Somewhere in the Sky

If he had died...

Unknown Point of View

A large gray stone on a dreary patch of land marks the final resting place of Oliver Marshall. A group of people crowd the stone and sob, wondering what they could've done to save him.

They cry for themselves more than for him because once again, they've found themselves lost in circumstances they never thought they'd be in. They never understood what drove him to this and I don't think they ever will.

A woman, whom I presume to be his mother, is kneeling over his grave with a bouquet of flowers and a wad of tissues. She whispers something to the grave before standing up and collapsing into a broad shouldered man who wraps her in his arms. I see her mouth something to him, she seems to being saying, "I knew he'd do it..." but I can't catch what else she says before she buries herself in the man's shoulder once again.

A redhead walks up to the grave next and sets down some records on top of the flowers. He just gives the gravestone a small nod before rejoining the group.

Rain pours down on the group but they seem unfazed. They just stand near the gravestone in complete silence and seem to be waiting for something. They stare at the stone as if they expect him to pop out of the ground and come back to rejoin the world. They should know better. They should've listened to him. They might not even be in this position right now if they'd just taken him seriously.

By now everyone in town knows that he jumped and everyone has their own theory about why he did. Some say the crash had made him go crazy, others say that he felt guilty for being involved in the crash but I choose to believe that there was a more romantic reason as to why he jumped.

I didn't know him well but he went to my school and I always saw him holding onto Beckinsile with a huge smile on his face like he knew he was the luckiest man in the world to have her. Even a blind man would be able to tell how much they loved each other.

When she died he was never the same. He looked like someone had taken away half of his soul. I believe that's why he jumped. He loved her so much that he couldn't even live without her. If she went down, then he was going straight down with her.

Some people around town have been calling him selfish for killing himself. They keep saying things like, "Didn't he know how much he'd put his parents through? Why would he go and do this to them?" "What did he think he'd be achieving by jumping off the school roof?" "Did he need to go and put this town through anymore?"

I don't get why they're being so critical of him. They never said that Beckinsile was selfish for dying. They think that he did that for himself, that he was only thinking of getting himself out of the pain but what they don't understand is that he never did that for himself. He did it for her.

It was always about her; she was all he ever thought about. He didn't want anyone but her. So no, I don't think he was selfish for jumping off the building. I think he was so lost without her that he just wanted to go back to a time when he could be with her again.

Yes, it hurts his family to lose him and yes it's put the town through hell but I think he's happier wherever he is. He wasn't happy down here on earth so why should we try to hold onto someone who's just barely surviving? We have no right to keep him here if his soul belongs elsewhere. He deserves to be happy and I choose to believe that he's happy up there with Beckinsile.

The group remains by the stone, all holding onto each other and trying to make sense of everything that's happened. They cry and look up at the sky trying to see if they can make out his silhouette from heaven. The fact that they can't makes them cry harder.

I want to reach out to them and tell them that Oliver and Beckinsile are watching over them and waiting for them to come home but I hold my tongue and stay hidden behind the tree.

The whole lot of them walk away after a few more minutes of silence, leaving me alone in the graveyard. I walk over to the stone where they stood and say a small prayer before looking at what it says.

Here lies Oliver Marshall, a loving soul who needed to go home

August 18th 1993-August 29th 2010

"Holding on is what we do when there's no hope left. Letting go is what we do when we realize there's more out there..."

May he rest in peace...

May he rest in peace...

May he rest in peace with the one he loves.

May we all rest in peace knowing that he's in a better place now.

May we all rest in peace knowing that the demons are out of his head.

May we all rest in peace knowing that he's finally happy.

~~~~~