The Chalk Man

by C.J. Tudor

I guess it was the first time I understood how things can change in an instant. All the stuff we take for granted can just be ripped away.

There are some things in life you can alter—your weight, your appearance, even your name—but there are others that wishing and trying and working hard can never make any difference to. Those things are the ones that shape us. Not the things we can change, but the ones we can’t.

Sean Cooper’s funeral was probably the first time I understood that death is only ever a cool, sour breath away. His greatest trick is making you think he isn’t there. And death has a lot of tricks up his cold, dark sleeve.

“When you’re older, you’ll understand better. We can’t choose who we fall in love with, who will make us happy.” But he didn’t look happy. Not like people in love were supposed to. He looked sad and sort of lost.

I watch her walk back down the driveway and disappear around the corner. Holding on, I think. Letting go. Sometimes, they’re one and the same.