Staring Down the Dragon

When Rell DeMello went back to Kailua High after being treated for cancer, some kids called her brave; some said she was a hero. But, Rell didn't want to be a hero, she wanted to be normal, Rell "before cancer." Besides, she knew she wasn't brave. When Dr. Baden told her she had cancer, she cried. And after all the surgeries, the chemotherapy and radiation, Dr. Braden didn't say "You don't have cancer anymore." He said, "I find no evidence of cancer." Rell cried again. "No evidence" - like weeds in a garden, creeping under the surface, until one day a pale green shoot pops through the ground and chokes all the budding flowers. Rell hated cancer. She hated the word. When kids asked her if she was cured she'd say, It's not like that. It wasn't the answer they wanted to hear. They wanted a storybook ending with a handsome prince and a gallant white horse - not Nate Lee and his rust-bucket truck. They wanted a perfect life movie of a blonde cheerleader who got cancer, almost died, was cured and, when she went back to school, was crowned Homecoming Queen. It was just like Rell's life except for the part about being blonde, a cheerleader, Homecoming Queen and... cured.