Along Came Danny

Walking on Sunshine.

Hey Guys,

New update, sorry about that last cliffhanger.... ooops.

just the epilouge left to go, so I hope you enjoy this chapter.

please comment, vote, fan, like my facebook page ect. your support means everything to me!

Cheers.

***

I looked at myself in the mirror; I hadn’t been able to sleep in the three days since Danny’s passing.

Lifting the heavy black dress over my head I tussled my hair, exactly the way Danny liked it before grabbing the pieces of paper off of the kitchen table and walking to the Tram stop with Dad.

Silence carried with us until we were seated on the tram, when Dad finally spoke.

“You haven’t written anything” Dad noted, pointing to the blank pieces of paper that I held so tightly in my hands.

 I just nodded and looked outside the window, watching the world fly past me.  The tram stopped near Danny’s house, and making the final distance over to the house we were greeted by Oscar, a smile was plastered on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Oscar brought me into a tight hug, his arms encircling my small body. Pulling out of the hug he nodded in my direction before shaking hands with my Dad.

“He was a good kid Oscar. If you need anything, anything at all. You let me know,” Oscar nodded gain and patted Dad on te back before leading us into the backyard.

Danny had put in his will that he wanted the funeral to be in the backyard and to be buried in the local cemetery, so everyone was talking quietly between them as the funeral Director stood up to speak.

“Can I please have everyone seated.”

As people took their seats Lindsay waved me over, a gentle smile did nothing to light up her usually cheerful face.

Music began to play as  Jeremy, Oscar, Leo and Danny’s Uncle Angus brought in Danny’s coffin, the coffin a simple unpainted box.

A small amount of laughter filled the backyard as the song playing finally sunk in. ‘Walking on Sunshine’ played until the coffin was placed on the benches down the front, and the four men sat down, Jeremy sitting in the seat next to me.

“We are gathered here today to remember. Remember the beautiful boy that was Daniel, James, Rossi.” The funeral continued on, as his friends from school began to speak, his uncles, Aunties, and finally his closer family members.

Julie made her way up the stairs and stood next to Danny’s coffin. Her eyes swollen from the endless stream of tears.  She cleared her throat, and began to speak.

“He was my baby, my baby who deserved more than this,” her voice broke and a fresh set of tears began to fall. She shook her head and walked back down the stairs to her seat.

Jeremy stood up, grabbing his Mother’s hand and walking her back up the stairs. Lindsay and Oscar followed the two, their hands in each others.

“What Mum wanted to say,” Jeremy began, his voice quivering.

“She wanted to say that Danny was always the brightest light in the family. His joking, laughable personality would make anyone fall in love with him so easily, You can tell just by his choice of funeral song,”

The backyard filled with soft laughter again, Lindsay moved towards the microphone and continued for Jeremy.

“Danny was never sad about dying, even though he knew what was going to be the outcome. He never complained when we had him going through chemo, and when the doctor announced that Danny was terminal, he looked the doctor in the eye and said ‘well, I better get a move on and do some awesome shit.’ Danny took himself off Chemo and lived life to the very best in that final month of his life,”

Oscar stepped in, clearing his throat.

“He met this wonderful girl, Katie, and they both taught each other new things. With Katie he was the happiest I had ever seen him, and when he couldn’t see her for two weeks because of the near fatal spread of the tumour, he was so saddened. So thank you Katie, for letting our boy enjoy his last moments. “Oscar wiped a tear from his face as he continued.

“Now, Katie will say something for Danny.” Everyone clapped slowly as I stood, the still blank paper curled in my fingers. I played with the ‘K’ necklace that Danny had bought me for Christmas.

I reached the microphone, my hands shaking as I cleared my throat. Jeremy stepped forward and placed a hand on the small of my back, nodded in encouragement.

“I met Danny just over a month ago,” I began, looking out into the small crowd.

“He ran into me when I was getting Chinese, literally ran into me.” Everyone laughed and I continued.

“We became really quick friends, and as of a week ago we began dating.” Taking a deep breath I took the microphone and walked towards the coffin, my fingers lingering on the polished wood.

“Danny, I just want to thank you for everything you have done for me.” I looked back out to the crowd, wiping a tear that managed to escape.

“Before I met Danny, I hated life. I sat at home by myself. No friends, no hope. But along came Danny, and he taught me that bad things happen in life, but you need to pick yourself up, dust of your butt and keep moving. He introduced me to the most amazing people I have ever met, and he made me believe in myself again.”

I placed the microphone back into its stand, looking around the backyard again.

“And he wanted me to do one thing for him, finish the bucket list. So these compliments are from both Danny and I, as his final task on his life bucket list.”

I proceeded to give everyone in the room, whether from my own experience of them or from stories from Danny. The compliments put smiles on everyones faces, and with stories from Danny, made everyone laugh.

“With that,” Julie grabbed the microphone off me when I had finished

“Danny would like you all to write your favourite memories on his coffin, so he can be buried with the happiness that he brought you, and you brought him,” Oscar placed coloured sharpies on the coffin as we all grabbed the markers from the coffin and wrote on them.

I looked down at where Danny’s face would be, and bringing my lips to the position his would be I kissed the coffin gently, before writing in that spot.

“Thank you, for everything.”