Could've Waited a Lifetime For a Moment Like This

I feel the soft breeze on my face and smell the woods that surround us. These are things that I would normally enjoy any day but this one. I've known this day was coming for a while now, but that definitely doesn't make it any easier to bear. I stare blankly at the trees while I sip my Mountain Dew and try to concentrate on the slight burning sensation of it sliding down my throat. I'm working to concentrate on anything except the hushed cries and agonized whispers coming from inside the house. My cousin and I were both silent as we sat side by side on the swings. I couldn't make myself break the somber silence between us. We both know what is happening in the house. To me, time seems to stand still, though I know that life is still going on by the chatter of the birds in the trees and the gentle swaying of the flowers in the garden. I try to imagine life without Grandma Frankie, though I come up blank because she has always played such a vital part in my life. The world is losing one of its few, truly great people today. The bright sun shining down through the treetops and the smooth, cool feeling of the plastic that covers the chains of the swings isn't enough of  a distraction to keep me from noticining when somebody walks out of the house. It is my grandpa coming toward us, unshed tears in his eyes, to tell us that my great-grandmother, my best friend, is no longer with us...

Possibilities

Hope. Possibilities. The chance of a new beginning. These are some of the things that I see when I look at the picture The Dead Forest After the Fire that was taken by Igor Podgorny. It shows a forest that was ravaged by a forest fire. Most people may see this picture and think, "Oh, how aweful!" But I don't. In my opinion, forest fires can be a good thing.
When I look at this picture, I don't see the the death and destruction that is left in the wake of the fire. I see the possibilities of  the things that are yet to come. The picture shows a single sprig of green foliage and I think that this shows that though terrible things have happened, it will get better in time. The plants will regrow and be healthier than ever, the animals will come back and replace those that were too weak or sick to outrun the fire, and things will go back to normal. I think that the fire is natural selection at its finest. Instead of seeing the dreary, ruined forest, I choose to picture a blank slate teeming with possibilities of being filled with life and peace.

Here is the picture : http://media.englishrussia.com/the_dead_forest_after_the_fire/2.jpg