Alana

Chapter Six: Landslide

Alana was sitting next to Rhiannon as the preacher gave the traditional sermon, and she looked at Riri, who hadn't talked since she'd been there. No one really approached them except Rhiannon's brothers, who were sitting beside and behind them. George was sitting by himself, his usual stoic self. When the preacher was done talking, she said,
"And now for a word from Mike's husband, George."
George stood up and hobbled to the podium and sighed as he adjusted his glasses and pulled out a folded a piece of paper.
He sighed again.

"It's never easy getting over the love of your life. You think you're gonna grow old with them and they die first and take a part of you with them and life is never the same because you'll... You'll miss everything about them. You'll miss the way they laugh, you'll miss their smile, you'll miss how much laughter they created. When the family comedian dies, the house is deadly silent. You'll miss his Cologne, you'll miss his silly jokes, the little things that you did together, like watching movies or preparing dinner. You'll miss everything about them, and the worst part is that you have to live out the rest of your life without them. And now, Rhiannon has a song that she'd like to dedicate to Mikey."

Rhiannon usually wore black and purple, but today it was plain black, not a speck of purple or any other color. That was the most Alana had heard George talk.

Rhiannon sniffled and approached the mic meekly.
She didn't say anything but pressed a few buttons. “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac started playing. Alana looked behind her, all of the pews were full. On the side where Rhiannon and her were, were all of the children that Mike and George had raised. She looked on the other side and saw some of the friends that Mike had gathered. He was quite the social butterfly, because that side was full as well. He left behind quite the footprint.