Mari's return

Mari

It was one more day when the Sun reached Mari’s bed. One more day she wouldn’t have to spend alone again. Literally as Sunny was just a few feet away from him in his own bed. The siblings were sharing a room again as they had before the recital, much to Mari’s suggestion. Regardless of where she slept, Mari had risen to the Sun’s blinding rays and basked in its brilliant glory.

As she did, Mari reminisced on all that happened to her, She had returned home after years of fighting, reunited with her old friends, and had even rescued Sunny from his inner demons. It was all she had ever wanted ever since she awoke in that other world. But, Mari couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss on this particular morning. Quickly glancing at the nearby alarm clock, Mari’s eyes widened as its simple design told her one thing. One thing that caused Mari to jolt straight out of bed.

“Sunny!” yelled a panicked Mari at her half-asleep brother. “C’mon we’ve got a funeral to catch!”

Mari and Sunny were rushing towards the church in dark formal attire. Mari was in a plain black dress in a design similar to the one she had planned to wear for the recital. While Sunny pretty much wore the same thing he always had, except his white shirt was replaced with a black one and he wore the eye patch Basil had gifted him over his scarred eye. The two had arrived out of breath at the steps to the church, where two tall men and a rugged girl stood, and appeared to be arguing.

“Kel, I swear if you don’t keep that thing wrapped around your neck…” yelled Aubrey who was also dressed in a plain black dress and black ribbon in place of her teal one.

“But, it’s trying to kill me! There’s no way that this snake isn’t attempting to suffocate me!” rebutted Kel as he tried to remove a black necktie from the collar of his dark shirt that had a noticeable stain on it.

Hero dressed akin to Kel was trying to keep the fabric fastened around his brother’s tan neck. “Hold still, Kel! This wouldn’t have been a problem if you didn’t spill Orange Joe on your shirt!”

“You still owe me a dollar because of that, you jerk!” cried an upset Aubrey as she jabbed Kel’s shoulder.

“Me… too…” chimed in Sunny, his voice still weak in reality from years of neglect. Either way, the frail boy needed to voice his concern over Kel’s debt to him.

The trio had stopped what they were doing as their attention was drawn to Sunny and Mari's sudden arrival. “Sorry we’re late everyone,” said Mari as she and her brother approached their friends. As they did so, the large doors to the church suddenly swung open revealing a blonde boy dressed in similar attire to Sunny while a flower was tucked behind his ear.

“Guys,” said a teary-eyed Basil, “I’m glad that you could all make it. But, could you not make a ruckus at my grandmother’s funeral?”

Upon seeing Basil, Kel had ceased resisting Hero’s efforts to finish the tie around his neck. While the rest of the group had surrounded the flower boy in a hug.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Basil,” Aubrey said somberly. “I know it might not mean much coming from me, but I- we’re all here for you.”

“Yeah… we’ll always… be here…” spoke Sunny in agreement.

“That’s right, Sunny,” said Mari. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything for her, Basil, but we’re here now to do everything we can to help get you through this.”

A wide smile grew upon Basil’s face as tears drew from his face. “Thank you. I’m glad you’re all my friends.” While the group embraced in the hug, Mari felt a certain warmth from being reunited with all of her friends since that eventful day at the hospital.