I just recently saw this amazing, yet heartbreaking movie called Now is Good and I was compelled to write something based on it.

Summary of movie:Tessa (17 yrs.) is dying of leukemia and decides to stop having the treatment, the movie is basically all about her trying to fulfill a list of things to do before she dies. Before she dies her little brother Cal (not sure how old, definitely under 12) says "Bye Tess. Haunt me if you like. I don't mind."- That one line really broke my heart and I wanted to do more with him, since he was also a bit more callous and jealous in earlier stages of her battle with cancer. I want to show that he still cared a lot. Also the mom has just started being around again, she used to be a terrible mother, always on her phone even when Tess was near death, now she is making up for that and trying to rekindle her relationship with her husband.

Haunt Me... Please?

Cal POV

"Daddy, where's Tessa?" I asked curiously, she hasn't been haunting me yet, and I wish she would start. I'm getting bored with having to watch dad cry every few minutes. His rugged features softened and his eyes started to tear up.

"Tessa's in a better place now Cal," he choked out. I know I shouldn't keep mentioning her but we had a deal. If we let her die, she had to haunt me.

"But she said she'd haunt me!" I whined, feeling a sense of desperation crawl over me.

"I know bud, but she...just keep your head up," he murmured. I'm pretty sure he was talking to himself, and not really me. My head hasn't fallen. I mean she isn't really gone...if she haunts me at least. I plod into the other room and sit down on the fluffy, cream colored carpet. The carpet was starting to lose some of its usual fluffiness, its thick coat growing thinner every day. I couldn't help but connect that to Tessa, she got weaker and weaker every day until boom! She was gone. Something wet and salty dripped onto my lips. I ignored it and laid down, staring up at the ceiling, waiting for Tessa. I think it's my fault she died. Mother had told me to say goodbye, so I did...and then she died.

"Bye Tess. Haunt me if you like. I don't mind." I say lightly, my face only inches from hers. I hear mother making weird sobbing noises and then the same noise comes from my dad too, only louder. Tessa's chest stops rising and her features become completely still. In fact, everything goes still. For a split second it felt like the whole world had stopped to say goodbye to Tessa. A grin spreads slowly across my face and I lean down to kiss Tessa on the cheek. My parents look at me like i'm insane, my sister just died and I'm smiling.

"Everyone stopped for Tess, did you feel it!? The world said goodbye to her!" I exclaim.

"Oh honey, I did feel it," Daddy whimpers. He wraps me up in a big bear hug, and wipes off the wet stuff on my face.

That day was weird. That's the only way to describe it. All my parents did was cry, hour after hour, heart wrenching sobs that shook me in my sleep. But they didn't get Tessa to haunt them, so I understand why they were sad. I don't have to be sad, Tessa's going to haunt me really soon. I know it!

"Cal, come eat your breakfast!" mother shouted from in the kitchen. It was a lame attempt at a shout though. It came out more like a small hiccup.

"Coming!" A stack of pancakes was laid out on the table, each of them filled with blueberries-Tessa's favorite.

"Tes..." mother stopped short and a bewildered look came about her face. She fell to the floor and clutched the bowl of pancake batter to her chest. "She's gone, she's gone...my baby," she wailed, getting tears into the rest of the batter. Tears, tears, tears, that's all I see nowadays.

"Everything okay in here," Daddy said, rushing in. He saw his hunched up ex-wife and sunk down onto the tile floor with her, rubbing her back and trying not to cry himself. "Are those blueberry pancakes?" he asked hesitantly. I nodded, since Mother was too broken to look up. "Tessa's favorite..." I could tell he was about to break too, so I grabbed a pancake with my bare hand and scurried up to the 2nd floor, away from the sea of tears everyone was drowning in. I rounded the corner and saw the ruin of my sister's room to my left. Before she died, she had destroyed everything in a fit of rage; knocking all her furniture onto the floor, her pictures and memories shattering along with them. I felt compelled to walk towards her room, and I did so, as quietly as a mouse. The door creaked as I pushed it further open and crunched as it ran over an old picture frame on the ground.

"Tessa, are you in here? I'm still waiting for you to haunt me." I said loudly, so wherever she was she could hear me. With no reply I gathered up my courage and walked all the way into her room, shutting the door slowly behind me, until it was only open a crack. Her bed was strewn out on the ground, covered with Tessa's old clothing. But it was the only suitable place to sit, so I plopped down on it and waited for Tessa. After a half an hour of waiting I sighed and picked up a picture of the floor. It was me and Tessa on her 14th birthday...before she had cancer. She was giving me a piggyback ride and I was sneakily trying to maneuver a pointed birthday hat onto her long mane of blonde hair. She was smiling wide, not a care in the world. That's when I knew she was okay. Maybe she wasn't going to haunt me yet. But she was okay, everything will turn out right, as Tessa once said, "I'll still be around." I know she meant it, even if I couldn't see her, she was here. Maybe that's what haunting really is, she is with me all the time, being able to physically see her was just not a part of our deal.

"I love you Tess, I know you're here with me, haunt me forever please, or I will miss you," I admitted, letting her image fill the room. I ran back down the stairs and into my parents arms, now all three of us sitting on the floor.

"I'm okay! We're all okay!"I shouted, as if I just had an epiphany. Mother and Daddy smiled and nodded, enveloping me into a cocoon of love and warmth. Then I heard Tessa's voice once more, "Moments. This is one. This right here, right now, is definitely a moment."

*Hope you liked it the last quote was actually said by Tessa in the movie, so I thought I would weave it back into my little story, heart and favorite if you like it please :)