I'd Sell My Soul

Chapter 21: The Funeral

Katie Aberdeen's POV:

July 2022:

I smoothed out the skirt of my dress in the mirror as I stared at my reflection. I'd attempted to cover up my puffy pink eyes with tasteful makeup but it didn't hide the "I've just been sobbing" look. I sit down on my bed and start to zip up my boots when my mom's voice thunders up the stairs to my attic bedroom.

"Kathryn, hurry up! We're gonna be late." Mom calls up to me.

"Coming!" I yell back. I grab my purse and rush down the flights of stairs to the first floor where my parents, grandmother, and siblings wait impatiently.

"Were you crying?" Amanda scoffs looking at my eyes.

"Amanda, zip it!" Mom snaps at her. Amanda tucks her chin down slightly. Grandma puts her arm around me as we all walk out to the car.

"I know how this is a hard day for you dear. You let me know what you need." She offers me a warm smile.

"Thank you." I sniffle and nod at her.

We arrived at the cemetery and joined a large crowd of people stretching across the burial grounds, all walking in the same direction, to where the priest stood before a casket and a freshly dug grave. As we found our chairs, I looked up the way and saw none other than Allison Monroe standing stone faced next to Aunt Carla who had a sniffling Sophie in her embrace. I stared at Allison with her dead looking eyes and color drained face. She looked like a zombie. A shell of the person I once knew. I feel someone sit down on my left and turn to see Levi Colt.

"Did you talk to her?" I ask him.

"No." He simply responds without looking at me.

"You should. I think if anyone knew what to say to her right now it'd  be you." I push.

"Not now, Katie." He says firmly, this time making eye contact with me.

"You're just scared to see her again." I shake my head. The priest began talking and we all quieted down to listen intently. Halfway through he introduced Allison to speak. Allison stood up in front of her sister's casket.

"I want to thank you all for coming today to remember my sister Farrah Renee Monroe as we lay her to rest. Farrah was a wonderful mother, devoted deeply to her daughter, my niece Sophie. I always admired my sister for being the best mother while also being young, but she had a lot of practice, helping my Aunt Carla raise me. Farrah was a mother and a sister to me. And I'm forever grateful to her for everything she did for me. For all the times she curled my hair for school dances, the birthday cakes she made me, the laughs we shared." Allison starts but she falters a bit as tears start falling down her face. She sniffles and wipes her face with her left sleeve, staring down at the speech written on the paper in her right hand. She looks over at Carla and Sophie for a moment. She folds up the paper and shoves it back in the pocket of her black dress. "There are no words to describe the immense loss that my family is grieving currently. I'm thankful to the town of Colfax for rallying around Aunt Carla and Sophie in our time of need. The biggest take away from this tragedy and something I want to remind all of you of is this; if you drink and are thinking about getting behind the wheel of a car, I want you to think about this casket. A mother, a daughter, a sister, a niece, a good friend was taken from all of us by one man's poor and selfish choices. Think about that. A couple beers and suddenly I don't have my sister anymore. So please. If you have a drink, call a friend, call a cab. Do not drink and drive...for Farrah...thank you." Allison finishes and sits back down next to Carla. The funeral ends with Farrah's cedar wood casket being lowered into the ground and covered with a fresh pile of dirt. Devastating sobs can be heard from all around cemetery. The most bone racking cries were that from Sophie Monroe as the orphaned girl sobbed into her Aunt Allison's embrace. Still, Allison's face remained stone like, even as Carla cried. A sad scowl was frozen on Allison's face as she watched the grave fill up with dirt. The crowd dispersed as everyone journeyed back to their cars to head to the saloon for the wake. Allison remained by the grave as Sophie walked arm and arm with Carla off to their car. I stood a ways back from her, frozen in place, not sure whether to approach her or leave her be. I stare at the grave marker; "Farrah Renee Monroe, beloved mother and sister. August 19, 1990 - July 8th 2022, Til we meet again".