This Tragic Affair
Smile
By the time we arrived, the service was already half-way through, for which I was almost thankful. I stood at the back of the crowd, beneath the branches of a large oak tree and watched the solemn scene play out.
Before long, people went up to pay their last respects, each laying red or white carnations atop the casket. After that, it was lowered into the earth and everyone went their separate ways, leaving behind floral arrangements, empty chairs, and an occupied grave.
I glanced at Ronnie, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. I left him to sort them out and made my way to the once empty hole in front of me. Looking down, I saw the pile of flowers, sitting innocently on the glossy wood ten feet below. They stared up at me from the dark and seemed like they were begging for a smile from me.
Well, if a smile was what they wanted, a smile was what they'd get. [Don't ask me why I was willing to smile for a flower, because I couldn't tell you. I guess it was one of those 'just because' kind of things.] I settled myself on the ground beside the hole's mouth and simply grinned. After a whle, I noticed Ronnie sitting beside me.
"Habeus corpus," I sighed out of nowhere.
"What?" Ronnie chuckled at my spontaneity, his eyes searching for an explanation.
"Habeus corpus- bring the body here in Latin. It was an inside joke Sophia and Michael had."
"Michael? Let me guess- old boyfriend?"
"Nope. Friend of Nat and Sophia's. I didn't really know him, but I heard a lot about him."
"Oh."
I'd heard people say that talking about things usually lightens the burden they bring, but I didn't really appreciate what that meant. Not until I actually tried it. I sat there, by that open grave, and passed at least an hour just talking to Ronnie about old memories.
"Well," he sighed after a while, "I guess we'd better head back." He got up and offered me his hand. I let him pull me up and wrap his arms around my waist for the last time that day. Placing my own hands over his, I closed my eyes and let out a small, contented sigh.
'Ronnie,' I thought, 'if there is a God, 'I can't thank him enough for you.'
Before long, people went up to pay their last respects, each laying red or white carnations atop the casket. After that, it was lowered into the earth and everyone went their separate ways, leaving behind floral arrangements, empty chairs, and an occupied grave.
I glanced at Ronnie, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. I left him to sort them out and made my way to the once empty hole in front of me. Looking down, I saw the pile of flowers, sitting innocently on the glossy wood ten feet below. They stared up at me from the dark and seemed like they were begging for a smile from me.
Well, if a smile was what they wanted, a smile was what they'd get. [Don't ask me why I was willing to smile for a flower, because I couldn't tell you. I guess it was one of those 'just because' kind of things.] I settled myself on the ground beside the hole's mouth and simply grinned. After a whle, I noticed Ronnie sitting beside me.
"Habeus corpus," I sighed out of nowhere.
"What?" Ronnie chuckled at my spontaneity, his eyes searching for an explanation.
"Habeus corpus- bring the body here in Latin. It was an inside joke Sophia and Michael had."
"Michael? Let me guess- old boyfriend?"
"Nope. Friend of Nat and Sophia's. I didn't really know him, but I heard a lot about him."
"Oh."
I'd heard people say that talking about things usually lightens the burden they bring, but I didn't really appreciate what that meant. Not until I actually tried it. I sat there, by that open grave, and passed at least an hour just talking to Ronnie about old memories.
"Well," he sighed after a while, "I guess we'd better head back." He got up and offered me his hand. I let him pull me up and wrap his arms around my waist for the last time that day. Placing my own hands over his, I closed my eyes and let out a small, contented sigh.
'Ronnie,' I thought, 'if there is a God, 'I can't thank him enough for you.'