text: I was thirteen years old when I got sick, and after a year I still wasn't getting any better. I was allowed to go home for a day, then it would get worse again and I would be ushered back to the hospital. After a while, instead of getting slightly better every week I just got worse. I think we all knew I wasn't going to get better, but nobody would admit it. I however, accepted my fate and decided to just die with no regrets. My parents sat beside me day and night, talking with the doctors about my condition, and frantically trying to eliminate the sickness. But it was useless. Day after day I got worse and worse until the day I died. It was in February, and I died alongside the cold. My parents sat beside me, trying not to weep at the doctor's words. My mother was pleading for them to cast their nets wider, but they had done everything they could, it got to the point where they gently broke the news to my parents. "She isn't going to make it, I'm very sorry. The most we can do for her now is keep her comfortable." I wasn't supposed to hear that, but it didn't bother me, I had known it for some time now. They called my family, and stayed strong for me. Everybody came as quickly as they could, and I died with my mother and father holding my hands, my mother's gentle touch stroking my hair and singing the lullaby she always used to sing. I told them, "Thank you for everything, I have no regrets, I will come back to you." I closed my eyes, and with that, Gray Merilind was gone. The moment I was gone my family broke down into sobs and tears. It's been five months since my daughter died, my beloved Gray. I raised her, and it was too soon for my baby to leave me. None of us can bring ourselves to enter her room, it brings back to many memories of the good days. We try to stay as upbeat as we can, but her siblings are taking it the hardest. We try to comfort them but it doesn't seem to do much. It's been a year now, and I'm going to go into her room. She wouldn't want me to linger on her death for as long as I have. I opened the door and forced a step, then another, until I was sitting on the bed. Her figurines and books lined the walls, her floor covered in laundry and her bed messy. Everything was covered in dust. Just more proof of how long it's been I suppose. We live in a big house out in the country, and have the entire road to ourselves. Our nearest neighbor is a kind old couple who had sent us a care package when Gray died. Oh Gray, she loved the grey stone bricks and the wood that made up the house, the layered shingles on the roof. She loved the soft grass in the yard and the large tree that watches over our home. I decided that we should clean up her bedroom. Everything would stay, never to be moved until the day someone else lives here long after us. I brought the suggestion to my son and other daughter, Grays siblings, and they received the idea better than I thought they would. George and Lucy came upstairs, and with the same difficulty I had, forced themselves to come inside. It makes me proud how strong my children are. My husband joined us soon after. Her father and I dusted the room and cleaned Grays dirty clothes, tucking them folded into her dresser. We washed the blankets and neatly made her bed, we vacuumed the carpet and swept the floor while George and Lucy caringly dusted her shelves and cleaned the figures of her favorite characters. Then, while we were throwing away the wrappers and removing the water cups half filled on her nightstand, we found a carefully enveloped letter sitting on her desk. What it said brought a fresh wave of pain and made us all begin to cry. It read, To mother, father, George and Lucy, Leon my dear dog, everybody who loved me, thank you. I know I don't have much time left here, but this is my final message to you. My life is over, but please don't wallow in your grief, do it for me. Some people have entrusted me with their deepest secrets, and as promised, I have taken them to the grave. I have always had a wish, an impossible one, but one I have always longed for. I wished to fly, not on a plane, but with my own two wings, those of a bird. Perhaps I was once a creature of the sky, or perhaps that is what I will become. Either way, whether I become of the earth, sea, or sky, I will come back to you all., even if neither of us realize it when we do. Maybe, someday. But whether it is tomorrow, or on your own death bed to lead you to your place among the stars, I promise, no, I vow, on the name you gave me, Gray Merilind, I will come back to you. Perhaps then I truly will be a creature of the sky. 18/2/2004 That voice, it was Gray to a T. It was my dear daughter's final message to us, one I will hold close to my heart until the day I die. I decided I would wait until the earth collapsed for her to return, and when she did, I would remember her no matter what. George and Lucy cried themselves to sleep that night, their father Brandon and I tried to comfort them, but they said that they wouldn't sleep, they wouldn't miss it when their beloved sister returned. I was only able to convince them to rest by telling them I was sure Gray would wake them if they were asleep when she came back. I’m not ashamed to say I cried myself to sleep that night. It's been four months since I found Gray's letter, and I've decided to take everybody camping to her favorite place. A secluded area beside a lake. When we got there we immediately went to the site. We had booked the one beside the woods, closest to the lake and what we now called Gray's Rock. It's a large boulder overlooking the lake far into the woods beyond the campgrounds, and as far as I know, we are the only people who know about it. It overlooks the lake and you can see into the forest for miles from its peak. On one night, after a day at the beach, I went alone to Grays Rock. It was dark, but warm. I felt as though I was being hunted the entire walk, but it was a forest, you feel that everywhere. I was cautious though, and made it to Grays Rock safely. I sat at the peak and watched the lake, it sparkled in the moonlight. After a while I began remembering the days when I would be looking for Gray, only to find her without fail sitting peacefully on the rock, her short, straight, brown hair and green and brown clothes rustling from the wind. She would sit up, turn her head and say "There you are! I've been waiting for forever! Come sit with me, the lake is beautiful today." We would sit and talk, and watch the lake. I heard a twig snap behind me and I turned to see something I never thought I would see. A large, silver scaled dragon was walking out of the woods behind me. I felt a mix of awe and terror looking at it. I was cornered, so I slowly stood and turned to face it. It stood there and watched me, but made no effort to attack me. We watched each other for a long time. I was following a foolish human woman, she walked and walked paying no attention to her surroundings. I am nearly two years old, and my name is Deus Irei. I watched the woman sit on my rock, the one I always slept on. After almost four hours I decided to finally remove the human woman from my nest, so I walked forward, and oddly, couldn't bring myself to attack it. It stood and looked at me, and we stared at one another for a while. I have never spoken to a human before, but something told me I had to. However, the words I spoke were not what I intended to say. I was shocked when it spoke to me. It opened its jaws slightly, and didn't speak with sound, but directly into my mind. And what it said will bring me joy for many years. Its voice made it clear that it was a she, and I nearly cried with joy. "I am Deus Irei, I've returned to you as promised mother, and as I promised, I am a creature of the sky." My husband and children just then came through the wood onto the rock and froze when they saw me, crying and smiling hysterically like a mad woman, and a dragon, something they thought was a myth standing right in front of them. Deus Irei spoke to them too, she walked forward, touched her nose to their brows, and said so we all heard. "I've come back to you father, George, Lucy. Are you behaving yourselves little siblings?". They too began to cry with joy. And almost at the same time, we yelled " GRAY!". And throwing caution to the wind, ran forward and embraced the dragon, who in turn enveloped us with her wings. "”Gray, you’re back! How? You've been gone for almost two years now how could you be back?". Her father said between joyous sobs. " How?". Was all George could utter: Lucy still burying her head in the dragon's scales sobbing. I did the same. And Deus Irei, no, Gray, simply said, "Because, I gave you my word.