If I somehow do win, then I'd like to win Rose Garden(Hyana,) not Tropical Punch(Kali) "No!" Hyana's cry rang out loud and painful, harsh enough that the nurses winced and covered their ears with their paws. The two male nurses dragged her out of the den as she kicked and scratched. "Surely, there must be some mistake!" The nurses threw her out. In the dark, tears tracked down her face. /No . . ./ She /had/ though something was wrong with her--the pain in her chest, the lingering coughs. But she hadn't thought it was serious. Not like this . . . "Hi! My name's Kali. What's yours?" She turned her tearstained cheeks to the cat next to her: Bright, perky--what Hyana had honestly always wished she could be herself. "Hyana," she mumbled. "Hi, Yana!" "Hyana," she corrected, Kali's tone bringing a smile to her face nonetheless. "Are you OK?" Kali asked seriously. "I saw what happened--they brought you out of their crying. Is something wrong?" Hyana felt tears begin to fall again. She choked out, "cancer," before she collapsed on the ground again. /Ten weeks to live, max/, they'd said. "Oh my! Are you--oh, no, of course you aren't! I'm so sorry." Hyana looked up as Kali nudged her, a mischievous smile on her face, "We might as well do everything, right?" (Cont.)The next couple weeks, Hyana, or Yana, as Kali called her, and Kali were inseparable. They went swimming in the river, climbing trees, and going hunting in the woods--something that neither Yana or Kali'd ever done before. They both had motivation, one to spend the rest of their life having fun, and the other with a secret . . . One day, as Hyana was sleeping, she heard a high-pitched scream from outside the den. Kali. She rushed out in panic--and saw her leaning against a tree, bl@@d staining her ruff. "Kali!" Hyana shrieked. "Hyana . . ." Kali's eyes opened wearily. "These past few weeks . . . it was so fun . . ." "Kali--it still will be! Get up! Hurry!" Hyana sobbed. "I was . . . diagnosed . . . three months ago. I should have died one month earlier . . ." Kali blinked tear filled eyes. "I stayed alive for you. This is just a proper ending." "No!" Hyana began to cry too. "That doesn't make sense! I'm the one with cancer, not you! You--you need to stay alive!" "I lied," rasped Kali, her eyes closing once more. "Hyana . . . I'll see you soon." Her breath stilled. Hyana's hitched. "NO!" She couldn't breathe any longer. "NO!" Kali's corpse lay at her feet, eyes still open. With shaking paws, Hyana reached out and closed them. ~ ~ ~ "Hyana. You will soon die. Say goodbye to your loved ones, and then you will ascend." Beep-beep-beep. The hospital's machines clicked and buzzed next to her ear. /Hello, Kali/, Hyana thought wearily. She was pain. Her entire being was in agony. "Goodbye, Hyana," said the nurse. In the afterlife, Yana felt her spirit ascending. Above her, the blue-pink face of Kali smiled, helped her up onto the clouds. They both laughed and played with energy that cancer had robbed in their life. But now they were reunited in the one after.
