Chapter 3: Coping with Grief

Grieving a loved one is always a hard time. Yet, there are many different ways to cope with grief. Some may block out all of their friends and family, trying hopelessly to rebuild their life. Some may break down, and need their family and friends more than ever. But in the case of Brad Wilkinson, some decide to approach it from an entirely different angle.

"Mary, Stewart, I have some good news and some bad news," Brad had sat his two children down in the sitting room. Mary and Stewart glanced at each other. They knew something was wrong, as their father was using his impassive voice. Brad Wilkinson never showed his emotions and even though his wife was hospitalised and facing certain death, he wasn't about to start.

"The bad news is…your mother has been shot." he paused, momentarily. "But the good news is that she's still alive,"

Mary shrieked, tears welling in her eyes. "Oh! Who shot her?" she said, the anger in her voice was rising.

"Nobody knows. She's in a coma at the moment."

Brad Wilkinson had found a way to avoid grief altogether. His wife was still alive, but not for much longer. Brad knew that it was up to him, to take control of his life. And Brad loved every second of it.

---

Emily woke up, to find her mystery lover was gone. Shrugging it off, as she always did, Emily decided to visit Mrs Gardener, one of her closest and only friends. Miss Thomas sat down at her make-up table. It would be a few hours before she knew what had transpired that grave morning.

---

It was just after midday, and Ben, Matt, Amy and Ellie were in Matt and Amy's house, discussing what had taken place earlier that day. Ellie was gently rocking baby Charlie, to sleep, who was now two years old.

Amy smiled kindly. Her fifteen-year-old son, Tom, was out with his friends and her young daughter, Catherine, was upstairs playing with Ben and Ellie's son, Kai.

"What could have driven someone, anyone, to murdering Terri?" asked Amy.

"Whoever did it must have done a runner, because the police set up a barrier and nobody left Hinsdale half an hour after the attack." Ben told them.

"Nobody could have left Hinsdale within a half an hour. It's an hour and fifteen minute drive to the next town." Ellie said, shrewdly.

"Unless they had a fast car," Matt added.

"Even then they'd be pushing it." Ben replied. "No, the person who did it must have got out of here somehow,"

"Perhaps they had a helicopter," Amy said brightly.

"Unlikely. We would have heard it" Ellie said, squashing the idea.

So the four friends sat, and pondered. Every idea seemed to be contradicted by some evidence until they stumbled on what seemed the ideal solution.

"What if the person who killed Terri, lives here on Appleby Street?" Ben suggested.

"That sounds…plausible." Ellie agreed. Charlie was sleeping in her arms.
"It would make sense," Amy added.

"But who on Appleby Street would kill Terri Wilkinson?" Matt probed.

"And what was their motive?" Ellie chimed.

---

Emily knocked at the door of her companion, Catherine Gardener. She looked as if she'd stepped out a magazine and smelt as if she'd stepped out a perfume shop.

"Hello; is anybody in?" she said loudly. There was a jangle of keys, and the white door swung open to reveal Emily's best friend.
"Hi!" Emily kissed Catherine on each cheek. "How lovely to see you"

The two made an odd set of friends. Emily was tall, thin, beautiful and desirable. Catherine was short, fat, plain and rather dull. But the two shared a fondness for gossip, and they'd sit and chat for hours about the street's chitchat.

"Come in Emily, I have some bad news." Catherine said glumly.

So the tall, thin, blonde, beautiful woman followed Catherine into her house, to discover the horror of Appleby Street.

---

Charlene sat in her bedroom. She looked at a picture of Amy, and knew that if she couldn't be like her, she would have to be her. Charlene dropped the photo of Amy to the floor, listening to the tiny thud it made, and the quiet tinker of breaking glass. Charlene knew what she had to do. She withdrew a knife from her utility drawer and looked at herself in the blade. This was the only way…She lifted up the blade, and hacked away at her hair, tearing away her beautiful golden locks.

---

Terri lay in the hospital bed. She was still awake although her eyes weren't open. She didn't have her senses, but somehow, she could 'see' where everything was. And she knew the worst was about to befall upon her.

Grief, like death, will strike at any time. It can do strange things to different people. Some cry and cry, until their sorrows are drowned by their tears. Some bottle it up, carrying the emotional burden until it destroys them one day. Some claim they are simply unaffected by grief, but they turn out to be so wrong when their lives spiral out of control. Yes, Grief is a strange thing, and can strike at any time. And like death, we can battle grief and win. But some are less fortunate.