Free Taste of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul III by Jack Canfield Page B

flatline of the phone for a minute before gently placing it in its cradle, too scared to call back for fear of what I might hear. I had grown up in an ideal family setting: a mom and a dad and an older sister as a role model. This kind of situation took me by surprise, and I felt confused and helpless at the same time. A couple of tense hours later, after his father had gone to bed, Rion called me to apologize. He told me his dad had received a letter from his ex-wife, Rion’s mom, saying she refused to pay child support. Having no other scapegoat, he stumbled into Rion’s room in rage.
    â€œI can’t take this anymore. All the fighting . . . it’s always there. . . .” His voice had trailed off, lost in painful thought. “All I have to do is pull the trigger, and it will be over.”
    â€œNo!” I screamed. “Don’t talk like that! You know you have so much to live for.” It was becoming clearer every second how threatening the situation was. A cold, forced chuckle came from the other end of the line. “Yeah, right,” was his response. We got off the phone, but only after promising to go right to sleep.
    Sleep, however, was light years away from me. I was so worried and had a feeling I was Rion’s only hope. He had told me repeatedly that it was hard to open up to anyone but me. How could someone not want to live? I could literally list the reasons why I loved waking up every morning. Frantically, I racked my brain for ways to convince Rion of this. Then the lightbulb clicked on. I took a piece of notebook paper and entitled it, “Why Rion Should Live.” Below, I began listing every ­reason I could think of that a person had to exist. What started as a few sentences turned into twenty, then thirty-two, then forty-seven. By midnight, I had penned fifty-seven reasons for Rion to live. The last ten were as follows:
    48) Six feet of earth is pretty heavy.
    49) They don’t play Metallica in cemeteries.
    50) Braces aren’t biodegradable.
    51) God loves you.
    52) Believe it or not, your father loves you, too.
    53) Spanish One would be so boring.
    54) Two words: driver’s license.
    55) Satan isn’t exactly the type of guy you want to hang out with for eternity.
    56) How could you live without Twinkies?
    57) You should never regret who you are, only what you have become.
    Believing that I had done my best, I crawled into bed to await tomorrow’s chore: saving Rion.
    I waited for him at the door to Spanish the next day and handed him the paper as he walked in. I watched him from the opposite side of the room while he read the creased sheet in his lap. I waited, but he didn’t look up for the entire period. After class, I approached him, concerned, but before I could say a word, his arms were around me in a tight embrace. I hugged him for a while, tears almost blinding me. He let go, and with a soft look into my eyes, he walked out of the room. No thank you was needed, his face said it all.
    A week later, Rion was transferred to another school district so that he could live with his grandmother. For weeks I heard nothing, until one night the phone rang. “Sarah, is it you?” I heard the familiar voice say. Well, it was like we had never missed a day. I updated him on Ms. Canaple’s new haircut, and he told me his grades were much better, and he was on the soccer team. He is even going to counseling with his dad to help them build a stronger relationship. “But do you know what the best part is?” I sensed true happiness in his voice. “I don’t regret who I am, nor what I’ve become.”
    Sarah Barnett
    [ editors’ note: Rion was lucky. Everyone isn’t as fortunate. If you are depressed or thinking about hurting yourself (or if you think any of your friends are in this situation), please call for help, toll-free: 1-800-suicide . Remember, you are not alone. People care and can help you. we love you !!]

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