Blue Dress

Lauren Malvica
Eng211w

“BlueDress”
From afar:

It was magnificent from a far; it twinkled against the glare of the sun. It was as if the sun followed it wherever it turned. “How’s my makeup? How does my dress look?” she would ask, and everyone had the same response “You look great!” Everyone did look amazing though, but it was that one dress that stood out so much more than the others. It was blue, but not just any blue, it was sparkling, almost twinkling, it almost made you want to make a wish upon it. You couldn’t describe it, it was too beautiful for words, and she was too beautiful. If I knew then that something indescribable and tragic would happen to the girl in the blue dress, I would have wished too stay in that moment forever.
She looked like a princess, like she belonged in a fairytale. Her makeup was done to perfection. She had a little shiny tiara right in the middle of her head with curls up all around it, and that dress was stunning. She stood quietly, yet anxiously waiting to partake in what was supposed to be the best night of our lives. She would take a few sips of her champagne and then smile for pictures. Finally, we were off.
When we walked through the door, the entire ballroom couldn’t help but stare at her from across the room. I sat from afar and could still see that amazing dress, so full of life and beauty. I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It was May 20th, 2005 our senior prom, our last prom ever. It was a night I would never forget, until now.

Up Close:
As I walked into the room, there was no laughter, no happiness, no one even spoke, there were just whispers. There was only quietness and sorrow that filled the room. Everyone had that same dazed and confused look on their faces, like they did on prom night. There were no fancy dresses or flashing cameras, just black. The room began to shrink in size and in the distance I could see that dress and as I got closer to it, the flashbacks of all of our memories came at me all at once, but it was different, the dress seemed different. It was still blue but not twinkling like I had remembered; it was dull this time, dull and lifeless. She still looked beautiful with her little shiny tiara, but pale and sound asleep. I stood in front of her; I bent down, kissed her forehead, held her hand and said “You look beautiful Joanna”. I guess I was expecting one of her infamous smirks, but got nothing. There were people sobbing loud at this point asking “Why?” I touched her dress now, trying to re capture what it once felt like and looked like and this time, it felt and looked so different. It lost its twinkle and shine somehow. I looked at all of our photos, one in particular. It was a photo of all seven of us girls at prom and that dress stood out more in that picture, at that moment, even more then it ever did. My eyes filled with tears and my heart started racing, and I started to think “Wow, this is real, this is happening right now”. I looked at her and realized how much of an angel she really was. She looked like a princess waiting to be kissed, in order for her to wake up, but it wasn’t that easy.
I will never forget the way she looked in that dress; and although I will always remember our prom night, I will never forget and I will always remember how she looked in that same dress on December 2nd 2005 resting lifelessly in the funeral home.