Just a little one-shot in honor of breast cancer month. But because I have had experiences (not myself, my family members) with different types of cancer, I just decided to make one that kind of encompasses my thoughts on the disease. The numbers used in the latter part of this story are from actual cancer websites and it breaks my heart when I think about what could be done if people just cared.

Now I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of it, I definitely am. But even if this inspires you to get yourself checked out for cancer or at least brings awareness, I feel like I've done my job. So I encourage you to donate to any cancer research fund, whether it is October, February, or January.

~Deepika

oOoOoOo

She takes her flower and places it onto the ground. Mitted hands deftly clean the gray stone protruding out of the ground as they wipe away a year's worth of dirt and grime. She looks around the place, seeing the decorations at the front but she can't concentrate on them. All she can see are the candles in front of her and the flowers placed near her feet.

She blinks as the cold autumn wind blows in her face and causes her to blink and make those pent up tears stream down her face. It's been almost half a decade and she still can't get over the fact that she won't be able to call her again, won't be able to see her again, won't be able to see that beautiful smile on her face as she graces the heavens above and watch over them. She mourns at the fact that her children will never know a loving grandmother or her husband will never know the bright shining star her mother was.

She knows that her mother had put up a valiant fight but it was never fated in the stars. Her time had come and she finally found peace. The battle had waged on for years, tearing her down piece by piece until there was nothing left of her but a shell of her former self. Her eyes never sparkled the way they once did and although her smile never left her face, it was hallow and dead.

Dead.

Just. Like. Her.

They say that wars are dangerous; they always take about the battles in the third world countries and the diseases that weed out people, thousands a day, because of their lack of medicine. But what about here? What about the places that do have significant technology? Why don't they ever focus on that? Why can't they put that same amount of attention and effort that they give to those countries and focus on them, the people?

No one remembers the normal people. The normal people who fought battles of their own with no weapons to defend themselves. Oh, they can try to fight it, they can try to keep it at bay for as long as they can try, but it's no use.

No one pays attention to cancer. People like to say that they care, when October comes rolling around, but really, who spends the other eleven months worrying about a disease they don't have? It sounds terrible but it's true; why worry about something when it doesn't affect you personally?

But let's also think about the thousands of women who die from breast cancer. The half a million people who died from cancer this year? The over one million people who are diagnosed and are brought into battle with no time to prepare and no way of knowing if they'll ever see the next day.

As she thinks about all of this, crouching near her mother's gravestone, she swallows thickly and thinks about it herself. Even though this disease has personally affected her, what more does she do than they average human? There are people doing research and working as hard as they can but it's not enough. If every single person donated or even just brought awareness to this plight, maybe some significant breakthrough can be made and they could finally win this war.

She places a hand on her belly, feeling the kicks of her child through her coat. It had been a scary time when she had gone to the doctors and they told her that she might not be able to have children. But because of her mother, because of her shining star, she had gone in and had herself checked out. Her mother was the reason her little angel would be born. She mentally tells herself that maybe she'll do a little more to fight cancer, to bring awareness to others and that maybe, she can help beat cancer once and for all. Her husband helps her up and she casts one last glance at the gravestone that she won't see for another year.

Caroline Maple

1965-2014

The shining star that will forever be missed