A New Leaf by Alora Lilljedahl (pride and prejudice read .TXT) 📖

Why are you discouraged, my soul?

Why are you so restless?

Put your hope in God,

because I will still praise Him.

He is my Savior and my God.

~Psalms 43:5

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"We're sorry, sir, but you have cancer. At the most, you'll live 6 months, but there's nothing we can do. At this point, the treatments will do more harm than good."

I sat there in disbelief as the doctors explained to my father and I what was wrong with him; why he's been so drained of energy lately. My father weeping silently is what snapped me back into reality. And I was fuming.

"You mean to tell me that you've turned us away 4 times now, saying that nothing was wrong, and now you're saying cancer has taken over my father's body? That it's too late for treatment? Where was this diagnosis two weeks ago?"

Fueled by my anger, I grabbed my father and walked out of the hospital. In my mind, I was cursing God. My father has believed in You, defended You, loved and worshiped You, yet You do this to him? Some Savior You are. If he dies, I'll never forgive you. You can save him, so do it.

"-okay?"

I was brought out of my mind by my father's voice. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that for me?" He chuckled before repeating himself. "I said, I'm going to be okay one way or another. It's whatever the Lord wills it to be. Now, don't get angry with Him if He wants to take me home. I'm ready, son. Just let me enjoy my last few months with you and Aleki, okay?"

I gaped at him but knew to keep my opinions to myself, so I simply replied, "When do you plan on telling Aleki, anyways?" He sighed, "Well, today's as good a day as any to let them know." My jaw clenched and my anger burned brighter at the thought of how Aleki would take the news. He was a child, only 16. He can't lose his dad. Not when he just got him back.

The drive to my mother's house was silent. We were both trying to figure out a way to break the news. But too soon, we arrived. I shut off the engine, got out of the truck, and went inside.

"Hey, Sally, dad and I need to talk to you and Aleki in the living room.. Could y'all come here please?" We sat down to get comfortable, and when they walked in, my heart began to break all over again. Clearing his throat, dad told them. You could see the emotions running across their faces. Shock, disbelief, hopelessness, anger, sadness, and lastly, defeat. Aleki shook his head, burst into tears, then ran to his room, slamming the door behind him. My mother, on the other hand, immediately went to praying with my father, so I decided to go check on Aleki.

"Come on, little brother, open up." The door opened only for him to crash his head into my chest and bawl.. Holding tightly to me as he sobbed. It was only then that I let my tears flow, as well. We stood there in the hall for a while before he finally let go and backed away.

"K.D, I know God's gonna let dad into Heaven, but I don't want to lose him."

"I know, Ky, I know. But we need to enjoy what time we have left with him."

We washed off our faces then headed down to the living room. My dad looked up and asked, "Hey Son, do you mind taking me home? I'm a little tired." I nodded and we said our goodbyes and left.

Just as before, the ride home was silent. It took us about 20 minutes to get to our house, which made it 4:30pm.As I pulled into the driveway, I looked to our next door neighbor's house out of habit. I shook my head to rid myself of the feeling. "Hey dad, I'm gonna head back up to campus. Call me if you need me to come home for anything. I mean it."

I didn't leave until I saw him wave from his bedroom window. That's how I've been since I left for college 2 years ago. I hate that I have to leave right now, but I have an exam tomorrow that I have to study for.

Arriving at campus, I walked into the building only to have someone crash into me and fall. I looked down to the ground and rolled my eyes. Of course, it had to be her. "Watch where you're going, pipsqueak, or next time I'll get rude." I scoffed, kicked her book bag, and walked away. I thought I heard her say something, but I ignored her. I was already in a bad mood, and seeing her just made it worse. I needed to go to the gym.

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Meanwhile, with Sage...

"Honey, I just don't see why you don't have someone special to go steady with. You're nineteen years old, live a little. Maybe I should call up Quinton and see how K--" I cut her off immediately. "Don't you dare say his name. I don't want to see him, mom. We may have been best friends, but that was high school, this is college. Things are different now. So just drop it already." I sent up a silent prayer asking for patience.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my things, kissed my mom on the cheek, and left. "I'm heading to campus before I have to be in at work at 5. See you later, mom. Love you."

Right as I got into the car, I got a text from Aleki Bruin, one of the kids from the youth group at my church.

From Aleki 2:07pm

*Hey Sage, I need some prayer, I found out some bad news about my dad.*

From Me 2:10pm

*Sure, what happened? You need me to stop by before work?*

From Aleki 2:12pm

*No, that's fine. But dad and K.D went to the hospital and dad has terminal cancer. They said he has 6 months left to live.*

From Me 2:15pm

*Oh honey, I'm so sorry. But you know, all you have to do is pray. If God wants him home, then he'll go home, but if God wants him to live, then he will. Keep me posted, okay?*

From Aleki 2:20pm

*Thanks, Sage. And I will.*

Feeling heavily burdened, I sat in my car and prayed. I prayed for Aleki, for his father, his family, the illness to leave, and for God to do what He wills.

By the time I said amen, it was 3:40. My heart skipped a beat and I went on my way to campus.. I realized that I had forgotten my uniform in my dorm room, so I had to run and get it.

I guess the universe was against me because when I got to the campus and went to grab my key to my dorm, It wasn't there. That's when I remembered that I had left my key in my book bag, which was sitting on my bed. Oh dear Lord, please let Tammy be in our room.. Running up, I let out a breath of relief that our door was open and Tammy was there.

I grabbed my things and rushed into the bathroom to change, and then rushed back to my car. Again, my luck was iffy, because when I got to the common room, I ran into someone and fell on my rump. Looking up, the apology died on my lips and I groaned internally.

"Watch where you're going, pipsqueak, or next time I'll get rude." I gritted my teeth as he kicked my book bag and walked away. Give me patience, Father, please just help me to mind my tongue and my actions. I stood up and dusted myself off before checking the time. 4:50. And I was still 20 minutes from work.. Great.

Getting back into my car, I went on my way to work, praying I wouldn't run into him again anytime soon.

Publication Date: 04-01-2017

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