Karen Davidson was walking along the beach in Los Angeles, California. She had just come from the hospital where her mother had lost a three year battle with cancer. What am I going to do without her here, she thought. Why did she have to leave me? Tears formed in Karen's eyes. She looked out into the night. Her father was devastated. She didn't know what to do. Her father was all she had now.

Everything seemed so grim to Karen. She felt like part of her was dead, too. Karen thought back to when her mother was alive, full of energy, so loving and caring. She was the most beautiful woman Karen had ever seen. A lot of family friends said Karen looked a lot like her mother, but Karen didn't think she could ever be as beautiful as her mother.

Karen could see the headlines of the newpapers now. 'One Of America's Most Talented and Beautiful Actresses, Angela Steele, Is Now An Angel In Heaven'. Karen's mother and father met on the set of a movie they starred in together a long time ago. They fell in love, got married, and had a little girl they named Karen Hope Davidson. Then, three years ago, Angela, was diagnosed with cancer. But she continued to be strong for her husband and her daughter. Suddenly, Angela was in the hospital fighting for life.

Karen continued to walk down the beach, thinking about her mothers last hours. Karen started crying as she thought about when her mother told her how proud she was of Karen and the career she established for herself. Finally, Karen couldn't hold back anymore and dropped to her kness, sobbing.

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Kevin Richardson had just got done with a radio interview in Los Angeles. The interview went really well and he had some left over energy running through him. He and his friends were in a singing group called the 'Backstreet Boys', and they had just released their debut album a few days before. Now they were doing a publicity tour around the country to promote the album.

Kevin needed to get out of the hotel he was staying in, so he decided to take a walk on the beach not too far away. He was deep in thought about the events that had taken place that day. He was so glad to finally release an album in the US. He had waited for this day for so long. The 'Backstreet Boys' were already international superstars who won several awards overseas. But they were next to nobodies in the US. Slowly, but surely, their popularity was starting to build. The song, "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)", was doing really well on the music charts, and now they had released an album. Kevin couldn't have been more excited.

All of a sudden, he heard something in the distance. He stopped walking and listened for a minute. It was faint, but he heard it. He walked in the direction it was coming from. The more he walked, the louder the sound got. Kevin couldn't see too well through the darkness, but he saw a figure ahead of him, down on the sand. He started walking faster toward the figure and finally heard clearly that it was a woman crying.

He stopped walking and thought, Should I go and see what's wrong or just leave her alone? He was about to turn and leave when something inside said to go and help her. So he headed toward the woman.

All of a sudden, she stopped crying. She got really quiet, as if she was listening. Kevin stopped walking and waited. He didn't know if he should make his presence known or not. Then the woman got up off the sand and looked around her. Kevin was about to say something when the woman spotted his shadowy figure. Before Kevin could get a word out, she turned and ran. Kevin chased after her, but soon lost her in the darkness. He kept on searching for a while longer, but couldn't find any trace of her.

Soon, he walked back in the direction he had come, figuring it was time to get back to the hotel. When he got back, Kevin went straight to bed. It was a while before he would fall asleep, though. All he could hear in his mind was the heartbreak and sadness in the woman's voice as she cried. He didn't know why it affected him so much, but he knew he wouldn't forget that sound anytime soon. Finally, Kevin fell into a dreamless sleep.