My head was spinning…round…round…not stopping. It spun harder and harder…faster and faster…blurring out my vision…then I felt myself falling. The air caught me…it wasn’t strong enough. I hit the floor. Hard. But I felt no pain. I lay sprawled on the cold, hard marble floor. I tried to get up but nothing moved. I seemed to be paralyzed.

Then, an electric current shocked me, coming from an unknown source. The pain was excruciating. My vocabulary failed to supply the words for me to describe the extent of the spearing pain. It came again, shocking me not once, but three times in a row. I seemed to find my mouth and let out a shrill, blood curdling scream. I twitched uncontrollably on the floor, not in control of my movements. Spasms of pain tormented me, threatening to subdue me. I felt tired. I felt that sleep was just around the corner…

“Kristen! NO! DON’T LEAVE US. STAY WITH ME! DO YOU HEAR?! STAY WITH ME!” I heard a familiar voice calling out to me. Then there were other voices. They told me to stay awake. They told me to hold on.

Why couldn’t they just leave me alone?! It had been a tiring life. I wanted to be rid of it.

Another paroxysm jolted through me and I succumbed to the numbness. So this was what it felt like to be lightheaded, although I was sure that people usually used the word in other contexts. The numbness was incapacitating me. I gasped for the air which my lungs couldn’t seem to find. Then, I heard the beautiful voice of an angel singing a lullaby…after fighting the impossible battle for so long it was time for me to surrender. And as I let the numbness take over, lulling me into the abyss of sweet, eternal slumber,

Kristen Vonne Miller was no more.