This story was originally written for my Language Arts class and I decided to change it around so that was HSM. I know none of the HSM crew has any relationship to the Munich Massacre, but I personally think this is one of my best stories. And all you softies out there, get a tissue box. It made three out of three of my friends cry, my teacher cried, my mom cried, and my friend's mom cried. I don't mean to offend anyone who has a connection to this tragic event, but we had to pick an eveny from history and I picked this one. My heart goes out to anyone reading this to someone who lost a loved one to this terrible tragedy. I own nothing.

Handprint On My Heart

Gabriella Bolton slowly pushed her way through the crowds of downtown Wyckoff, New Jersey. The wind was softly blowing and the leaves were rustling. The leaves were slowly changing color, signaling a new season on the horizon. The small town was located in northern New Jersey. She had grown up there. She had gone to school there. She had all her friends there. And most importantly, she met Troy there. She shook her head trying not relive those memories. Gabriella had curly brown hair that reached the middle of her back. She wore a gray and very unattractive baggy sweatshirt along with ripped blue baggy jeans. Her brown eyes were covered by over-sized sunglasses. They covered almost all of her face. At sixty-three, she didn't care what the latest fashion statement was. For her, the clothing she wore was her way to hide from the world. This was wasn't the same fun-loving woman that she was thirty-five years ago. She had changed since then. She no longer laughed or even smiled. Things would have been different if he were here. He wouldn't let her hide. He would make her show the world who she was. But he wasn't here to tell her any of that. He was only there in her memories. The wind blew again freeing Gabriella from her thoughts. It blew past, picking up a few strands of hair here and there. She raised a hand and pushed them away, but something on her hand caught a ray of sun. She didn't need to spend time trying to figure out what it was. She knew. Her eyes fell upon the gleaming object. It was a wedding ring. A wedding ring that was given to her thirty-eight years ago by him. No matter how hard she tried everything made its way back to him. All the memories of him were everywhere, yet he was nowhere to be found. And one memory was coming back, stronger than ever. In her mind it was thirty-eight years ago at 7:05. The exact moment he had proposed.

"Come on, Troy! We're gonna miss it!" Gabriella said as she pulled her boyfriend of six months through the park.

The boy groaned quietly, but followed her anyway. She pulled him down next to her on the bench. Her eyes were glued to the sky awaiting the upcoming meteor shower. Troy had one of his hands in Gabriella's, but the other was inside his pocket. The tip of his fingers touched a velvet box. His fingers ran along the crack of the opening. Troy opened it slightly, but closed it again. He looked at the girl sitting next to him. The light of the moon softly illuminated her face. There was a smile on her lips causing him to smile also. A small doubt had crossed his mind. What if she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with me? He shook his head.

"It's 7:04, where are the meteors?" Gabriella turned to question Troy.

"I don't know, but they should come soon," he said turning to look at her.

Their eyes connected for moment, but the falling meteors caught his attention. Wordlessly, he pointed to the sky and Gabriella turned once more to watch the spectacle in the sky. Troy shivered thinking about what was coming next. He silently removed his hand from hers and got down on one knee. Gabriella looked at him questionably.

"Gabriella," Troy started. "I met you in preschool and we've been friends since. And it took me twenty-two years to ask you out. Now we've been dating for six months exactly. Believe me. I've counted every single day because whenever you're here I feel like I'm on top of the world. And when you're gone it feels like a bad song repeating over and over again. And I'll be honest, I hate that feeling. So, the only way to not ever feel that way again is to spend the rest of my life with you. Gabriella Ann Montez, will you marry me?"

She nodded as tears were falling from her eyes. Troy pulled out the ring and slid it on her finger. He pulled her into a hug, also feeling a few tears fall from his eyes.

Gabriella tilted her sunglasses up so she could push away the slowly falling tears. She looked down at the wedding ring. It was a bad memory in the shape of a ring. A terrible memory that followed her around. As much as she wanted to forget, she wanted to remember. And if she took it off it would be like betraying him. Gabriella rounded the corner and came face to face with an enormous sign promoting the next Olympics. It stated that all competing athletes needed to be at the airport the next morning. She brushed past the sign and continued on her way. The morning at the airport. The last time she had seen him. The last time she was able to hold him before he disappeared from her life entirely. The last time she saw his smile. She had the moment before he left to Munich perfectly memorized. Every little word that they said to each other. Each tear that fell from their eyes. And it was repeating in her mind like a popular song on the radio. The memory you hated to love.

"I promise, as soon as that plane touches down, I'll call you. I won't forget you," Troy said trying his best not to cry.

"You better," Gabriella smiled softly trying to lighten up the scene that was playing in front of her eyes.

"Believe me, no matter how far away we are, you still have every single piece of my heart. You know that don't you?" he asked her, lightly lifting her chin up so he could see her eyes.

"I do," she told him.

"Good, I love you," Troy told her.

"I love you, too," she said and pulled him into a hug. Her tears were slowly soaking his shirt, but he didn't care. "Goodbye, Troy."

Troy pulled away and looked her in the eyes, " Don't ever say goodbye. Goodbye means that you're going away. Going away means that you'll forget."

She laughed and dried the tears from her eyes.

"Last call for passengers on the 12006 plane to Munich, Germany," said some man over the loud speaker.

Troy picked up his carry on bag and said, "See you soon, but if not, see you later."

Troy started walking away, but he turned back to face her one last time.

Gabriella couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to forget. She made her way home. She knew when she got home even more memories would come back. She didn't care. She needed to get home. It was her sanctuary.

Gabriella arrived at her house. She closed the door behind her and sank down. Her eyes slowly scanned the house. It was a charming house. Years ago, the smell of Crème Brulee could be smelled throughout the entire house. Now that same stove was broken and useless. When Troy was here the walls were painted a vibrant color and were welcoming. Now the paint was chipping and the feeling of welcome was gone. She didn't have the heart to fix either problem because the house meant something to her. It was her link to the day when she learned what happened. She remembered him saying that he was going to some party for the athletes and that no matter what, he would love her forever. And then that was it. It was the last time she heard his voice.

Gabriella tiredly pulled the sheets off of her bed. She stepped onto the cold hardwood floor that lined her bedroom. She quickly changed into her work clothes and walked into her kitchen. Gabriella turned on the TV and flipped it to the news station. She grabbed a bowl of cereal and started eating. There were small town stories, but suddenly it was all interrupted by a news bulletin.

"And we interrupt for some disturbing news from the Munich Olympics," said the anchorman. "This morning, at 4 am, the terrorist group, Black September broke into the Olympic Village."

Gabriella's bowl of cereal clanged to the ground. Olympic Village. That was where Troy was staying. She focused her complete and total attention to the screen.

"The guerrillas were part of the group who invaded the village. There is word that some hostages were taken. It seems to be mostly Israeli athletes," the anchorman said his voice dripping with pain and sadness for the families.

After she heard those last seven words, she knew something bad was going to happen. She didn't bother leaving for work. She stayed there in her kitchen, her eyes filling with tears.

The screen was advertising some new car, but it was cut short. The anchorman was back.

"I have some sad news to report. We already reported that the Black September group had demanded the release of 236 Palestinian terrorists, and the German police agreed. Helicopters took the hostages to the airport. And we just received word that every hostage died in a shootout at the airport. Along with the death of the hostages, five of the eight terrorists died," sadly said the anchorman. His eyes were filled with tears as well. Even though he had no connection to these people, he felt saddened. "The names of the athletes killed were as follows Yossef Gutfreund, Mark Slavin, Troy Bolton..." the end of his report was cut off by Gabriella turning off the TV.

She sank down to the floor and cried. She cried for the terrible tragedy that had occurred. She cried for the other dead athletes. She cried for the athletes' families. But, most of all, she cried for Troy's death.

Gabriella solemnly picked herself up from the floor. She looked around the hallway. There were pictures of them together. There was one from the first day they met in preschool. Another from the first day of middle school. Yet another from their first date. And one last one. One from their wedding day.

Gabriella continued into the living room. She was greeted by even more memories. On the cabinet near the TV there were video tapes. And just like the pictures, they were her only connections back to her dead husband. She saw one picture lying on the ground in front of her. The last picture she took of him before he left on that plane. She remembered him turning back once more. Whenever she remembered their last moment together, she never remembered those final words. But they were playing inside her head right now. She closed her eyes and let them fill the room.

Troy turned to face Gabriella once more. He spoke his words softly and directly to her.

"Before I go, can you promise me something?" he gently asked her and waited until she nodded before he continued. "I want you to promise me that no matter bad you feel, no matter how bad life seems, that you just forget it all and remember all of the good times we've had together. I want you to know that nothing can ever stay bad forever. Just look for something good. I know when something bad is ahead of me, I'll just think of your smile and I know I'll get through it. And the only reason I can get through is because I love you and I know that you love me back."

Gabriella slowly opened her eyes and they instantly landed on her ring. She looked at it and no longer did she see pain, despair, and hurt. She no longer felt the depression that Juliet must have felt when she saw Romeo dead. She no longer felt that life had no meaning. Now when she saw the ring, she saw love, hope, and joy. She saw the happy memories that they had. Gabriella stood up and it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She no longer dwelt on the past, but looked to the future. Her mind wandered once more to Troy. She saw his smiling face and knew that everything was going to be alright.