Life Ain't Always Beautiful

Chapter Fourteen: Beautiful Lives

Three months later . . .

Ali was in the bathroom putting on her make-up for the day. A little mascara here, a little blush there---the usual things that she did to prepare herself for public viewing every day. The only thing that she hadn't quite been able to get out of the habit of was the fact that she wanted to fix her hair.

She had gone ahead with the radiation therapy as the doctor requested. The cancer was gone, but so was her hair. Her dark brown hair had all fallen out in almost a month. She cried everytime she saw bundles of loose hair lying on her pillow, or masses of it at the bottom of the shower. When it was all gone, she thought herself so bizarre looking that she started wearing hats on her head. But in the mornings when she was putting her make-up on, or when she was taking a shower, she was not wearing a hat. Just plain bald skin that shone in the lights over the bathroom mirror. It used to bring tears to her eyes. Now it just bothered her that she didn't have any hair to fix.

At least she was alive. At least the cancer hadn't taken her. She considered herself extremely lucky. She had always thought herself the most unlucky of her sisters. Eve was the successful business-driven one that usually made the smart decisions. Rachel had a good head on her shoulders, although she was stubborn to admit it. When she made mistakes, she fixed them in a logical manner. Ali had just plain made mistakes and didn't care about the consequences. So it still shocked her somewhat that she was the only one of her family that was still alive. With a loving husband, two beautiful children---and healthy. So strange that she had been held at gunpoint twice in her life, had unknowingly ingested rat poison, had lung cancer and still be more luckier than her two sisters.

She missed both of them dearly. She had missed Rachel since her death fourteen years ago, and she found herself missing Eve after her death just three months ago. It was depressing. She would go to the graves every now and again, seeing Rachel's weathered tombstone and Eve's fairly new one. Her and Rosco shared one together that had their wedding date etched at the bottom and on the back was an engraved picture of a Bassett Hound in memory of all the ones they had raised together, which included Flash even though Eve didn't help raise her.

Ali took another look in the mirror and sighed. Then she put her ski hat on her head that matched her jogging sweats and headed outside for her morning run.

Life Lessons by Rachel Duke

When I first heard that we had to do a report about life lessons for this class, I scoffed the idea. I didn't think a fourteen year old would have any life lessons to speak about. But I was proven wrong. I have witnessed death, tragedy, confusion, and trials over the past semester.

I learned that it is important that you live your life to the fullest. You never know when it will be taken away from you. You want to be successful, but not in the career and money way. I mean successful with your loved ones and family. You want to make sure before you go to wherever it is you are going when you pass away, that people remember that you were a good person and not a bad or selfish one. Live your life everyday as if you were going to die that very same day.

I learned that you should be thankful for what you have and don't try to change it. Don't doubt the things you have and start to covet those you can't have. Take pride in your loved ones, don't second guess them. Don't think that they don't see that you're changing when you do this.

I learned that when you get into a tight spot that you don't think you can get out of, don't panic and try to fix it on your own. Get someone to help you get through it. It helps to talk to someone about your problems so they can help you deal with it easier. And try to look on the bright side---once you get through your problems, things might start looking brighter for you.

I learned that it is important to stick together as a family. Sure they drive you nuts sometimes, but it is necessary to stay close to them and support each other. If your family doesn't believe anything you say, then who do you have to go to? Your family is what helps you get through the good times and the bad.

I also learned that people are not as they seem sometimes. You can learn some interesting things you never would have suspected about a person that you have known all your life. You can also underestimate people that you've only just met. They can sweet talk their way into making you believe anything they want you to hear and then pull a dastardly trick on you in the end.

I know this is shorter than we were supposed to write, but that is all I have to say. I learned some things over the past few months, and what you just read is what they were.

Grade: A-

Teacher's Comments: Like you said, it is short but to the point. I am sorry that you had to go through so much in order to learn these lessons that you have described in your report---Mr. McNeil.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Luke asked Bo as they sat together in the car.

"What is?"

"How life can whizz right by ya without ya even realizing that it's almost half-way over."

Bo nodded his head. "You're tellin' me. I can't believe you're hittin' forty already."

"Geez, thanks for remindin' me."

"Seems to me like it was just yesterday that Uncle Jesse was forty."

"Bo, you don't even remember him when he was that young. You were just a baby."

"I know, but it seems like yesterday that I was just a little kid runnin' around with you an' Daisy gettin' into stuff."

Luke laughed. "Yeah. Well, let's get goin'. See if we can still make the General fly."

"You asked for it."

Bo put the General Lee in drive and the boys drove down a familiar dirt road to a familiar drop-off point where they knew the General would soar. The General played his "Dixie" song, his anthem, as he once again flew across the sky like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The General would always be alive. Just like those that were not part of this world would always be alive in their hearts.

The End

Life ain't always beautiful . . . but it's a beautiful ride . . . --Gary Allen

I think this was my favorite ending to write so far. Kinda sad though. Well, that's the end of this series. I really enjoyed working with these characters. Kinda kills me to say good-bye to them. But they'll always be alive in my imagination so I guess it ain't too bad. Got another Duke fic comin' up here soon, so I hope y'all decide to check it out once I get it up.