If Red Means No, Invert The Color

The Funeral

It was a gloomy day, dark rain clouds covered the sky, wind rushed wildly, and the air was bitter. Who's bright idea was it to have a funeral outside on a day like this? Chair's were being laid out upon the grass, a green tint stood above the gravesite, shielding the funeral goers from the rain that now poured. A brown casket stood at the front of the tent, sitting down on long metal bars, being prepped to be lowered down into the ground. Tons of people were there, classmates, teachers, family, and old 'friends' of Everest Daniels, all wearing black, all crying. It was so crowded underneath the tent, that there were no seats left, causing some to have to stand. The preacher said his prayers and read his scriptures, Everest's mother spoke, but not his father. She was stammering over her words, and they all were falsified. Not because she didn't love him, it was because she couldn't tell the truth. The rain began to pick up, and the casket began lowering, flowers being dropped into the grave as people left the funeral, his mother in her husband's arms, weeping heavily. 

Once all had left and bid their condolences, one boy stood in the back, waiting for his turn. Once all of the students and teachers were gone, as well as most of the family, the boy walked forward slowly, his hair pulled into a ponytail, his jacket soaked from the rain, and his tattoos peeking from underneath his shirt collar. Every step seemed to be impossible, he was still in shock, and in disbelief, but Keiran knew he had to face this, if he wanted to have any closure. He had to, or else he never would. He stood at the foot of Everest's grave, the casket now fully lowered six feet under into the ground.

Kieran's heart felt heavy inside his chest, all of the feelings he had kept inside him began to rise to the surface, and his breathing became heavy as the tears spilled over his eyes. He found himself on his knees, they had collapsed from underneath him. He sobbed heavily, hitting the dirt with his fists as hard as he could, letting out cries of pain, and cries of remorse. The tears would not stop flowing, he hadn't cried in so long, but he couldn't hold in all of his pain any longer.

"Why?" he sobbed, his voice cracking.

He was gone. He was truly gone. He was in that casket, and would never return. Not ever. Forever to be a rotting corpse, now only existing in Kieran's memory. And that killed Kieran. Part of him wanted to be dead, but then he knew he wouldn't be able to remember, and those memories with Everest meant the world to him. He could never let them go. They had no photos together, no physical evidence of their shared love, all that was left were memories, even though remembering was painful. The pain of Everest's death felt like a thousand knives, all stabbing him at once. He had lost Everest, but he knew he had to continue, to live on; for Everest. As painful as it may be, he knew he had to do it, not only for Everest, but for himself.

"Another lover hits the universe.

The circle is broken.

But with death comes rebirth.

And like all lovers and sad people,

I am a poet."

-Allen Ginsberg