*** in Autumn
The Funeral
Friday 29th October 2011
A creak of the floorboards made Lisa look up. She grabbed her stuffed toy seal ‘Murray’ off the bed and held him tight. She kept her eye on her book as shivers ran down her spine. Her heart still pounded from watching woman in black. Another creak and another someone was walking towards her. Despite the fact Ross and Jenn were both in the house her imagination ran wild as thoughts of who it could be ran through her mind.
Suddenly without warning the door flipped open and a small slender finger in indigo blue skinny jeans and a spangled purple top leapt in with a werewolf mask obscuring her face. Lisa screamed and jumped backwards as Jenn burst out laughing and fell forward onto Lisa’s bed. ‘’Jenn, that’s not funny, you nearly gave me a heart attack’’ Lisa squealed.
‘’I’m bored’’ said Jenn sitting up and crossing her legs across her chest. ‘’I have an idea, come on’’ she said taking Lisa’s hand and leading her down the stairs. They pulled on coats and shoes before calling up to Ross that they were going out. Ross mumbled back something vague and Jenn pulled the front door open and dragged her twin into the cold October night air.
They walked down the road to the small abandoned lane and the hair on the back of her neck prickled. It almost felt as if someone was watching them, lurking in the shadows. As Jenn pulled open the gate to the cemetery Lisa groaned. ‘’Jenn, no this is a terrible idea’’
‘’What’s the matter? Scared?’’ Teased Jenn.
‘’Yes actually, terrified’’ Lisa replied as they walked inside. St. Michael’s Cemetery was a fairly peaceful place during the day. It was surrounded by ancient oak trees, their humongous roots twisting through the angels and slabs of stone. However in the dark Lisa could imagine ghosts lurking in the shadows and zombies staggering amongst the graves. It was completely quiet, no even the caw of a raven broke the thick silence. ‘’What are we doing here Jenn?’’ asked Lisa her voice shaking slightly.
‘’Nothing really, I just love it here and its nearly Halloween, you know when I die I want to be buried here’’ she said.
Suddenly there was a crunch of a foot on leaves and the girls jumped and clutched at each other. Another crunch sent them spinning out of the graveyard and running down the road until they were back on the well-lit streets.
Sunday 6th October 2013
As the black limousine parked outside the cemetery Lisa could already feel the tears behind her eyes. Her hand gripped the side of the car. The cemetery looked beautiful today as the golden sunlight bounced of the crisp autumn leaves. The white marble angels shone in the sunshine as the grass crept up the side of them. Birds fluttered from tree to tree arguing and flapping around still very much alive, unlike the other residents.
Lisa stepped out of the Limo as her brother Ross held her arm for support. Ross looked thinner than her had last time she saw him. His eyes were ringed with red as if he’d been crying and his brown hair was rumpled. Lisa dreaded to think what she looked like. She felt a hand on her shoulder to see her father. He was a tall man in a rumbled suit with greying brown hair. He bore a striking resemblance to his son and just like Ross, looked like he had been crying. He gave and a weak smile. Her mother Jessica stood next to him. She wore a black dress and heels and had tears running down her cheek. She looked frail and thinner that Lisa had ever seen her, her face was drawn and pale and her dark curls fell over her deep brown eyes.
Lisa gripped Ross’s hand as they walked inside the church. The interior was dark and stuffy. The light fragmented across the stained glass window causing coloured light to fall across the pews. The church was completely full with people, some of them family but a lot of them from school. In the second row, two girls stood sobbing on boys shoulders. One of them was Lydia Renner whose bottle blonde waves were in a neat ponytail. The other one was Sophie Merchant who was very thin with dark brown hair and glasses. Lisa couldn’t help roll her eyes as she took her place on the front row.
The funeral was definitely not what Jenn would have wanted. Jenn had always joked that she wanted her funeral to be melodramatic; she wanted four black horses on a black carriage with everyone wearing black lace and sobbing. When she got was half the school wearing high fashion in black and standing in awkward silence. She also got two sobbing parents and a distraught sister. Tears poured down Lisa’s cheeks as her mother talked through tears about Jenn’s hobbies and how close she was with Lisa. Her mother also referred to her as Jennifer which no one ever did which was weird.
After they came out of the church the sunlight had been joined by light drizzle which coated peoples hair and clothes in a thin layer of water. The light bounced off the water making the light look strange and a rainbow appear faintly in the sky. A neat hole was in the ground and Lisa’s coffin was brought out by the pallbearers and lowered into the ground. Lisa felt someone footsteps behind her and was suddenly reminded of the night of the 29th. She turned to see her best friend Rory stood behind her looking awkward. ‘’Its not really what Jenn would have wanted is it?’’ she said.
‘’I didn’t know her really, I just came to see if you were okay’’ he said. Lisa nodded and looked across the cemetery as her tears shone on her face in the dull light. This was it. Final. Jenn was dead and in the ground and she would never come back.
A creak of the floorboards made Lisa look up. She grabbed her stuffed toy seal ‘Murray’ off the bed and held him tight. She kept her eye on her book as shivers ran down her spine. Her heart still pounded from watching woman in black. Another creak and another someone was walking towards her. Despite the fact Ross and Jenn were both in the house her imagination ran wild as thoughts of who it could be ran through her mind.
Suddenly without warning the door flipped open and a small slender finger in indigo blue skinny jeans and a spangled purple top leapt in with a werewolf mask obscuring her face. Lisa screamed and jumped backwards as Jenn burst out laughing and fell forward onto Lisa’s bed. ‘’Jenn, that’s not funny, you nearly gave me a heart attack’’ Lisa squealed.
‘’I’m bored’’ said Jenn sitting up and crossing her legs across her chest. ‘’I have an idea, come on’’ she said taking Lisa’s hand and leading her down the stairs. They pulled on coats and shoes before calling up to Ross that they were going out. Ross mumbled back something vague and Jenn pulled the front door open and dragged her twin into the cold October night air.
They walked down the road to the small abandoned lane and the hair on the back of her neck prickled. It almost felt as if someone was watching them, lurking in the shadows. As Jenn pulled open the gate to the cemetery Lisa groaned. ‘’Jenn, no this is a terrible idea’’
‘’What’s the matter? Scared?’’ Teased Jenn.
‘’Yes actually, terrified’’ Lisa replied as they walked inside. St. Michael’s Cemetery was a fairly peaceful place during the day. It was surrounded by ancient oak trees, their humongous roots twisting through the angels and slabs of stone. However in the dark Lisa could imagine ghosts lurking in the shadows and zombies staggering amongst the graves. It was completely quiet, no even the caw of a raven broke the thick silence. ‘’What are we doing here Jenn?’’ asked Lisa her voice shaking slightly.
‘’Nothing really, I just love it here and its nearly Halloween, you know when I die I want to be buried here’’ she said.
Suddenly there was a crunch of a foot on leaves and the girls jumped and clutched at each other. Another crunch sent them spinning out of the graveyard and running down the road until they were back on the well-lit streets.
Sunday 6th October 2013
As the black limousine parked outside the cemetery Lisa could already feel the tears behind her eyes. Her hand gripped the side of the car. The cemetery looked beautiful today as the golden sunlight bounced of the crisp autumn leaves. The white marble angels shone in the sunshine as the grass crept up the side of them. Birds fluttered from tree to tree arguing and flapping around still very much alive, unlike the other residents.
Lisa stepped out of the Limo as her brother Ross held her arm for support. Ross looked thinner than her had last time she saw him. His eyes were ringed with red as if he’d been crying and his brown hair was rumpled. Lisa dreaded to think what she looked like. She felt a hand on her shoulder to see her father. He was a tall man in a rumbled suit with greying brown hair. He bore a striking resemblance to his son and just like Ross, looked like he had been crying. He gave and a weak smile. Her mother Jessica stood next to him. She wore a black dress and heels and had tears running down her cheek. She looked frail and thinner that Lisa had ever seen her, her face was drawn and pale and her dark curls fell over her deep brown eyes.
Lisa gripped Ross’s hand as they walked inside the church. The interior was dark and stuffy. The light fragmented across the stained glass window causing coloured light to fall across the pews. The church was completely full with people, some of them family but a lot of them from school. In the second row, two girls stood sobbing on boys shoulders. One of them was Lydia Renner whose bottle blonde waves were in a neat ponytail. The other one was Sophie Merchant who was very thin with dark brown hair and glasses. Lisa couldn’t help roll her eyes as she took her place on the front row.
The funeral was definitely not what Jenn would have wanted. Jenn had always joked that she wanted her funeral to be melodramatic; she wanted four black horses on a black carriage with everyone wearing black lace and sobbing. When she got was half the school wearing high fashion in black and standing in awkward silence. She also got two sobbing parents and a distraught sister. Tears poured down Lisa’s cheeks as her mother talked through tears about Jenn’s hobbies and how close she was with Lisa. Her mother also referred to her as Jennifer which no one ever did which was weird.
After they came out of the church the sunlight had been joined by light drizzle which coated peoples hair and clothes in a thin layer of water. The light bounced off the water making the light look strange and a rainbow appear faintly in the sky. A neat hole was in the ground and Lisa’s coffin was brought out by the pallbearers and lowered into the ground. Lisa felt someone footsteps behind her and was suddenly reminded of the night of the 29th. She turned to see her best friend Rory stood behind her looking awkward. ‘’Its not really what Jenn would have wanted is it?’’ she said.
‘’I didn’t know her really, I just came to see if you were okay’’ he said. Lisa nodded and looked across the cemetery as her tears shone on her face in the dull light. This was it. Final. Jenn was dead and in the ground and she would never come back.