The funeral
Albert’s friends arrived the following day. They were tired because of the trip but they insisted on helping, anyway. Octavia and Dalia took care of some of the preparatives for the funeral and kept Asha company. Robert went to pick up the twins from John’s parents' house with John, he was surprisingly good with kids. And Myriam tried to make Albert go back to his normal self. He had been sleeping since the day before, and every time they tried to wake him up he reacted violently.
Myriam sat by his side on the bed and stroked his hair, sweaty from the sleep. It hurt seeing him like that. She leaned over and kissed him on his forehead. Albert moved in his sleep.
-Albert- she said softly.-Wake up.
He shifted without waking up, Myriam insisted until he opened his eyes. He looked at her without a hint of recognition, he didn’t try to attack her, he was just passively lying in the bed.
-Albert, it’s me.
He seemed to react to the sound of her voice, he focused his gaze and started crying. Myriam lay down by his side and hugged him until he stopped.
-Myriam.- he muttered in a hoarse voice.
-Yes, I am here, with you.
-You came. It was my fault, all my fault.
She helped him out of the bed and into the shower, after making sure that he would be able to bathe himself, she went to put some order in the room and pick the clothes he would be wearing afterwards. When he was ready, Myriam took him to the funeral. He had improved a lot, but he still didn’t seem to be able to function normally.
-Do you want to talk about it?- she asked.
-Not now, I have to talk at the funeral and that is going to be bad enough, maybe after some days…
Myriam nodded and took his hand. They walked up the hill to the cemetery, the same one he had been not so long ago. He wondered, darkly, if he would end up under that same dirt too. Myriam pulled his hand, he was walking much slower now, maybe trying to delay what he knew would be the last goodbye. When they arrived at the graveyard they saw that all the people of the town had gathered there. Mayra was young, and young people didn’t usually die. Also, she had lots of friends at the school who were heartbroken after knowing what happened to their classmate. The clear casket laid by the grave, covered in flowers, Albert knew that he wouldn’t be allowed to open it since Mayra had impacted against the rocks and was severely disfigured. Albert’s family came to meet them with his friends behind them. He appreciated that they had come in such a haste, even if he didn’t know how to show them his gratitude.
-We are going to start now, Albert.- said Asha looking at him worried.
He simply nodded and sat on one of the chairs, he didn’t understand most of the funeral, what were words when his sister was dead, induced to kill herself by a twisted witch? Suddenly he found that his mother was talking to him.
-Albert, do you still want to talk?
-Yes.- he said resolutely.
-Then, you are next.
Albert stood up and positioned himself next to his sister casket. He touched the wood, feeling it warm because of the summer sun, a sun that would never again warm his sister’s skin. He cleared his throat, his voice still hoarse from the shouting.
-Mayra was always my little sister, I always cared for her and I always loved her. And I was with her when she died. I really regret I wasn’t with her before, maybe I could have avoided the tragedy. But Mayra wasn’t the way she died, Mayra was much more, and that’s why we are here, to remember all the times she helped us, all the times that her smile brightened the day. My only regret is that I should have told her this more, I should have let her know that she was an extraordinary person, that she deserved all the love she could get. My only regret is that it’s her the one who is lying in this coffin when it could have been me. But she has left us, like Lara, my grandmother, and like Mark, my father. She has died because of something she wasn’t even part of. She has left me alone, to blame myself for her death. I swear that I won’t rest until she is avenged because no one else in the world deserves to go through what she went through. Mayra, little sister, I will miss you.- his voice broke off as he fell on his knees next to the casket, he kissed it pouring his tears on it.
Myriam walked up to him and helped him back on his feet, then they sat down on the chairs again. The funeral continued, Albert saw blurrily behind his tears how the coffin was taken down inside the grave, and how the dirt covered it. People started leaving as they were giving the last condolences to the family. When only Albert’s family and his friends were left, Myriam, Octavia, and Dalia planted some moonbeam plants over the grave.
-She deserves some color.- said Myriam cleaning the dirt from her hands.
Albert took her hands and kissed them. He felt that he didn’t deserve to be loved by such an amazing woman. She shook her hands free and kissed him. Then they walked back to his parent’s place for dinner, after all Asha had food for more than a week.
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