Only the Good Die Young

It was a cold, dark December evening. Most folks were at home, snuggling by the fire or
indulging in rich pumpkin pie. But not the Fitzpatrick’s. They were battling the same monster
that had been haunting them since two years before.
“Eat this!”
“NO!”
“Eat it!”
It had grown tiresome, the endless arguing. Their home had turned into a battlefield
raging with constant fighting whenever meal time arouse. Although, the serious
conversations and endless quarrels had started happening more often lately. It was all
they talked about. But only to themselves. Oh, they would never dare tell anyone about
Mary’s problem. For it would definitely make them the gossip of the whole town. Oh,
no, no, no they would hate, absolutely hate, to be in the spotlight. Poor Mary always

tried. She never gave up. Every day was a struggle for her. It could not be avoided
because every time she looked at those protruding hip bones or counted her ribs in the
mirror, it was a constant reminder. There was no going back. If only the hospital had
treated her. Well, at first it did. But, to the misfortune of the Fitzpatrick’s, it just
relapsed the minute of their return home. Too bad they no longer had the money to
afford Mary’s “problem” as they referred to it.
“Why can’t you fix yourself?”
“I’m trying!”
“Well try harder!”
“But, I just, I just… can’t.”
Mary wasn’t normal by any stretch of the imagination. But, for a while, she was able to
put on the act that she was. Around her friends was the easiest. When she never ate a
single bite at lunch, she would complain to her friends how full she still was from the big
breakfast her mom cooked. Little did they know that she had a mere spoonful of
Cheerios for breakfast. Then, once she got home, it was easier to tell her parents, “Oh
well, I had a really big lunch, but sure I’ll just have a few veggies I guess.” Eventually, it
became quite noticeable. Mary had lost some weight. A lot of weight. And it became
more critical to help her. Sixty-seven. The magical number. Who knew it would be the
last straw?




I walked along the beach, my feet submerged in the warm sand.
The Hawaiian breeze blew through my thick brown hair. I sat in a lawn
chair eating fries dipped in a strawberry banana smoothie. Then, I stood
up from the comfort of my chair and began to run farther and farther from
it. The palm trees swayed above me as I ran towards the ocean. I looked
back at my smiling parents sitting in lawn chairs on the shore. Just as I
laughably splashed into the salty water, a dark cloud hovered overhead.
It began to thunder and lightning. Then, it poured. The rain fell so heavily
that I lost sight of my parents. I lost sight of my path. When I looked down
at my body, it looked emaciated and sickly. My hair was no longer full
and curly, it was just a heap of stringy brown wires stemming from my
head. And as I touched it, more fell out. My blood ran cold as I was thrown
into the ocean, sloshing back and forth until I was almost completely
submerged in the water. I took gasping breaths, in and out and out and in,
so hurriedly I swallowed gaping mouthfuls of salty water at once. Then, a
shark came out of nowhere and closer, closer, closer! Its jaws opened wide,
showing the hundreds of needle sharp teeth. Then, I screamed and
screamed but no one came…
Then, I awoke, sweaty and crying. My breathing was still fast and gasping
and I couldn’t control my lungs. Bringing my stuffed dog closer to my
chest, I laid in bed awaiting sleep or possible help, but no one came.

Mary’s Diary
Sure I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine? It’s all a lie you know. All parents tell their kids they’re skinny. Even the fattest pigs have self-esteem about their bodies. But, I mean, come on. I’m definitely fat. Don’t you see the way my fat stomach just hangs out there. Ugh, whenever I look in the mirror I’m ashamed of myself! All those times I took an extra helping or ordered dessert… Boy was I stupid. I wish I could just go back in time to when oh, I don’t know, I WAS SKINNY! Probably the only time I was ever comfortable with my body was when I was three… maybe. The reason my parents and my friends tell me I’m “Too Skinny” is because they’re jealous. Ah, it’s nice to be the center of attention for once. I just gotta keep trucking along. Today, I’m so proud of myself, all I ate were two carrots!! Isn’t that amazing? I think I probably lost three pounds in a day! Not to mention the fact that I ran five miles… just in case, you know… to wear off those carrots. Ah yes, life is good when you’re skinny.

Mrs. Fitzpatrick
“John, do you know what to make of all this?”
“Of what?” asked Mr. Fitzpatrick.
“The fact that Mary didn’t eat any dinner this whole week… That’s what”, retorted Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
“Oh, dear it’s just a stage. All teenagers go through it. They think its hip and cool to be thin. That’s all. I wouldn’t worry about her. She can hold her own. So, anyways, we are building this new thing at work…”
“John, I’m serious. What if something’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. Now, as I was saying…”
“John, maybe we should help her.”
“You know, honey, last time we helped, it made no difference, so
why try now?”
“Because I can’t stand to see her like this! John, I really can’t talk to you right now!”

Westville High School
“Oh, and don’t forget to hand in your field trip money today!”
blared the speakers in the clammy classroom.
“Ha, the announcements are so lame these days” joked Faith.
Faith thought she ruled the school. With her blond hair, blue
eyes, and pink heels, she was “all that.” All the nerds she passed
couldn’t go by without a harassing. “Hey, look at those losers over
there” she whispered, pointing to a group of kids. Mary just rolled her
eyes as Faith walked by, but it really, truly hurt her. Mary couldn’t
stand to be made fun of. Oliver saw it in her eyes and just laughed,
telling her to shrug the “legally blond” off. He couldn’t ever help but
make jokes about Faith. However, he hadn’t been as enthusiastic
around Mary lately. She had been stand-offish and depressed for some
reason. Also, she seemed to have been losing weight. It worried him.
Deep inside he sensed something was wrong with her, but he didn’t
have the heart to tell her. Just as Oliver was about to ask her, Drake
walked by and she was instantly distracted. Drake was by far the
“cutest kid in school” as Mary always bragged to Oliver. He attempted
to regain her attention, but it was all in vain. Oliver had always
dreamed of being with Mary. See, they had been friends for years, but
Oliver always thought they were something more. Mary, however,
barely noticed him at times even though he was always at her side.
“Mary, Mary, hey Mary”, Oliver tugged on her sleeve. “What?” replied
Mary impatiently. “Let’s go to class, Mar”, suggested Oliver. Although,
she was too distracted with dreams of Drake to ever realize how much
Oliver cared for her.

Mary’s Diary

That Faith annoys me so much. “Oh, look at me, I’m so pretty, I’m so skinny, I have the coolest clothes, blah, blah, BLAH!” It’s a real wonder that girl has friends who don’t bow down to her. Anyways, enough about her. What I really wanted to tell you was… I lost another ten pounds! Isn’t that great? I feel so much better about myself, but I’m beginning to feel tired. It’s all this school. I wake up too early and then never have up enough energy to run. Well, I guess I just have to push myself a little bit harder then.


Mrs. Fitzpatrick
“I know she’s lost weight. John, please listen to me, I think she has a serious problem.”
“Dear God woman, can’t you just let it go. I’m trying to work over here!”
“Please listen. This is serious. What if it gets worse?”
“It won’t get worse. Before long, she’ll have to eat. It’s a way of life.”
“But, I’m telling you, she’s really skinny. John, haven’t you ever even looked at your own daughter?”
“Yes dear, of course I have seen her. She looks good. Good for her! Now, if only I could get myself on a diet. I heard the Atkins works…”
“I’m not fooling around anymore; I think I’d better go talk to her…”
“What was that? Oh, hah! Dear, you’ve got to see this cartoon in the Times!”
“Well, I’m going to talk to her, no matter if you like it or not.”



“Sweetie, are you up here?” asked Mary’s mother. “Yeah, what do you want?”
Mary screamed over her blaring headphones. “Are you ok?” As Mary looked up her
mom, she noticed how bony her collar bones had become. “Umm, yeah mom, I’m fine.”
Mary popped her headphones back in her ears and thumped her feet to the music. Her
mom could not look away from Mary. For a while, she just stood there, examining how
sickly looking she had become in the last few months. “Mom, what do you want?” said
Mary, startling her mom back into reality. “Oh, um nothing. I just want you to know that
I love you”, smiled Mrs. Fitzpatrick. “Ok, mom, bye now.”


Oliver
Oh, Mary looks so pretty today. I love the way she ties her hair up in up
in those messy buns and even the way she carelessly wears sweatpants when
all the other girls bother with skirts and heels. I love the way she smiles even
with braces and when she doesn’t even wear makeup because it would hide
her real beauty. Oh, here she comes, what do I say? Ok, just be cool, you’ve
known her for years, just play it smooth. Wow, she is actually really skinny.
Should I tell her? Probably not, it will be one of those “Do you think I’m fat?”
offenses. Just always say no. “Do I look fat to you?” No! It’s always no. But,
Mary actually looks skinny. Bone skinny. Oh, she’s coming over here! What do
I say? What do I say?
“Hey Mary, so what did you think of that bio quiz?” Oh my goodness! Did I
just ask her about school? What a boring topic! Umm, just change the
subject. Now!
“Umm I mean, so how’s your day going?” Oh dear God, just stop trying Oliver.
You know sometimes you’re so stupid around girls, you mine as well have just
farted right in front of her.
“Hah, it’s pretty good Oliver. How about you?” laughed Mary.
Oh, she’s talking. I love when she talks. Oh, respond! You should probably
respond now. Do it while she’s smiling, say something funny!
“I heard Bobby threw up when he watched ‘The Miracle of Life.” Oh my gosh! “The
Miracle of Life”, who am I kidding? That’s like the “no no” zone for girls! Well, this
would be a good time for the bell; the bell would be quite nice right now. Come on
bell! Ring!
“Ha-ha, ok then. I hope he has some breath mints on hand!” She burst out laughing,
so I did too.
“HA-HA, HA-HA, HA-Ha, ha-ha, hah… That was a good one.” Oh, boy, how many
embarrassments can I have at one time.
“See yeah later, bud” smiled Mary.
Oh, I am blushing now? Don’t blush! Ok, maybe just a little blushing is allowed.

The Next Day
“We have a code red. Copy, I repeat, we have a code red!”
“Oh, thank heavens! She just fell right in the middle of class! Passed
out she did! I can’t feel her heart beat! Should I get the defibrillator?
Sir! What should I do?”
“No, mam we have got this under control. Call the parents! Now!”
“Yes, sir. Certainly, sir.”
“Hello? Gale Fitzpatrick speaking.”
“Yes, Mrs. Fitzpatrick it’s about…” Mrs. Beats took sobbing, wheezing gasps, “It’s about
Mary…” she began to take quicker, more violent breaths, “She passed out… No
heartbeat… Come please!” She was now gasping frantically for air, clearly in a complete
panic.
“What’s this now? Who is this? Where’s my Mary?” said Mrs. Fitzpatrick trying to stay
calm.
“Mrs. Fitzpatrick, she needs you! Please come! The school! Come! Right in the middle of
class… down! Oh dear! The poor girl! Called ambulance… here they are! Yay! Oh, please
come Mrs. Fitzpatrick! Now! Mary, Mary, Mary, keep breathing, dear!”
Mrs. Fitzpatrick dropped the phone. It hung on its spindly cord, dangling just above the
ground. The muffled voice of Mrs. Beats screamed through the speaker, but Mrs.
Fitzpatrick had already started the car.

Late Afternoon
The sun shone through the dark clouds creating a single ray of almost godly light. Small
rain pellets fell on the windshield, but were quickly washed away by the swoosh of the
wipers. Traffic backed up miles on the highway and all that could be seen were faint red
break lights through the storm. Mrs. Fitzpatrick sat in her car, screaming, crying, and
praying to God that He would not take her baby girl. A sense of guilt overtook her whole
body. Was it her fault? Did she not act soon enough? She saw her getting so skinny! And
right before her eyes…
“I watched my child dying!” she cried.
“My entire fault… WHY?? So young… I don’t understand! I need my Mary! Mary, Mary
please, you’re so strong! Please, please, please Mary not now! NO!” pleaded Mrs.
Fitzpatrick through loud, agonizing sobs.
Then, all of a sudden, Mrs. Fitzpatrick stopped sobbing. She sat in her car quietly and an
eerie silence filled the air. “Not on my watch”, she whispered. And with that, she flung
open her car door and ran out into the rain. She flung off her heels and in the pouring
rain she ran with her two hundred dollar business suit. She ran for miles, crying and
screaming like a lunatic. She wasn’t going to let Mary die. “Today is not her day to die”,
she screamed into the rain. Everything she shouted was sucked up into a black hole of
torture. Nobody could hear. Nobody could listen. She ran and ran until her feet bled.
Finally, she reached the hospital entrance. Through blaring thunder and bright flashes of
lightning, she yelled with all her might, “Mommy’s coming Mary, mommy’s coming.”
With that, she barged through the automatic doors, leaving trails of red footprints. The
elevators were too slow for her pace and she took the stairs. Up to the fourth floor she
climbed and climbed. With each footstep came an echoing sound of “pit, pat, pit, pat”
as her soggy, torn feet reached Mary’s floor.
She banged on the access door and finally a guard let her in. She ran to room 567.
There laid Mary.



The Next Morning
“Hi sweetie, time to wake up”, a nurse cooed in Mary’s ear.
“Do you think she’ll be ok?” imposed Mrs. Fitzpatrick, looking like a train-wreck after last night.
“I can’t make any promises, but she needs complete nourishment at least for a few weeks… Now come on Mary, wake up. ”
Mary arose from her hospital bed, an IV tube injected into the crease of her elbow.
“You do know her weight, right?” asked the nurse to Mrs. Fitzpatrick. In response, she shook her head.
“Sixty-seven, miss. Sixty-seven.”
Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s mouthed dropped. Never could she have imagined her five foot one
little girl to be so sick. The door creaked open and in walked Oliver.
“Is Mary ok?” he asked affectionately.
“Ok is a relative term. She’s not dead”, replied Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
Oliver nodded, not knowing what to do or say. He glanced up at Mrs. Fitzpatrick and he
could tell they were thinking the exact same thing. Both of them sprang up and
embraced each other in a tight hug. Tears welled up in their eyes as Mrs. Fitzpatrick said
sincerely, “Oliver, thank you so much for always being there for my Mary.”
Now, Oliver turned pale and felt tinges of regret all over his body. “I should have told
you”, he said “I should have had the guts to tell you what was going on. She wasn’t
eating. I noticed her turn skinny, bony, sickly. I knew something was wrong, I knew it!”
“Oh, Oliver, sweetie, don’t beat yourself up. It’s not your fault.”
Suddenly, thinking over the events of last night, Mrs. Fitzpatrick was alarmed when she
noticed John was missing from the room. Oliver sensed her impatience and asked kindly
what was wrong. She just shook her head, but deep down, she understood what had
happened. Once Oliver was attempting a conversation with Mary, Mrs. Fitzpatrick
veered into the corner and dialed up her husband.
“Hello?” answered a groggy voice at the other end of the phone.
“John, it’s me. Where are you?”
“Where are you?” he laughed. Then, he burped and added, “Had a fun time last night. There was beer. Foster’s. Oh, I love me some Foster’s.”
“Are you drunk?”
“No”, he burped again, “Ok maybe.”
“You bastard! Get your drunken self to the hospital!”
“Honey, please, I’m not sick. I only had like five or six or maybe seven beers. No need to go to the hospital for that!”
“Not for you, John. For Mary! Can’t you just for once think of anybody but yourself?”
“Um, no actually. Hah! I think I’m just gonna move to Australia, plenty of Foster’s there! And koalas! I love koalas!”
“Fine, maybe it would be better if you were out of her life anyways!”
“FINE!”
“WELL GOOD!”
“I was just gettin’ the divorce papers ready anyway! See, I met this girl, Carol, oh man Carol! That woman can pull of a pair of pants so fast that…”
Gale hung up the phone. Who needs him?

Oliver
“Mary, hey, it’s me, Oliver.” I tried to keep my voice calm and collected, don’t
let her hear panic, but I was not calm and collected by any stretch of the
imagination! Here lay my beautiful best friend, my bud, my pal, my amigo, my
crush, sprawled helplessly across the hospital bed!
“Oliver? Oh, Oliver I’m so sorry” wept Mary.
“Why are you sorry? Stop saying that! I am the one who should be sorry! I’m
an awful best friend.” And with that, I sunk into a not-so-cushiony recliner
next to the bed.
“I’m so sorry I put you through this! I’m so sorry! I didn’t want to put you in the
middle! You shouldn’t have come! Just go home” pleaded Mary. She avoided
my gaze because she knew I wouldn’t go that easily.
“No, Oliver I feel really bad. Really bad. I’ve been ignoring you! I’m so sorry!
“Why did you come?” Mary asked.
“Because that’s what friends are for, right?” I bent down, seeing how close she
would allow me to come to her face, and wrapped my arms around her. The
tears rolled down my cheeks, so in an attempt to keep her from seeing, I just
kept my body close to hers.
“Are you crying?” she asked.
“No. No, my eyes are just sweating. It’s really hot in here. You should probably get
an electrician to check that out…” I couldn’t really help but laugh at my stupid
response. Although, neither could she. So, she wrapped her arms around me again
as I began to think, “Hey, we just had our first moment!”




Lunchtime
The sun streamed into the window upon Mary’s hospital gown. Another battle was soon
going to be upon them. It was lunchtime and Mary’s room was the next being served. As
Mary awoke, she looked her mom in the eyes and said, “Mom, I just want you to know
that I love you too.” Tears swelled up again in her mother’s eyes. It’s a good thing Oliver
left because Mary would have been so embarrassed to see her mom cry. “Sweetie, I just
want you to get better.”
“But, mom I can’t. I’m not eating and you can’t make me!” All of a sudden, Mary’s mood
flashed into a demon as she saw the food cart appear in the window. A smiling nurse
with a tray entered the room, but Mary screamed bloody murder at her.
“GO AWAY AND TAKE YOUR DAMN FOOD WITH YOU!” she shrieked. “NO I’M NOT
EATING! YOU CAN’T MAKE ME! LET ME GO HOME! PLEASE JUST LET ME GO HOME! I
WILL EAT! I PROMISE! JUST NOT HERE! I’M ALLERGIC! ALLERGIC I TELL YOU! GET THAT
FOOD AWAY FROM ME!” her screams went on for hours upon hours until her mom was
forced to spoon feed her. Still, even then, Mary cried and whined and moaned. Then,
her body purged it. The little food she had was spattered on the walls, rejected by a
stomach that hadn’t had rich food for months. Her mother gave up. There was nothing
else to do.
Around dinner time, the same fiascos arouse. Again, her mother tried, but, even with
some nurses’ help, the food ended up reprocessed on her bed. Her poor belly, or more
so what was left of it, was no longer able to stomach the real food. Was this it? Was this
the end? Now, Mary looked even sicker, pale and aching from the purging. She lay in her
bed, helpless. Mary then called her mom over and with a sense of all-knowing wisdom
said, “Mommy, whatever happens, I’ll see you again in heaven. I want my tombstone
red, just like grandpas. I love you. I always have and always will. You were a great mom.
I love you.”
“Mary, I will always love you more that you will ever know. I’m sorry this happened. I’m
so sorry, my baby. I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter. I love you”, she
whispered fighting back the tears. Then, she kissed Mary on the forehead and said
goodnight.

The Next Morning 8 am
“Good morning Mom!” sung out Mary.
“Well, somebody’s feeling better today!” smiled her Mom.
“Why shouldn’t I be? You know, I worked off all that food for so long that I actually owe
it to myself to eat!” said Mary through a grin. Her mom couldn’t help but smile, for she
hadn’t seen that sincere, happy grin on Mary’s face since almost a year ago.
Breakfast went according to plan. Mary actually ate everything on her plate! And the
best part is she kept it down! After she ate, however, Mary got to be a bit cranky (she
was very overstuffed for her tiny stomach). The same type tantrums arouse, but Mary
got over it faster.
“I’m so proud of you” Mrs. Fitzpatrick said through streaming tears.
“I’m gonna do it, Mom. I’m gonna do it.”
“I know you can sweetie, I know you can. We will get through this… Together.”
“Together.”



2 am

Mrs. Fitzpatrick was awoken by a large truck’s horn passing the hospital on the
highway. She figured while she was up she would go and check on Mary. As she walked
over to her bed, a strange impulse in her mind occurred. Slowly, she uncovered the
sheets from Mary’s face to find a pale face, stone cold with purple lips. Mrs. Fitzpatrick
screamed loud enough to wake the entire building while she furiously shook Mary’s
emaciated body.
“NO MARY! WAKE UP! PLEASE MY LITTLE MARY! NO!” she shrieked.
“Please my little baby, wake up”, was her last plead of Mary’s life.
At that moment, a flat beep had been blaring on one of the monitors and what seemed
like millions of nurses flooded in the room.
“NO! DON’T TAKE AWAY MY BABY GIRL! NO! MARY I LOVE YOU!”


The wake was so beautiful. They had it all decorated with white and
red roses surrounding the casket. So many people showed up. So many
loving relatives and friends. Oliver was there. He didn’t make his
presence known, but he was there. When he finally got up enough
nerve to pray into the casket, he sobbed, “Mary, oh my dear friend
Mary. I’m so sorry I never got a chance to tell you this, but I love you. I
love you so much. All those times you looked at Drake over me, oh
well truthfully, it killed me. I wanted you all along. I could have saved
you. I really could have.” Then, he stood up, flattened his black
swayed suit, and walked away. Oliver’s tears didn’t subside for the
rest of the night. He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, and he just plain
couldn’t focus. His first and only love, gone forever.
“Good-bye, bud” were his last words.
Even Faith was at the funeral. She cried almost more than everybody.
So, the “legally blond” does have a heart, as Oliver would say. Of
course, when Oliver did lay eyes upon her, he couldn’t help but take
pity on her. All the anger and rage he had against her for picking on
his Mary was now overcome with forgiveness.
“Only the good die young,” Faith whispered as she embraced him.
And it was the truth. Mary’s life was severed at age fourteen. She
never even got to see her sweet sixteen, her driver’s license, her prom,
her marriage, college, her children, her job, and her life goals, for she
had many.
Finally, around the end of the wake, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, who hadn’t been
even able to get out of bed until now, took a stand at the podium. She,
also, could barely utter a word, but the words she did manage to
pronounce were splendid.
“We are here to today to… to mourn the loss of… of Mary… my sweet
little Mary. However, all is not in despair. I recovered her diary, you
see and miss Mary has something to say.” And with that, she unfolded
a piece of paper and read,
All my life I have been surrounded with the negative. Too many people are overweight, that supermodel has rocking abs, and nobody is good enough to get into the “cool” kids group. We have all been put down one time or another, but it is the fact that we listened that makes one time different from the next. I never listened to what my mind said; I only listened to the critiques of those around me. And I followed what they had to say. Now, that’s my problem. Who knew it would be so severe? It’s just listening, right? Wrong. I have never looked in the mirror and said “Hey, you look good today.” I’ve always said, “Why is your stomach shaped like that?” or “Boy, you need to lose some weight.” So here’s the message, the overall mistake made by humans, by even me- We need to learn to love ourselves because nobody will ever love us back if we have never loved ourselves.