The story you’re going to read is a real fact, which happened a few years ago in a high school in the city of Ogden (Utah), where I’m living right now. I suggest that you listen to the song “It Ends Tonight” of The All American Rejects while you’re reading this story. I hope it makes you care a little more for the people around you, not only for yourself…
Once upon a time there was a teenage boy. I don’t know his name, but I bet that no one knew it. He was lonely… He didn’t have any friends, either at school or outside…During lunch he always sat alone, with his head down, staring at the food with tears in his eyes, eating just because he had to, and his mind was absolutely absent… He usually spent his free time at the school library, where there was peace and silence… Books were his best friends, because they were the only thing that made him escape from reality… Either in his classroom or on the bus no one would sit next to him …But the worst part is that nobody ever noticed him… Invisible… Just like the air…
One day he went back home, walked to his room, dropped his bag and sat at his desk. He stared at a blank sheet of paper for a while, and then he took a pen and started writing…
On the following day, he went to school as usual, had his classes, read a book in the library, had lunch, and went back home by bus. Late that night, when everyone was in bed, he locked his door, turned on the radio, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and peacefully lowered himself into the deep sleep, the one you’d never wake up again from…
On the following day, whispering and a sense of sadness filled the hallways of the school. Girls had their heads down and tears in their eyes, while the boys tried to make them feel better by hugging them and saying “Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be alright”… Even if no one knew him personally, every single person felt not only bad for him and his family, but also guilty. So at the boy’s funeral everyone showed up, students and teachers…
A couple of weeks later, his mom went into her son’s room… Looking at his desk, she found a piece of paper, the one he had written the day before his death… The writing was fast, but elegant, and in some points the paper was crumpled, as if tears had already told the truth “Dear God, I can’t handle this anymore! So I’ve decided to give my life last chance … If tomorrow, at school, no one gives me a smile, my life will end…” And so it happened…
… It’s never too late to make a change…Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift… A simple smile can make a person feel better, sometimes save his life by making him know that he is not alone…
…Friends are like angels who lift us up when our wings have troubles remembering how to fly…
Camilla Bianco (4E) – Corrispondente dell’UmberTimes dagli Stati Uniti d’America