My God! Ella is gone?” Miriam cried and hit the table hard as if to crush the agony she felt. She had gone to town with Greg in the morning and had missed the burial. “This is so sad. Ella was so full of life and shouldn’t have died.” Kate said nothing. She was consumed by her own sorrow. Miriam paced the room, her hands on her head. “I can’t believe this, what happened?” “Their car had a head-on collision with a heavy-duty truck,” Kate said. “And she died instantly, just like that?” her eyes were misty with tears. Maya shook her head as she stared blindly at nothing. The meaninglessness of life bothered her. Miriam’s phone rang and as she brought it out and stared at the caller ID, her face lighting up. Kate's eyes widened at the sight of the phone. “You’ve bought a new phone? When?”  Maya’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the new phone. “Hi baby,” she said and listened, then asked. “Where?” she listened again and nodded. “Ok, Mr. Biggs. I’ll be there,” she cut the call and turned to Maya. “I’m sorry, I have to go. One of my schoolmates called and said something was up.” Maya’s eyes narrowed further. “I thought we were going to fellowship?” “Yes, but something cropped up.” “That’s some phone,” Kate could not take her eyes away from the phone. “Let me see.” She gave her the phone. “This must have cost some dough. How much did it cost you to buy it?” “I don’t know. It’s a gift.” “A gift?” “Yes.” The two girls looked at each other.  “From?” Kate raised her brow. “My uncle.” “Maya shot her a quick look.  “It’s a lie. Greg bought it for me,” she giggled. “Greg?” the two girls asked at the same time. She nodded. Kate eyed her. “Are you dating him?” She rolled her eyes. “No, not actually.” “Wait a minute,” Kate stopped her. “There’s something missing. Why should a guy give you a phone if you’re not dating him?” She gave him a cold stare. “Look, not all men are bad. There’re some good ones.” Maya took a deep breath. “Look Miriam, it is morally wrong to accept gifts from men and strangers because it weakens your integrity and ability to say no to sexual advances.” “Well, I have to be on my way. See you, girls,” she blew them a kiss and left. Tick, tock, tick, tock. The time ticked away slowly, slowly.
She waited, hoping he would say something.He did not. 
She checked the time. She had been waiting for eight minutes.
All around the house was complete quietness except for the ticking of the wall clock.
“Have you eaten?” 
He didn’t say anything.
“Should I prepare food for you?”
He shook his head.
She took his hand and knelt beside him. 
He drew his hand back. 
“Look, Jeff,” she started quietly. “I know how it feels to lose a loved one, but you should understand that your departed ones wouldn’t like you to kill yourself grieving. In my own opinion, I think Ella would be happy if you are happy and accomplish things in life, instead of sliding down the valley.”
He didn’t say anything. He merely shifted further away from her.
“Ella shouldn’t have died I know, but we can’t live forever. We must all die one day. It’s only a question of when and where we’ll spend eternity,” she paused. “It pains me that she left too early, but who are we to question God? She has finished her duty on earth, if not God would not have called her back and my only consolation is she made heaven. I know she is in the bosom of the Lord. The onus is now on us to make heaven if we are to see her again.”
He coughed and looked up. “Do you know what hurts most?” his voice barely above a whisper. “We didn’t even get to say goodbye. If only I had said goodbye. We had so much left to do.”
“God knows better. You know, we cannot divorce death from life. Life originates from death and vice versa. If we divorce death from life, life becomes boring because there would be nothing to fear, nothing to look forward to and nothing to appreciate. The briefness of life makes it beautiful, so we should appreciate every second we live.”
His brow creased into a frown.
“You see, life is dear only because it is transient. I love my life because I have got only a few days left and that is why I am determined to make the best use of it.”
A light came back in his eyes. “I don’t understand,” his voice was low.
“The beauty of life is to embrace death and strive to live life to the fullest. Life is beautiful if you live it your way.”
“How do you mean?”
“True living is in Christ. If you die in Christ, you are blessed but if you live for 100 years without Christ, you are a loser. I mean, what is 100 years on earth compared to eternity?”
He took a deep breath and stood to his feet. “I think I’m hungry.”
She heaved a sigh of relief. She knew the war was over. “At your service.”