Luna Newton was a star student. She turned her work in on time, aced tests, and took classes for tenth graders being in the eighth. Peers thought of her as a try-hard but school just came easy to her. Once she was diagnosed, however, things began to change. Leukemia ate up her body and soon it took work to stand up in the morning. Her grades began slipping and she fell behind. Her days were then spent in a hospital bed under white lights. Checkups began occurring more often and the visits fewer until the only friend she saw was Kelly. Even then, Luna thought they were out of pity instead of good will.
Nothing hurt Luna more than when her long, strawberry-blonde hair began to fall out. Once she had enough, nurses came in with the scissors and razors. Tears silently rolled down her cheeks as the last of it fell onto the cold tile. Her parents watched their child go through the worst and felt they could do nothing to help but be there for her. Her parents fell asleep by her side on uncomfortable chairs. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. As snow fell in the Winter, Luna had a bad case of cabin fever.
One morning Luna woke up without the usual pessimistic thoughts. Unsure why, she went about her day studying and scrolling through Instagram with no purpose. Her parents entered her room with a look of excitement. Oh no, please no surprises she thought as they sat at her bedside.
“We know this is all really hard for you and we decided you might need a new friend.” Her mother prefaced before walking out of the room. She returned with a tiny creature squirming in her hands. Luna day up in a surprise as a month old husky crawled over her bedsheets.
“Is this for real?” Luna’s eyes welled up as the puppy walked up to her face and laid on her chest. “What's her name?”
“She doesn’t have one yet but your father and I were thinking Sunny would suit her,” Her mother answered, “What do you think?”
Luna replied, “Sunny is the perfect name” as she nestled her new friend.
After that, the two were basically inseparable after that. Her parents would bring Sunny every day before work and at times, Sunny could stay overnight. Luna had a new best friend and Sunny had a home. Shortly after, Luna began to rapidly recover. Nurses would return with better news than the last. A few months later, Luna left the hospital smiling and holding a heavy puppy in her arms. Luna, for the first time in a long time, was able to really have fun. She played with and pet Sunny all day and Sunny slept in her bed at night.
The night before she was to return to school, Luna was feeling the most stressed in a while. When she looked at Sunny, she knew she would be alright because she could count on her puppy to get through tough times. After all, she’s done it before.
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