Rumored Perfection

Alive Now

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Dalton’s POV

I squeeze her hand reassuringly. In addition to singing for the wake, Emily has to give the eulogy for a man she hardly even liked. Em and her dad never had the best relationship, and I knew it was hard enough for her to have to pretend like she liked him.

“I guess it’s time for me to start…” she said, looking at her watch. She took slow, measured steps up to the front of the room next to the casket. She stopped and looked at her father. Mr. Woodland looked like he was sleeping.

“Hello, everyone…I’m sure most of you probably know who I am by now, but for those of you who don’t, my name is Emily Woodland, and I’m the youngest of the seven kids. I’ll be honest; Dad and I never had the best relationship. I always felt like I wasn’t good enough for him, I never lived up to his expectations. He pushed all of us to our limits. Sometimes he pushed us past our limits, and up until recently, I hated being around him. Thankfully this past year, he and I grew close.” She stopped to wipe her eyes. “He seemed proud of me for the first time ever when I received my high school diploma in May, and he was okay with my choice to take a year off of school before going to college. He loved each of us kids in a way only a father could, even in the times we couldn’t see that. So now, I’d like to invite Gwen and Deb up here to pay tribute to the man who raised us.” I watched as a medium height brunette and a petite blonde got up and joined Em at the front for the song. The blonde sang with Emily, but her voice wasn’t half as beautiful.

“Far off hymns and funeral marches sound the same again

My ears are worn and weary strangers in a strange land

And I need a new song

I need a new song

And all I am is breath and vapor and shadows

And all I have is what I need, this I know

That I need a new song

Yeah I need a new song

Waiting in the night for you Lord

Burning in the sky for you, you oh

Prayers and aching in my body, in my lungs

Swear the bones around my heart are coming undone

Cause I, I need a new song

I need a new song”

After they’re done, Emily’s mom gets up and says a few words as I pull Emily to me and wipe the tears from her eyes.

“You were marvelous sweetie.”

“I didn’t think it would be that hard honestly,” she whispered into my neck. As the service finished she stood me up to go meet her family. I’d already met Joe, Rob and Ryan when I met her parents. Now it was time to meet Steve, Gwen and Deb.

“I wish you didn’t have to meet Gwen…she’s probably my least favorite. So let’s start with Steve.” We walked over to the man in the United States Air Force uniform who was quite obviously trying to hold back his tears.

“Stevie? I’d like you to meet Dalton, my boyfriend.”

“It’s nice to meet you Dalton.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Steve. I see you’re in the Air force. My uncle was an airman.”

“I like you already. What kind of car do you drive?”