PARKLAND, Fla. – Eden Hebron was in class when Nikolas Cruz shot and killed her best friend in a classroom at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Wednesday.
Eden, 14, was in classroom 1216 sitting next to her 14-year-old best friend, Alyssa Alhadeff. After she heard the gunshots, she saw Alyssa collapse. The 19-year-old gunman had killed her.
Eden likes to sing and write songs, but she said she hasn't really been able to enjoy music since the shooting took her friend. She is using poetry to cope with her feelings.
Here is one of her poems:
"We walked into class together and sat down.
It was Valentine’s Day in our sweet Parkland town.
We were laughing and doing our work, me and my best friend.
But little did I know that 5 minutes later, her life would come to an end.
I hear a sound. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Gunshots? That’s funny Alyssa, of course, we will survive.
We live in Parkland I thought, how could this be?
But sometimes your thoughts are not what you see.”
We run under the table in disbelief.
I have my friends next to me, what a relief.
They move to the desk to seek safer shelter.
But I stayed there, thinking the sound was just bad weather.
I close my eyes and wait for my teacher to say it’s a drill.
But before I knew it, our door was shot through and I saw his first kill.
Alaina, Alex, Justin, then Alyssa.
I’m next and this is not just paranoia.
He went to the next floor and the next.
All I could think about is, how many will be left?
The screams blasting in my ear.
The blood still won’t disappear.
I scream their names, call for my friends.
Nothing else to do, they are gone, they are dead.
Didn’t think I would live my worst nightmare.
I kept hearing shots and seeing gunpowder in the air.”“I run home and check the news.
How could you do this Nick Cruz?
More and more I find out died.
I wish this didn’t happen, and he never got inside.
No feelings, no emotions
How can you comprehend this traumatic distortion?
There are no words to describe, nothing else to say
That will justify my English class on Valentine’s Day."
