Erin Phanstiel sat cross-legged on the wooden floor at her boyfriend's house. She held a piece of marijuana with two fingers. "You guys, do you know what time it is?" She asked with red puffy eyes. "Yeah, it's two in the morning, I think? Why?" Her friend replied. Without answering, Erin rushed toward her things, stumbling on everything in her way. She threw her hands up and ran out the door.
It was 9:37 A.M. and Erin lay in bed with the clothes she had worn at her boyfriend's house. "Erin, Erin..." A hand on her shoulder, nudging her to wake up. "Erin, where were you! I know you were at Brian's house," said her father with an angry tone in his voice. Startled by his presence, Erin sat up on her bed and rubbed her eyes slowly. "You haven't been acting normal after you've been fooling around with that boy. Your step-mother, Catherine, and I had a long talk last night. We both decided to make you spend the summer in Africa as a punishment for your behavior." He opened her closet and threw her clothing on the floor. "Start packing, you can't refuse it, I bought the ticket already, and the Gellars are waiting for your arrival. They were my friends in college, and they want to help." Her father looked at her with disappointment.
"Why the fuck are you listening to that stupid lady for? She's not my real mom!" She exclaimed angrily.
"Well, she hasn't shammed me." Her father finished.
Erin collected every single one of her belongings, not forgetting the fairy doll her mother loved. She gave her father angry look when he and Catherine drove her to the airport. "Now Erin, don't think that we are trying to disown you, we're trying to keep you together." Her father said, trying to make conversation. But Erin refused to say anything during the whole ride and looked out the window stubbornly.
Time passed by so quickly. Erin found herself receiving the airplane ticket from her father's hand. She stared at the ticket, it read, “Seattle to Africa”. She felt her body in slow motion as she walked towards the hall leading to her plane. "Don't get into any trouble!" She heard her dad and Catherine say faintly.
Hours later, the plane touched down the ground. Erin woke instantly. Since her seat was in the middle aisle, she wasn't able to see the view of Africa from a window. She finally stepped out of the plane to feel an arid musty breeze. It was then that she finally realized that she wasn't in Seattle anymore. "Excuse me Miss. Are you Erin Phanstiel?" said a woman in the active crowd. "Yes, I am her." Erin said turning towards the woman's direction. "Nice to meet you," the woman shook her hand with a smile on her face. She was a short woman with green eyes and shoulder length hair. "Nice to meet you too. Is your husband here?" Erin asked softly. "Yes. He's in a taxi waiting for us, to bring you to our place." Mrs. Gellar grabbed Erin's bag. "I hope you don't feel uncomfortable here. It is very different from Washington. Completely different." Mrs. Gellar said while lifting the bag over her shoulders.
"I hope you feel at home. Feel free to wander around." Mr. Gellar told Erin with her back turned staring at the ceiling. He patted her arm and walked out of the room. Never had Erin felt so lonely. Erin unpacked her things and tried to fit everything in the small closet and cabinet she was given. When she was done, her face was drenched in sweat, and her back in pain with discomfort. Afterwards, Erin fell into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, Erin woke up with bright sunlight shinning through her window. It kept her from sleeping any longer. She woke up to find a note on the kitchen table giving her directions to go to the hospital. The word hospital made her veins pinch. She dressed quickly and ran to the hospital and found Mr. and Mrs. Gellar unharmed. She noticed that they were wearing a badge, written out, “Volunteer Worker”. Mr. Gellar looked at Erin and gave her the same identical uniform he was wearing and explained to her, "We've always loved helping around in the hospital for the needy. We thought you should volunteer also." She stared at him while clutching her hands onto the rough material. She was going to help sick people, something she never thought she'd do. Then again, she never thought she'd be in Africa.
She made her way through the hospital looking inside the rooms. One room in particular caught Erin's attention. In the room, there was a little girl with a bright pink dress. She sat on the bed with a fist full of crayons. She colored on pieces of wallpaper,torn from the corner of her rooms wall. The little girl caught Erin staring into her room and immediately ran out of her bed and grabbed Erin's elbow. "Color, color, color, please!" The little girl pleaded. Erin grabbed a red crayon and drew a heart. "How old are you?" She looked into the little girls big brown eyes. The little girl put up her fingers, showing only six. "What's your name?" Erin asked while leaning her face towards her. Erin wasn't that angry person anymore and she felt her inner child awaken. "Tamara," she said in a very sweet voice. "Where's your mom?" Tamara's head looked down at the floor. "Her mother abandoned her when she was two years old," a voice answered her. "Who is it?" Erin asked wondering who the stranger was. Still staring at the door, a person appeared in the dim room. It was hard to see his face, he was only a blur to Erin's eyes. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but my name is Jay Hernandez. I'm also a volunteer." He said while staring at her uniform. "I've been taking care of Tamara for quite a while. She has always been quiet." Jay continued. "Are you new around here?" He looked at her face this time. Erin felt as if he was being rather nosey. "Yes, I'm living with the Gellars." She kept her eyes at a corner of the room. Jay noticed she was uncomfortable and then said, "They are nice folks, I hope you have a good time. Well I've got to look into another patient." He scratched his eyebrows, "Hope to see you around!" He finished the conversation and left.
Erin looked at the little girl, whose face was filled with gloom, and confessed that her mother died when she was two and that they both have something terrible in common. Volunteer hours were almost over and the Gellars waited outside the hospital. Erin gave Tamara a hug and took out her toy fairy and gave it to the lonely girl. "I want you to have this." Erin stared at the doll for a few more moments and placed it next to Tamara's bed. Tamara stared at the doll while Erin left the room. Erin signed out at the front office and walked back with the Gellars to their home.
A few days later, Erin stumbled upon an unfriendly reunion. "Hi, Do you remember me?" Jay Hernandez walks toward her. "Yeah, your that one guy, right?" Erin said quietly, almost in a whisper, keeping her eyes set on the volunteer sheet. "She loves you so much," Jay continued, "I would like to get to know you too." Erin stood straight and took a glimpse at Jay. He had a strong figure with deep eyes, which fixed on hers. She took a deep breath, "Well, for starters, my name is Erin." She smiled. "Why are you staying with the Gellars?" He wondered. Erin spoke out fast, with out thinking, "Well, I didn't want to come, my parents forced me to because I got into so much trouble." Her eyes opened and her mouth dropped, realizing what she had said. "Shit! I mean, I..." She closed her eyes tightly, hoping that when she opened them, he would disappear. Jay looked at her with confusion. "It's okay, whatever you did you can keep it to yourself. As long as you're good now. Are you?" He looked at her with a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay now." She smiled back.
Erin and Jay became close as the days passed by. Not only was she happy to see Tamara everyday, but also Jay. He showed her around Tanzania and made her heart skip a beat every time they were together. Erin fell in love with him. Everything about him made her love him more. She knew he was five years older, but she didn't care. She hoped he felt the same way as she did about him.
When Erin was arranging medications for the older patients, a group of doctors rushed passed her to the emergency room with a young girl on a bed. The young girl looked so familiar. Erin thought for a while. She lifted her hands over her mouth and panic rushed through her head. It was Tamara. Erin moved fast and fell over the tray of medicine. She tried picking up each pill, but her hands were shacking tremendously. Jay was passing through the hall and found Erin. "Tamara is in the emergency room!" Erin forced out the words. Tears continuously fell down her cheeks. Jay lifted her from the floor and they both ran toward the emergency room. By the time they arrived, Tamara's life was gone.
A few minutes after Tamara’s death, Erin stood still peering through the small window of the emergency room. Tamara lay alone with a white sheet over her body. "I need to tell you something." Jay tugged on Erin's shirt. Erin lifted her head, looking toward his direction. "You've never found out why she's in the hospital, right? Well, she had cancer." Jay put his hands into his pockets. Cold air rushed passed Erin's cheeks and dried her tears. Erin moved her lips, but her voice was gone. Her throat was sore and her eyes burned. Without telling him a word, she slowly walked toward Tamara's room with all the strength she had. Erin opened the door and entered the room. She ran her hand across the bed in which Tamara had slept the day before and sat down. "What am I suppose to do now?" She laid her head on Tamara's pillow. Her eyes began to drop, she turned her head around for more comfort and saw the little toy fairy smiling directly at her. She stood up immediately and ran out the hospital.
Jay found Erin sitting on the front steps of the hospital and sat next to her. She held herself and rocked back and fourth with her eyes focused on the hard gravel at the end of the steps. "What happened?" Jay asked while holding on to her wrist. "I couldn't pull myself together when I saw the fairy I gave her." She replied softly. "Please don't leave me alone." He put his arms around her and laid his chin on top of her head.
After Tamara's funeral, Erin stayed in her room isolated from the world. The Gellars tried to speak to Erin, but she dismissed them every time, wanting be alone. Days passed and Erin had six days left in Africa.
Jay appeared in her window in the middle of the night. He tapped on the glass lightly for her to awaken. She slipped her feet into her slippers and walked toward her window with her arms crossed. She struggled with the rusty window, but eventually she opened it. "I'm leaving later today." She tossed her hair away from her face. "My girlfriend, called me last night and told me she was pregnant." Her heart split into pieces and she wasn't able to recollect her thoughts. She was in disbelief. "You have a girlfriend? Why didn't you tell me? Get away from me you asshole." She slammed the window and closed her curtains. She felt as if he purposely tampered with her heart. Slowly, Jay finally stopped tapping the window and left. She threw herself into the wall and began to cry. Everything had gone wrong in her life. All her thoughts built up inside her and she whispered to herself, “My mother died, my dad married, my dad disowned me, Tamara died, and Jay has a girlfriend.” Erin thought she would never touch the stash of cocaine she had bought the same day she arrived to Africa, but she knew she couldn't deal with everything. She grabbed her sweater from her closet and walked out of the house with the bag of cocaine in her hand. From all the walking and shivering from the cold wind, she stopped to rest on the side of a beach. Her hair slapped her face constantly, as she licked her chapped lips. The light that supported the street flickered and suddenly turned off. Erin turned her face toward the deep darkness and rain began to fall heavily, leaving no dry area on the ground. She found herself frightened in the middle of nothing. Without hesitation or feeling regret, she grabbed the needle in which the cocaine was in and injected it all into her body. Erin felt paralyzed on the ground. She shut her eyes and never woke up again.
