Chain Reaction
How can one person change your life forever? How can one person have such a selfless lifetime goal and fulfill it, only to be killed the next day? Is that when people die after they help someone? It’s been a little over a year since Ashley came into my life and a little less than a year since she was taken away from it.
It was the first day back to school. I was a senior, nobody special, just your average girl waiting for high school to be over. I had a habit of making terrible first judgments about people and not giving second chances. But this all changed when I arrived in English class.
“Hi, I’m Ashley.”
I took one look at this girl wearing ripped jeans and a dirt-stained shirt and wanted nothing to do with her. It’s not my fault she can’t brush her brown-knotted locks or buy new school shoes that don’t have holes in it. Then during the second week of school, Ms. Harrison announced a project we had to do with a partner. The assignment was to find out everything we could about the other person and write a five-page biography about them. When the teacher read the names of our partners, I was annoyed to find out my partner was Ashley. To top it all off, we had to get to know each other on our own time, which meant that on Saturday I had to meet up with Ashley at her house.
When I arrived at her house I was surprised to see that it was larger than mine. Her family welcomed me into their home with open arms. I was confused. If she lived in a house like this, then why did she dress so poorly? As the night went on, I learned a lot about Ashley and found out that we had tons in common. We liked the same kind of music, had the same hobbies, and she was the middle child of an older brother and a younger sister, just like I was. I felt terrible for judging her so quickly. I looked at the questions we were supposed to ask our partner and found out we had only one more left to go.
“What’s your biggest lifetime goal?” I asked. She gave me an answer that left me speechless.
“I want to start a chain reaction of kindness. My goal is to make people in the world feel good about themselves and I want people to stop making fun of those who are less fortunate than they are. I think that once someone shows some kindness, it will rub off on everyone else and start a chain reaction.” She explained.
I felt so ashamed of myself. It felt as if she was directing that towards me. After that, Ashley and I became best friends. She showed me a lot about life and taught me to be a better person. Her kindness rubbed off on me and I found myself giving people the second chances they deserved. Ashley was an inspiration to me and always worried about helping others first before herself. I felt so thankful that she came into my life.
With graduation weeks away, my car broke down. My job was greater than walking distance and if I missed one more day of work, I would be fired. Ashley being the person she is, insisted that I borrow her car because her job was within walking distance. She saved me again and I got to work on time.
I was waiting outside her house that night after work, so that I could return her car. She left work at around 9:00 P.M. and was supposed to arrive home within five minutes. She didn’t. Ashley never made it home…
On her way home, Ashley was murdered. A witness said that the she was mugged and told that if she gave up her wallet, she would be okay. But he lied and shot her instead. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think of Ashley and what would have happened if I hadn’t taken her car, she would still be alive. Her mother helped me understand that Ashley was just doing what she did best, helping others with her kindness.
Ashley’s goal was to start a chain reaction of kindness, and I vowed to continue that chain. Whenever I could, I shared her kindness on to others in need and asked them to do the same so that her name and ambition of a chain reaction would not be forgotten.
This is a true story that I read and it touched my heart. It inspired me to start my own chain of kindness. When I re-wrote this story, I used the same plot but also incorporated more detailing that would allow the readers to visualize the story in their mind. I admire Ashley’s selfless demeanor and try to be more like her. Just like Megan – who is the narrator in the story – Ashley is an inspiration and she shouldn’t be forgotten. Therefore, whenever I can I will start my own chain reaction of kindness. Hopefully I can help someone in need.
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