Daughter Nature

Chapter 13-My Mother's Funeral

The ballroom was decorated. The black dresses were made. The coffin had arrived, and my mother's body was inside of it. The guests had arrived (at the last minute I decided to invite the woodshop man and his son).

Everything was set.

Now it was the day. The day of the funeral. I woke up today thinking, Wow. I've never been to a funeral before, and, Today's the day I am forced to bury my own mother.

Not the happiest way to start the day.

About an hour after I woke up, Miss Crystal came into my room. No, I had not emerged from my room yet. She showed me the three dresses silently. Her dress was lacy, with a lace bow at the hip. Trina's was cute, with puffy short sleeves and silver designs on it. Mine?

I loved it. And at the same time, I hated it. The dress was long, and would drag behind me when I walk, with sleeves that stopped at my elbow, and it was covered in shiny beads. It was beautiful, but it reminded me more that today was the day.

"Thank you," I said to Miss Crystal. I couldn't meet her eyes.

I went into the bathroom and changed into the dress. It didn't quite match my tanned skin or bright summer-leaf green hair. It just looked too...dark. My twine bracelet from Trina, on the other hand, seemed to hang on my wrist solemnly in remembrance.

I pulled my hair into a tight bun and put in dark rose barrette. At least I looked somewhat appropriate for a funeral.

I finished cleaning up, and looked at myself in the mirror. The dress might not have matched my hair or skin tone, but at least in matched my non-existent smile.

I went downstairs to join Trina for breakfast. When I reached the dining hall, I sat down in my usual seat at the end of the table, Trina to my right. She was slowly eating some oatmeal, the servants no doubt forced her to eat, and was already in her mourning dress that Miss Crystal made. Servants then rushed at me, pushing me blueberry pancakes and sad smiles. I pushed away the pancakes. So they brought me oatmeal, almost to the point of forcing it down my throat.  I choked down the flavorless oatmeal and went outside with Trina.

The guests had started arriving. We greeted them all, from Old Man Winter to Father Time to the man from the woodshop and his son, and everyone in between. I shook hands and gave them all meaningless smiles. They were all here, and they were all sad. I appreciated how concerned they were.

Shortly thereafter, we walked in the procession. I had chosen a special spot for my mother, a spot she had always gone to when thinking deeply. It was a little spot in the woods, with tall pine trees all around, and a carpet of golden pine needles on the ground.

We didn't have a minister, but we all shared a moment of silence upon burying my mother. We had no minister because it's pretty hard to talk about rising to heaven when you live in the clouds.

So the procession walked back to the mansion. I took note of the empty streets. Everyone who lived in these clouds were here, mourning my mother. I was touched.

Now we were all gathered in the ballroom. I had never seen so much dark and black in my life. I didn't like it. I wanted to leave the crowded ballroom, go up to my room. But when I tried to escape, I was stopped. Twice.

The first time, I was stopped by Miss Crystal. She looked kind of sheepish, and was she...blushing?

"Miss Crystal, is everything okay?" I said. She nodded.

"Ummm..." she started, twisting her left foot on the ground and leaning her head closer to her shoulder. "Ummm, so, you know, Sky, um, so, can you...Oh, just forget it."