Chasing Blue Cars

It must have been late afternoon
I could tell by how far the shadows stretched out
He walked with a purpose in his sneakers
Down the street, he had many questions
like children often do.

Cancer.

Of all the things that could possibly go wrong in Justin Timberlake's charmed life, that was the last thing he imagined affecting him.

But the truth was, his best friend since as long as he could remember... had cancer.

There was nothing he could do.

Now, he sat by his dying friend's bedside, watching the machines beep, and just staring at the needles and tubes strung every which way.

It had all happened so fast.

He remembered the day Trace told him the news. The conversation, now, seemed so surreal.

They walked side by side down the now empty sidewalk. It was dusk on a Sunday afternoon in the small town just outside Memphis. The town they'd grown up in.

Most families were sitting around their dining room tables enjoying a Sunday dinner. But Trace had called Justin up saying he had some big news to tell him, so here they were.

"What's going on?" He asked, kicking a stone alone the sidewalk.

"Do you ever think about God?" Trace asked, an unusual tone in his voice.

Jusitn looked at him strangly. "God?"

"Yea, you know Heaven and Hell? Praying and asking God for guidance."

"What?"

"Do you believe in God?"

"Yea, I guess I do." They kept walking and Trace was silent for a while.

"What do you think Heaven is like?"

"I... Man, I don't know. Why are you asking me this?" Justin stopped, forcing Trace to stop too, just a few steps ahead.

Justin watched as his best friend looked to the ground and it looked like he wiped away a tear from his eye before he looked Justin right in the eye.

"Justin... I'm dying." At that moment, a ray of sun broke through the overcast sky above them and a dark blue car drove by and honked at them. Someone inside waved.

Justin was speechless for a second. "Dude! Don't joke like that."

"I'm not joking. I have cancer."

Now, here he was sitting in this hospital room, while his best friend faded away in front of him.

Trace started to move and his eyes blinked open and Justin instantly moved closer to the bed.

"Hey."

"Hi." Trace coughed.

"How are you feeling?" Justin asked.

"tired. I'm just tired." his eyes fluttered and he struggled to hold them open.

"So go back to sleep."

"Naw. You never..." He stoped and took a deep breath. "You never told me what you thought about Heaven."

Justin took a deep breath. "I think it's everything you want it to be. All you're family is there with you, all the people you loved and lost. And there are lots of windows. So you can always watch over the people you left behind." He paused. "And it's sunny all the time."

He took his friends outstretched hand and held it between his own. He slowly managed to force a smile despite how much he wanted to cry. He fought to hold back the tears.

He knew this was the end.

"Do... do you think God will let me into Heaven?" Trace asked.

"I think he'll make you his right hand man. He'd be wrong not to."

A small smile formed on Trace's lips before another coughing fit forced it away.

"Get some sleep Trace. I'll be right here when you wake up." Justin said.