed on the stairs she felt a tickling sensation in her back. She looked back and saw her aunts legs seemingly phased through her back. Her mouth was open and her face frozen in terror. Debra looked down and screamed “You’re a ghost!” Gwen got up and shook her head and touched the wall. Debra did the same, but her hand phased through. Her eyes widened and she looked at her hands “I…I’m dead?” She was stunned. Obviously her aunt had not known she had died. Gwen looked around “Aunt Debra where were you before you came down here?” Her aunt thought a moment “The bedroom, I was in the bedroom changing the sheet’s.”

    Gwen ran up the stairs and at the foot of the bed was her aunt Debra’s lifeless body. Gwen grabbed the phone and called an ambulance. After that call, she reached Laura’s cell phone’s answering machine and left a message that she needed to get home now. As Gwen waited for her uncle and cousin to get home she sat in the living room watching television with Debra’s ghost. “So, aunt Deb, any idea how you died up there?” she asked as a commercial came on. Debra nodded “I had brain cancer. I never told anyone in the family, not even your uncle.” Gwen nodded. “It’s funny isn’t it, how a gift like your’s can actually help you know someone better.” Debra said as she went to hug Gwen, but realized she couldn’t. Gwen smiled “Yea, it’s pretty cool.” It was a week after Debra’s funeral and she was still floating around the home. She told Gwen that she had no intentions of going on and that she had best give up trying to make here.

    Gwen had been hanging out with Laura, but she decided not to do the drugs. She was afraid if she did she could possibly loose her new gift. Gwen hadn’t told Laura about her gift, but somehow she knew. Gwen talked with Laura for hours the first two days of that week about her mother, while Debra stood there and told Gwen what to tell Laura. Gwen didn’t mind it though because it gave her practice at this type of thing. It wasn’t until the 12th that Gwen dreamt of Tammy, and the dream made her awaken in a cold sweat. Tammy had come to Gwen and asked for her help, she said she needed Gwen to go back home as soon as possible. Near the end of the dream, it almost seamed as if Tammy was screaming at Gwen and her face twisted into this evil looking creature. “Thank god it’s the 13th, time to go home.” Gwen said as she began packing her bags. Almost instantaneously Debra and Laura came in to talk with Gwen before she left. “You sure you don’t want me to go with you Gwen?” Laura asked. Gwen turned to her “You called me Gwen, you’ve never done that before.” Laura smiled “You’ve grown on me, you’re a friend now, not only a cousin.” Gwen smiled and heard the knock on the door downstairs. “Well, I’ll be back in a few weeks for a visit, see you then.” Gwen said hugging Laura. When the two released from the hug, Laura looked around the room and saw her mom. “Thanks Gwen, you’ve helped out a lot.” Gwen smiled and grabbed her bag and brought it out to the car.

    Gwen left and arrived home on a somewhat happy tone. When she got home her mother was crying at the kitchen table “Gwen honey, are you alright? I‘m sorry I didn‘t bring you home” Gwen walked over to her mom and hugged her “Mom I’m fine, but I think you should head to Ottawa. Uncle Tommy needs some company.” Gwen’s mom nodded and packed her bags. It took an hour and then her parents were gone to Ottawa. Gwen unpacked her bags and made her way downstairs to make dinner for herself. As she prepared a salad she heard a sound from the living room. It sounded like static. Gwen walked cautiously into the living room as she held the butcher knife she was using to cut lettuce. She looked in the direction of the static sound and it turned out to be nothing more than the television. Gwen walked over to the television and turned it off.

    As Gwen went to exit the kitchen the television turned on again and this time there was no sound. The screen was black and a white shadow appeared and called for Gwen. Gwen turned around and listened as her mouth was open. “Gwen, close your mouth you’ll catch a fly.” the shadow spoke. The sarcasm in the voice was all to familiar, and Gwen recognized it immediately. “T…Tammy?” Gwen said as she watched the television. The television set exploded in front of her and as soon as the smoke cleared, Tammy was standing in front of Gwen. Gwen began crying as she saw her dead friend before her eyes. “Gwen, snap out of it. I need you to help me.” Tammy said coldly. “Why Tammy, why did you do that to yourself?” Gwen asked as tears cascaded down her cheeks. Tammy’s face twisted in anger “Lies!” she screamed and all the light bulbs in the room exploded “I didn’t commit suicide! My mother killed me!” Gwen looked at Tammy “How can I help? I can’t do anything to help you.”

    “Go to my house, I’ll show you what happened there.” Tammy said before disappearing. Gwen looked around and decided on eating first then going to Tammy’s. Gwen ate her dinner and grabbed her backpack heading over to Tammy’s home. Lillian wasn’t home, but Tammy’s window was left open. She looked up and saw Tammy’s spirit in the window motioning for her to come up. Gwen went around to the lattice on the side of the house and climbed up to Tammy‘s window. She went through the window and into Tammy’s room. Tammy stood beside her bed and spoke to Gwen “Mom choked me with that rope, I didn’t hang myself.” Gwen looked in shock at her friends neck. Even though she was a spirit, Gwen still saw the marks from the rope around her neck. “Tammy, you said you can show me how it happened. How can you show me?” Gwen asked as she looked out the window keeping an eye out for Lillian’s car. Tammy pointed to the video camera “I put it on when I heard mom coming up. She hit me last week but I had no evidence so I decided to set up my camera next time I heard her coming up,”

    Gwen picked up the video camera and turned it on again. She watched the camera and heard the conversation her and Tammy were having that night. Then the loud bang again and she saw Tammy hang up the phone. It seemed like the moment lasted forever when Tammy’s mom walked up the stairs. Lillian made her way to Tammy’s door and she stood there for a few minutes just holding onto the rope, tightening her grasp around it. “Mom, are you alright?” Tammy asked as Lillian walked closer and closer. When she was only about two feet away she lunged at Tammy and trapped her neck in the noose she made on the end of the rope. Lillian held it tight as Tammy tried prying the rope from her neck with her hands. Gwen watched in terror as her best friend was being strangled. “You had to come here and meddle didn’t you…” said a voice from the doorway. Gwen turned to see Lillian.

    Gwen held the camera in her hands as she looked at Lillian “You killed her, you killed her because of me.” Lillian grinned and replied “Yes…I did…and now it’s your turn…” Lillian moved her hand from behind her back revealing a large butcher knife. Lillian went to take a swipe at Gwen, but as the knife drew closer, Gwen high kicked Lillian onto Tammy’s bed. “Run Gwen!” Tammy screamed. Gwen darted down the stair’s as Lillian continued after her in high pursuit. She ran from the house and kept going down the driveway. Lillian stopped at the door and ran into her home grabbing a suitcase of clothes and getting into her car.

    As Lillian got to the end of the driveway there were 5 cop cruisers at the end of the driveway waiting, guns aimed. Lillian got up out of her car and spotted Gwen “I want that girl arrested for breaking and entering!” she yelled pointing at Gwen. Two police officers went around to Lillian and took her by the arms and handcuffing her. “Lillian Garner, you’re under arrest for the murder of Tammy Garner and attempted murder of Gwen Thornjin.” Lillian looked back at Gwen who was showing the video to the police officers. “When I get out, you’re dead Gwen. Dead! They can’t hold me forever!” She screamed as they forced her into the cruiser. Gwen watched as the cops drove away with Lillian then looked back up at Tammy’s house. She smiled as she saw Tammy wave to her from her bedroom window.

    Gwen walked back home and found Tammy there again. “Hey Gwen, thanks.” she said. Gwen smiled and waved “It’s nothing, I’m glad I could help you Tammy.” Tammy nodded and looked to her right “I have to go now Gwen, I’ll see you around though.” she said before walking off and disappearing for a final time. Gwen relaxed and sat on her couch and began watching the television. She thought for a moment and heard a knock on the door. She got up and answered it surprised to see her parent’s and Laura. Laura seemed a little sad, but on each side of her were two suitcases. It turned out while Laura had gone out with James, her dad fell from the roof while trying to clean the gutters. Laura was going to be staying with Gwen until college, for Gwen’s parents were her legal guardians. Gwen helped Laura move her stuff into Gwen’s room. As the two lay in their beds that night, Gwen looked over to Laura and asked her quietly “Did you get to see him a last time?” Laura nodded and replied “Yea, I did. Then him and mom left. There gone now.” With that, Gwen and Laura drifted off into a deep sleep.