December 15th 1993 should have been the best day of my life, but ending the way it did there was nothing great about it at all. It all started at 6:30am a week before December 15th 1993, I woke up excited as there was a new article starting in the newspaper that I thought was going to be interesting as they advertised about it several times before it became an article in the paper. I eventually got up and begun my usual routine, I turned on the jug, put two slices of bread in the toaster and went out side and got the newspaper, It was such a beautiful day out side the sun was shining, the birds were singing and I couldn't ask for a better morning.
I'd remembered that I had put breakfast on; I walked back up the pathway and into the house and placed the newspaper on the table where I was going to sit as soon as my breakfast was ready. I had to reach high up in the cupboard to retrieve a coffee mug, even though I have told myself many times to put the mugs on a lower shelf I'd never gotten around to it. It wasn't like I had busy days I always had my days run in a routine form and I just never had the time to swap something to organise my coffee mugs, besides there was really no point now because my school years were almost over. Yes, I was graduating from college after 4 years of journalism at Yale so I could become a reporter as it has always fascinated me at how reporters can get stories out of victims and strangers I've always liked that.
Finally I could actually reach a coffee mug I placed the coffee mug on the kitchen bench I put 1 teaspoon of Nescafe' coffee beans in the mug along with 2 teaspoons of sugar then I picked up the jug with still boiling hot water in it and poured enough in to leave the rest for milk, by this time the toast were ready and they smelt great, I went to the fridge to get the butter and milk, I poured the milk into the already ¾ full mug and stirred at the same time it turned into a nice creamy colour then I buttered my warm toast and watch the butter melt into the toast has I had now finished making my breakfast I was eager to get to the new article in the paper.
Anxiously I turned to the index page of the newspaper and saw the heading Countdown page 2 which is what I'm looking for I quickly flicked to page 2 and looked at the layout of the countdown article, It was very eye catching and interesting with black and white photos scattered behind the heading countdown, as I started to read the story I knew I was going to like it because the article Countdown does change every week as they advertised about it only giving you certain facts which grips you into want to read it.
This weeks Countdown is about people's theory on how the world would end, if it ever ended, were we going to be around for ever, were we going to be in flying cars in 20 years or if the world even changed.
I couldn't wait to read Countdown every week, I would love it if Countdown came out every day but unfortunately I don't always get my way.
Then and idea popped into my head maybe I could apply to Countdown and maybe just one day I could become the manager of Countdown…..Maybe the owner!!! I screamed in my head, I couldn't wait to graduate from college because when I do I can go be what I've always hoped for, to finally become a reporter which I've wanted to be since I was a little girl and not only was it all bout that is was also about family I had sent out the invitations to my family who were spread out across the world all ofwhom had happily agreed to come and celebrate with me on December 15th 1993.
I'd eventually finished reading the Countdown article and scanned through other pages to see what caught my eye, but nothing really appeared to do that so I folded the newspaper back up and left it on the table. I bummed around home for a couple of hours because being that it was almost end of the year and my routine kind of stopped after breakfast I'd eventually decided to go out to the local library and researched about famous reporters even though I have done this many times I loved reading about old reporters and their famous articles it sent shivers through my spine at how well written some of these article were. Time flied by it was 8:00pm that was pretty late to still be in a library most people would think im crazy, I got up from the cosy corner that I was sitting in found where I'd gotten the books from and put them back I also thanked the librarian and said goodnight and left to go home.
Do you ever just wake up one day and have this feeling that something bad has happened but you don't exactly know what's going on so you get out of bed earlier than your normal 6:30am time which isn't normal for you but you couldn't go back to sleep so you get up and you don't realize but a weeks already gone by and the days date is December 15th 1993 and your thinking the cause of waking up early is that your graduating but I was totally wrong and I knew it deep down in my heart and that's exactly how I felt on the morning of December 15th 1993 I should have been excited I was graduating, but I was miserable for some weird reason, maybe I was dying, but I let it go maybe it was nothing.
I'd begun my normal routine got up, turned on the jug but cause I didn't feel like eating I just went out and got the news paper I noticed that today was cloudy, was today going to be a depressing day, feeling the way I did I picked up the newspaper and went back inside placed it on the table and got my coffee ready it just didn't feel at all like one of my normal days.
I stumbled to the fridge to retrieve the milk and poured some into the coffee mug and I left the empty carton there on the bench and walked over to the newspaper with my coffee and flicked to page 2 I noticed another story underneath Countdown.
It was just another story written on the second page underneath the Countdown article the headline Yale student found dead police shocked caught my eye I didn't bother reading the Countdown article I started to read the story it said that she was only 22, a girl about my age, they found her face down in an alley way behind Port Angeles local library December 8th 1993, I stopped to think I was there all day that day how could I have not heard about this I shrugged it off and kept reading, there will be services on Friday at the hails funeral home, the article also says that close family member of the girl were asking question trying to understand why this happened to her, the article also says the girl was shot 3 times in the stomach, I felt so empty reading this but I read more and I got to the part where they mention the girls name.
Kristen Cullen that's the name I red, this wasn't right I was reading my own name this couldn't be happening, how did this happen, all these question went through my mind it freaked me out I got out of my chair so quick it fell to the ground I just wanted to get away from that newspaper so fast.
Was I dead I thought to myself I felt my body, it felt like I was still there I peered around my house it was filled with yellow tape with the words crime scene do not cross in big black writing I was confused was I dead or alive, suddenly a few people walked through my front door one was on the phone I couldn't understand what he was saying I said 'hello' he didn't hear me I ran to him and tapped him on the shoulder but my hand went straight through him and fell to the ground the guy looked around as if he had felt something but he thought it was the wind blowing in through the front door I yelled out 'I'm here' repeatedly he still didn't hear me forensic people were walking around taking photos finding finger prints trying to find answers I began to cry I pulled my knees to my chest so I was in a little ball and laid on the ground and whispered 'I'm here'.
