1

"We need to trust our Lord at all times. Especially in hardships, He is our only hope. Are there any special intentions this morning?"

Celeste remained in her chair gazing up at the ceiling, thinking about God. She wondered about why bad things happen to good people.

"If they're good people," she thought," then why do they have to suffer?"

After service ended, Zach said," Can you wait for me for about five minutes? I'm just going to talk to Pastor Mike about being a counselor this summer for the leadership camp."

"You know I will. Why would I not?"

Zach and Pastor Mike disappeared into the other room. Celeste was wandering around the lobby waiting for her boyfriend.

She got a call from her mom.

"Hey honey," mumbled her mother in the background.

"I thought you were at work; you always tell me to never call you!"

"I know, I know, but this is very serious," Martha speaks.

"Mom, what is going on?"

"Your sister is in the hospital.... The doctors don't know what's wrong yet, but she's thrown up over thirty times within the last twenty-four hours. She also has been having a lot of stomach issues."

Celeste drops her cellphone.

She runs into the room Zach entered about 20 minutes ago. No one was in the room. She began to worry.

On the floor, in the center of the room was a small piece of paper. Lessie picked it up. She assumed someone has accidentally dropped it. It said "ant poison."

She put it in her pocket.

"Zachary! Hello! Someone please answer me!"

It was silent.

She realized that too much timed had passed and she needed to visit her sister.

Exiting the room, she spots Pastor Mike.

"Hey, Pastor Mike! Where's Zach?"

He replied, "I talked to him about ten minutes ago, but I haven't seen him since then. I'm sorry, honey."

She walked away confused.

"I give up," she thought.

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2

Celeste finally got to the hospital.

"Sissy!" she yelled, as tears began streaming down her face.

Carrie, her sister, did not look well.

"How have you been, my angel?"

"Not so well..... Am I going to die, Lessie?"

Celeste started to cry more. "Don't say that! We are all going to think positive here! I don't want you to ever think that way. Ok?"

Their mother and Zach came in the room. Zach was panting.

"Are you okay? Where were you?; I was looking everywhere for you," Celeste said.

Zach replied, "I told you, I was talking to the Pastor."

Celeste nodded her head, but inside she knew they needed to talk.

They stayed with Carrie until the weekend was over.

Hour by hour, her sickness got worse.

When it was time to go to school, Celeste felt as if she was abandoning her dear sister.

Weeks came and went; nothing was changing.

Lessie was on the way to see her sister with Zachary after school one day when she finally came out and asked him,"What is up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since I found out my sister was ill, you've been acting extremely weird. When I was looking for you that day at the church, I found a note that had two words written on it. Ant poison."

Stuttering, Zach stated, " Pastor Mike asked me if I could put ant poisoning in the gardens because there were a lot of ant piles."

He quickly changed the subject.

"Should we stop to get Carrie a bite to eat?"

"Sure!"

"What should we get her," Zach said.

"I think a blended smoothie would be the perfect thing for her!"

Minutes later, they arrived at the nearest Smoothie King.

Zach went in and ordered her smoothie, while Lessie was in the car looking up the closest florist.

After getting her smoothie, Zach and Celeste headed to pick up Carrie's bouquet of flowers.

"Since you went in to get her food, I'll get the flowers," Celeste stated.

Lessie went inside the flower shop to pick up her order.

While he was in the store, Zach was mixing the ant poison into Carrie's smoothie.

When Celeste returned to the car, she asked Zach for a sip of the smoothie.

Without hesitating, he told her no. "Your sister needs it way more than you do. Let her drink all of it."

Lessie was irritated.

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3

They arrived at the hospital to find Carrie extremely weak and unbearably pale. Celeste was astonished at how quickly her sister was deteriorating.

"We got you a nice, big, healthy, delicious, banana smoothie!"

"Thanks you guys! You didn't have to do that!" Carrie replied.

"I know it's a pain in the butt for us to be shoving all these liquids down your throat, but you need to drink every last bit of your smoothie," Celeste said.

Celeste turned and whispered to Zach, " I need to use your phone to call my mom. She looks worse than I thought worse could get. Where is it?"

"Sure, babe. It's in my coat pocket."

Celeste quickly went over to Zach's jacket. Searching through one pocket, she found a bag of white powder. She was in such a rush, she didn't have time to question Zach about it. She searched his other pocket to find his phone to call her mother.
"Mom, please come to the hospital as soon as possible. Carrie is as white as a ghost. She can barely hold her smoothie we got her. We need you. I love you."

Lessie turned around to see that her sister had done exactly what she asked.

"That's my girl! Look at you! You drank the whole dang thing! I'm so proud of my munchkin!"

Carrie was happy to see that Celeste was smiling. She hadn't seen her sister smile in months.

A few minutes later, Carrie began screaming in pain.

"Oww! Someone help me! Lord please help me! Lord please help me!"

In a panic, Celeste yelled, "Doctor Drew! Anyone! We need help! We need a doctor! Someone please help us!"

She ran up and down the hallway of the tenth floor, desperately seeking a medical assistant.

Zach came up to her very quietly.

Grabbing Lessie's hand, he brought her into the room.

Carrie's eyes were closed shut. Her chest wasn't moving. She had no pulse.
She was dead.

Celeste began weeping. Her poor sister had just died 100 feet away from her. All she wanted was for her sister to be healthy and live. That was all she had been praying for since the day she got that call at the church. She could hear the words running through her head. ......"Your sister is in the hospital....."

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4

Doctor Drew and his crew came running into the room.

He checked her over and turned to Celeste.

"Ms. Celeste, I'm afraid she's gone. I'm terribly sorry!" Doctor Drew stated.

She felt as if she were going to faint. She looked at Zach, but he had no facial expressions whatsoever. He was calm and cool.

Just then, Lessie and Carrie's parents came into the room. They caught me just in time to catch my tears.

I finally realized that the chapters of my life with my sister were officially over.

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5

After what felt like years, the doctors came out to talk to Celeste and her family.

They told her that Carrie's death was a mystery, and they wanted permission to perform an autopsy.

Celeste's parents also wanted to know what the cause of her death was, so they agreed.

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6


The final results came in after many weeks of waiting. It turned out to be ARSENIC POISONING. Who would want to poison sweet Carrie?

Soon, the police started questioning everyone who knew Carrie.

Zach recently told Celeste that he was going on a mission trip to India to help people with Leprosy. Celeste was very happy for him, but she truly wondered why he had to leave at this time. This was the time she needed him the most. She thought he would have been more supportive than what he's been. The only time he asks her about her sisters investigation is what the police say and think about it. Day by day, she feels father apart from her love.

When it came time to question Zach, he seemed very nervous.

"Do you know anything information about the death Carrie White?" The officer asked.

Hesitating, he said, "No sir, I don't."

And that was it.

<<TO BE CONTINUED>>