• Meet Sabrina Pesche, a ten year old girl, member of Saint Michael's Catholic School. She had dark chocolate hair, loving brown eyes, and a cute way of talking to people. She was a kind soul, and very friendly to everyone she met.

    She was the daughter of a wealthy bank owner. Their family was a slightly dysfunctional one; her father and mother were often away from the home, but she didn't care. Her two brothers, Mario and Carlos, twelve and six respectively, were there to fill the gap.

    One night, she and her two brothers were alone at home. Their father was finishing up at a business meeting, and their mother was out of town at the time.

    Two armed men, roughly twenty-two in age, burst into the house, and held the frightened siblings at gunpoint. They demanded for Sabrina to call her dad, or they'd shoot Carlos.

    Having no choice, she complied, phoning her dad. He picked up, and she told him, "Dad, there's been an emergency. We need you here, right now.", while one of the men held a gun to her brother's head, his hand itching on the trigger.

    Thirty minutes later, their father pulled into the driveway, his blue Sedan slowing to a halt. He opened the front door and walked inside, to see his children held hostage by an armed robber.

    The robbers led them into the basement where they wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone outside. They gathered the family members into a circle, kneeling on the floor, facing each other.

    The robbers came to the house because they believed the family had some sort of vault hidden on the property. The source of this information was undetermined by police, but there was one problem with that statement...

    They didn't have one.

    Holding a gun to the back of Carlos' head, one of the men addressed Mr. Pesche. "Tell me where the vault is, or I pull the trigger." Mr. Pesche, of course, didn't have a vault of any sort. He desperately tried to reason with the gunman, but to no avail.

    Sabrina watched in horror as her little brother's brains were blown out, executioner style.

    Shocked by the sudden death of her brother, she could only cry and stare at the pool of blood on the floor as the same gunman moved toward Mario, asking the same question. Once again, Mr. Pesche told him that there was no vault. He told the gunman that he could take whatever they had in the house, but not to kill anyone else.

    In response, the robber simply cocked his pistol, and Mario joined his brother in the dark abyss.

    Shortly followed by Sabrina.

    And then by Mr. Pesche.

    The entire family, save for the mother, died that night. December 24th, the night before Christmas.

    Over the course of the next year, students and parents alike pitched in money to the 'Pesche Fund' and purchased a monument for Sabrina. We cleared out a section of the school, and replaced it with an outside garden, filled with flowers and a single statue of the virgin mother, Mary. Later, at our eighth grade graduation, we bought a stained-glass window and had it placed above the entrance to our school. I couldn't read the inscription in the glass... I had something in my eye at the time.

    Sabrina was... well, she the closest thing to a crush I've ever had. We were both in the fourth grade, the same class, and took the same bus home. I never mustered the courage to talk to her about how I felt, and it is something I regret to this day.

    The moral of this story? When you have the opportunity, take it. Seize life. Live with no regrets; and whatever you do, don't pass up a chance at happiness.Otherwise, it could be taken from you, in the most unexpected of ways, at the worst possible time.

    Carpe Diem.

    --
    About the Story:

    As an after note, this entire story is completely true, except for minor details. The entire family was murdered (save for the out-of-town mother.) The murderers were caught two blocks away as they attempted to flee from the scene after having looted whatever they could from the home.

    The mother, having received the news, became depressed and has stayed single. The last thing I heard about her was that she had learned to cope with her stress... through narcotics.