"Sometimes God allows terrible things to happen in your life and you don't know why. But that doesn't mean you should stop trusting Him." - Christina Grimmie

The tomb of a child.

This phrase should be an oxymoron, for a child is not meant to die at such a young age. And yet, across the years, many tombs have been erected for children who were lost long before their age reached a point of no return. It's a horrible truth, and yet so often the world does nothing but gloss over it.

It is only when the world had a personal investment in the child lost that there is mourning. And as the rain fell in Petalburg City one gloomy afternoon, there was great personal investment.

Norman, the strong gym leader of the city, was reduced to tears at the tragedy that lay before him: the body of his own son, Max, who had been a Pokemon trainer for hardly a year, now gone from this world. His wife, Caroline, was likewise reduced to tears, as they held each other, unable to stop themselves from sobbing. Their daughter, May, sat behind them, face buried in her hands as her shoulders heaved, her hair clinging to the sides of her head thanks to the rain. As she cried, she knew that her mind was going to be plagued by nightmares for weeks because of this. She could still see the scene fresh in her head: Bonnie lying on the ground, injured, while that madman walked up to her, a demonic look in his eye. The sound of a gunshot, then a body crumpled to the ground. Max saved her.

But the bloodied corpse was all May could see then: the bullet wounds, the blood flowing, the youthful eyes shut.

Forever.

May's crying increased as the painful realization continued to grip her heart. "Horrible," she barely whispered. "Horrible!" She hugged her knees to her chest and sobbed into them uncontrollably.

"May?"

She didn't budge. If she heard the voice, she wasn't showing it. All she could do was continue to cry into her knees while the rain poured down harder: so hard that some began to wonder if Kyogre had awakened once again.

"May, please don't do this," the voice said again. "You're not alone. I'm here."

This time, May stifled her sobs as much as she could and looked up to see the familiar, caring face gazing into her eyes. She leaned into his chest and let the sobs come once again while he enfolded her in a warm embrace.

"Why?" she choked out through her sobs. "Why did it have to be this way?"

"May –"

"Why did he have to die?!" she screamed into his chest. "WHY?!"

The raven-haired boy barely flinched. "I don't know," was all he said. "I-I'm sorry."

"Hm?" she whimpered, looking up from their embrace a moment.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," he said. "I wish I could've been there; maybe I could've saved them."

"Ash," she said, sniffling a little, "don't say that. None of this is your fault. No one could've seen it coming. It's just –"

She stopped, starting to sniffle again, and wiped her eyes. "He was so young! He had the world ahead of him! And that...that...monster took everything away from him! Why are people so cruel?! What can they hope to gain from killing a harmless child?!" Her shouting calmed down as she buried her face in his chest again. "Why did he have to die?" she whimpered

"I don't know," Ash replied as the rain spilled off his black hat onto her back. "But I do know that everyone dies. Not everyone lives, though."

"Huh?" she looked up again.

"Some people waste their lives doing something they hate instead of something they love," Ash said. "When they lay on their deathbed, they look back and are full of regrets." He looked into her eyes seriously. "Max wasn't one of those people. He loved everything about his life, and I'm certain he died with no regrets."

May wiped her eyes again. "I guess you're right," she said. "He lived his life to the fullest. And that's what I want to do, too."

"Yes," Ash nodded. "We never know when our time will come, so we need to live our lives to the fullest."

"You always do that," May said. "And you taught me how to do it, too."
"I guess I did," he said. "And when this is all over, we'll go on doing just that. But first…"

His eyes began to moisten as the rain caused his wild hair to droop. May saw what was about to happen, as her own eyes mirrored his.

"May I...cry with you?" he asked, his voice choked up.

May didn't respond. Instead, she thrust her head into his chest, and they wrapped their arms around each other tightly, spilling their grief over their lost brother and friend.

In case it's not obvious, this is dedicated to the memory of Christina Grimmie, a budding singer who was murdered yesterday. Such a horrible tragedy. It's left me in a melancholy state all day. I'm not a huge fan of her, but I know my sister got into her at one point. I don't know how she'll take this news.

Either way, it's horrible that someone so young had her life ripped away from her like this. She was a little less than a year younger than me! And yet she had the courage to pursue her dream. Tragic as it is, her death is a reminder to me to pursue my dreams while I live, as I don't know when God will call me home.

So pray for the Grimmie family during this hard time. Pray for young people everywhere, that they might pursue their dreams with the same passion that Christina pursued her's with.

Thank you, Christina Grimmie. Rest in peace.

(P.S., this story isn't canon to my ongoing series)