I walked down the stairs and rubbed my eyes. I was quite tired from staying up all night so it was hard acting like I had a good night's sleep. The clock hanging on the wall showed the time as 4:31 so my mum would have to be very desperate to talk to my dad if she was awake at this time. You might not know but my mum really likes her sleep. She sighed and put the phone down. There were bags under her eyes and she had a grim look on her face. My mum said nothing and went upstairs into her bed. She said nothing till the next day when she came up to me in the afternoon while I was watching TV.
"Come on Ben. We're going to say goodbye to Dad."
I didn't really understand but if I did, I never would have gone.
The car ride there was long and silent. My mum focused on the road and nothing else. I had asked for my mum's phone and started playing angry birds. I don't understand? Why do the pigs like eggs? Do they want pet birds or something? Finally we stopped and got out of the cramped car. We were at a Cemetery. It was a weird place to meet my dad but I went with it. A lot of people were gathered around one thing. I guessed it would be my dad in the middle so I ran there and pushed through the crowd, ready to be embraced with a hug. I broke through into the middle and closed my eyes. But there was no hug. No pat on the back. Not even a sound. I opened my eyes and looked around. In front of me was a tombstone. I knelt down with tears in my eyes. The tombstone said
Here lies Thomas Hampton
1973-2017
Died While Fighting For
The Wizard Army
That made a lot more sense. Tears were running down my cheek. I needed to hold them in. I had to be strong for Mum... but I couldn't. I just couldn't hold in my tears so I just let them flow. I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was my mum. I got up and hugged her. I felt like if I let her go I would lose her as well. It was horrible; it felt like a big chunk of my body had been taken from me and placed in the grave in front of me. It explains the grim look on my mum's face and the lack of talking for the past day. I never should have come here, I never should have let dad go to the army. More tears flowed down my cheeks and onto the ground. I hugged my mum harder and she hugged back.
