Prologue: I stood over her body, wondering, "Why did it have to be this way?" She lay there motionless, pale, lifeless, just a memory. This is what she feared. The secret she couldn't tell me or Spot. Now all that is left is her baby girl, Ariel; a mirrored image of her mother. I've only known this girl for a year and she had become a huge part of my life. She's taught me some much about myself and now she's gone. This can't be her. No, it's not. It just can't be her. Thinking back to the day we met, the day she moved here, this never ran through my mind; seeing her soon to be buried six feet under and never to be seen again. This is her lying motionless in this bed. She wearing the dress she bought to prove she was a girl. A beautiful young woman I'm proud to call my family. For, she was the last of it. Her golden brown hair adorned with petals and her face was faintly smiling. Her big brown eyes lay shut as I looked at her. I feel like crying, but can't. I have to stay strong no matter what. Yet my heart is breaking as I do and tears are now rolling down my cheek. I can't take this anymore. This can't be true.
"Come on, Jack. It's time to go. She lived a good, last year. For, she knew her time was limited and spending it with you would only make her worry less." Spot said. He was holding his little girl in his arms. "Say goodbye to mommy, princess." Spot kissed his baby's cheek as he tries not to look at the body of the girl he loved and cry. Watching Ariel wave goodbye hurt me; yet she was too young to really understand what was going on. For, she was only three months old. I just stand there looking at the girl who changed me; not ready to say goodbye. "You were right; as long as I loved you, you were going to be okay. I'm sorry. I'm really, truly sorry." Walking away from the coffin was the hardest thing I had to do in my life. I'm leaving the most important girl in my life. I can't believe I'm doing this. She didn't deserve to die like this. But it's too late to help her. She dead and there's nothing I can do. The walk home seems to last forever as the feeling of rage ran through me along with guilt. I'm sorry for not being there. You were the one I really needed.
Back the lodge, Spot set his baby girl down in her crib for her nap. But he didn't say anything after. "Why is it the good die young?" Racetrack commented. I didn't say anything as I sorted through the remains: a locket, diary, her wedding dress, and everything else from Santa Fe. "I feel like I'm in a nightmare I can't escape from. Only because she's not here anymore; the girl who never backed down from a fight and did everything she could to be happy. She changed the life of all of us," Kid Blink sighed. Spot lied on his now empty bed; wishing that laying next to him was the girl he loved. A wish everyone wanted to come true. He lied there motionless with his eyes closed as he listened to Ariel breathe as she slept. His heart was the first to break out of all of us and in its place was stone. A stone so heavy with emotion, it made it hard for him to breathe. He loved her so much, losing her was just torture.
The day we got the news that she was dead, he got up from his chair and left the hospital. Denton soon found him outraged and mad in an alley nearby. Taking his anger out by punch the wall until his hands bleed. Denton pulled him away and Spot tried to fight back. "Let me go!" he screamed and fought from Denton's grip. "Spot, look at me. She's gone and there was nothing we could've done to save her." Spot then broke down in tears as he fell to his knees; begging her to come back. It was like someone just ripped his heart out and left him with pain to suffer with. He didn't want to believe it. He wanted to escape the nightmare. But he just couldn't. He lost the girl who gave him a second chance in life and to except what happened in his past. The one person who helped him believe that he could be a father when he had no faith in himself. The girl who made the biggest impact in his life; his little sweetheart.
Soon coming up the stairs was Denton; with Samantha right behind him. "How are you two holding up?" Denton sighed. He missed her too. She was his godchild and now niece. "Nothing is compared to what I'm feeling now. Like I asked her one time, where did the time go? It's hard to accept the fact that I can't see her anymore. She took my heart with her," Spot said as he stared up at the top bunk. "And a new one will grow; now that you have another lady to love," Denton laughed. It was the first time he laughed or smiled since he got the news. "No one can replace either of them and I know that for a fact. Still, the one girl that I loved, the reason I have a baby girl, is gone," Spot sighed. It hurt him to admit that his new beginning in life was to raise his daughter alone. I could tell it did because I've known Spot for a long time. He felt the same way as he did about his mother. But, how come such an innocent girl dies after finding happiness in her life? It just doesn't make sense.