Hello God by Moya Simons Read Free Book Online Page B

that she could do it, she would do it, when she was better. More lies.
    She said it was important that they know the ending. That her throat might be sore, and she asked me again. She told me I must read clearlyand not hiccup. That I should drink water before I started reading.
    She asked me to give the story to Mrs Kettlesmith for the competition once I’d finished reading it to the children. Would I do that for her?
    I said I would.
    I told her Matt wanted to see her, and she said she had such cool friends and how lucky she was.
    I thought she was lying to herself then, but her face was happy. Totally.
    I saw Matt near the reception desk when I left. He was helping Molly put on her glass slippers. She was preparing to read to the children in the wards after the night receptionist arrived.
    I told him he could go and see Steph.
    As I was walking home, I felt cold, as if a sudden icy wind had blown right through my skin to some place inside of me where I, Kate, truly lived. I felt I had been alive for quite a few years,but at the same time half-asleep, and somehow, at that very moment, I became fully awake, and understood that I knew so little.
    I am so desperate. Please, if there’s anyone up there, do something.

Hello me,
    We left Nan at our neighbour’s and then Dad, Mum and I rushed to the women’s hospital. Mum held her baby bump in the front seat and told the baby to hang on, not to be impatient.
    My sister was born at a special birthing place where they allow brothers or sisters to watch. I was able to hold my baby sister right from the beginning.
    Had I really said I wanted a brother? A disgusting little brother? I must have been nuts.
    I’ll teach my baby sister things. I’ll tell her about life. I’ll stick up for her if anyone teases her. After all, I am her big sister, and for the rest of my life, I’ll be her big sister.
    I’ve been living through a lot of lies lately, some of which I’ve told myself. Holding my new baby sister felt truthful.
    Mum was transferred into a ward. Our baby, OURS, was curled up in bed beside Mum. Dad and I couldn’t stop smiling. Our baby’s eyes were closed tightly shut. What do babies dream about?
    When we arrived home much later, still filled with excitement, the phone rang. Dad took the call. He didn’t speak for long.
    He put his hands on my shoulders.
    He couldn’t get the words out.
    I watched him as he tried to find the right words.
    Words to make it sound better.
    I begged him with my eyes, no lies.
    No more lies.
    He told me that Stephanie had died.

Hello God, or Big Boss, or You Who Made All Of This,
    Was it a sign? I think it was, though I’m still trying to work out what it means.
    Steph’s death and my sister’s arrival at exactly the same time made me think about life and death in a different way. It wasn’t right for Steph to die so young. But the way her life had changed so many people had been very right.
    When I looked through the telescope tonight, just one day after my baby sister was born, Ithought about Stephanie. She’d said to me when she looked at the stars that night at our place that we were part of it all. That every bit of the smallest bit that makes us who we are is linked. We are all a part of the stars.
    I can still hear Steph’s voice as she tells me how to control my hiccups. I miss her in a million ways.
    I think she understood more about you than I do, God.

Hello God,

    My class decided to plant a garden to remember Stephanie in the grounds of our school. It was announced at school assembly and all the kids wanted to be involved. This is so very right, too.
    Everyone at school went to Stephanie’s funeral, and Matt, Adam and I stood together with her parents because that’s just how Steph would have liked it. The feeling of love on that day was so strong that it must have been felt everywhere. Everywhere. So, God, whatever you were doing then, you must have stopped to smile a little atwhat was going on in my part of the