Writers 
It can’t be true.
That one call broke my heart into pieces. The world around me went silent, and the only
thing I could hear was my own heartbeat.
A shiver went down my spine, yet I was covered in sweat. I felt dizzy. I felt lightheaded. Everything around me seemed to cease to exist.
I couldn’t believe it.
You hugged me this morning, and now you’re no more.
It must be a prank.
It can’t be real.
I must be dreaming.
Someone, please, wake me up.
I didn’t know when a tear rolled down my cheek, followed by a flood of tears. My chest tightened, and I fell to my knees.
I screamed until my throat hurt.
Everything felt fake, but your loss felt even more unreal.
I rushed to the hospital like a madman. I didn’t know how I managed to drive safely.
And there you were, lying there.
Your face looked so peaceful, but you felt so cold.
A reality I didn’t want to accept.
A reality that had already unfolded.
I cried and begged you to wake up.
Just wake up and touch my face, so I can prove to everyone that you’re only asleep.
But nothing.
Not even a flinch.
“No. No. No.”
I shook my head and screamed.
I kept looking at your face, waiting for the slightest sign that this was all a terrible misunderstanding.
But you remained still.
This is the Denial stage of grieving.
Everyone has lost a person or two, a loved one, a pet, a friend, a partner. It saddens us to see someone we love leave, knowing they’re not coming back.
Denial is the first stage of grief. When we lose someone we love, a family member, a friend, a partner, or even a beloved pet, it can be difficult to accept that they are truly gone.
Grief is a natural emotional response to loss. It does not look the same for everyone. Some people cry openly, while others become quiet or numb. Some may feel anger, guilt, confusion, sadness, or disbelief.
The denial stage explains the unwillingness or difficulty in accepting that the loss has happened. It is a stage of disbelief, doubt, shock, and emotional numbness. A grieving person may find themselves thinking, “This cannot be happening,” or expecting the person to walk through the door at any moment.
Denial does not necessarily mean that someone will refuse to accept the loss forever. Sometimes, it is the mind’s way of slowing down the reality of something too painful to process all at once. It gives the person time to gradually understand what has happened.
Grief is not always a straight path. A person may move between sadness, anger, denial, and other emotions rather than experiencing them in a perfect order. The important thing is that grief takes time, and everyone processes loss differently.
As painful as it is, denial can be part of the process of coming to terms with the loss and learning to live with the reality that the person we love is no longer here.
It is painful, but it passes.
