Chapter Six
Today was the day of her funeral. The sky was a darker grey then usual which was the perfect colour for the occasion. I was dressed in a simple black dress and black heals and my long hair was pinned behind me. After joining Sam and the others in the lounge room we all made our way to where the funeral was taking place. The car ride was exhausting enough, the thoughts and feelings running around my body made this whole experience tiring. The feeling of numbness arose again. Today we were putting her to rest.
The chapel was beautiful but was filled with dark objects. No one said a word and I was grateful for that. I had to deal with this on my own. I felt bad about shutting Jake and Seth out, who soon became my two favorite members of the pack in the past couple of weeks, but it had to be done so I could move past this.
Sam walked in first, then the pack, then me slowly. They all took a seat in the second row. At the front stood her coffin. It was still. It all felt still. I liked being still. I noticed I was just standing in the middle of the aisle so I picked up my legs and sat in between Jake and Seth.
The man conducting the service rose up to the stage,
“Family…friends…Today we are here to say goodbye” he started. His speech went on for a while about mother being somewhere else and in the company of god. But what made me flinch was when he asked me to come up and say a few words. I rose my head up and noticed everyone’s stares.
“You don’t have to do this” Jake whispered in my ear. I felt as if I needed to do this so I got up and stood where the man stood. I felt sickness come over me as I realised my dead mothers body was lying right behind me.
“Uh Im not really prepared for this” I addressed the small- large crowd gathered in the tiny chapel, “My mother was well…not like many other mothers” I started, processing the thoughts running through my head, “She was real, not like the kind of real that you are all picturing, the kind of real that made you feel welcome, safe and secure whenever she was around. She was so caring and so understanding. She was everything I had and needed. It kills me today that I have to use the word was to describe her” by this time tears were rolling down my face,
“I-I knew what I had and everything I had with her. She was so clear and determined of what we had and what she wanted. She always wished and endured for the best for me. She always knew what to expect. She was a perfect representation and model of what everyone should be like so when something like this happens…nothing can prepare you for the aftermath. She made you see and notice things that changed your whole perspective of something. So today as I stand here burying her…I know that she is ok and that she has fulfilled her purpose in life. Im proud of her” I say backing away, “I love you mum” I walk over to the coffin and kiss the fingertips of my hand and softly place it on top.
I sit back down and process what had just happened when jake kisses me on the temple in a comforting way. I slide down a bit in my seat and rest my head on his shoulders wiping away the stray tears that still hung around.
After the conclusion of the ceremony we all walk outside and to the cemetery. Its bare and has a sense of lonesome there but in a way is comforting. We reach the spot where she is being buried and the perfect rectangle is cut out. The tombstone read;
Ami-lee Uley,
Loving mother and daughter
Forever in the hearts of many
It was simple but true, which in these days is hard to dictate. She was now being lowered in the place that her body will stay for the rest of this Earths life. Sam was the first to sprinkle the dirt on top, followed by Me then, the pack and everyone else. I laid the flowers that I had brought right in front of her tombstone and stood back. As I was walking over to Sam and Jake my head started pounding and before I knew it I was falling.
*
I was walking towards the place my mother was being buried. Wait hadn’t I been here before? Didn’t I just bury her? I kept walking this time getting faster as the crowd from the church and also the pack was assembled. Their faces were blurried though and I couldn’t only make out the shapes of the bodies. I looked down in the hole where my mother was meant to be but she wasn’t there. I was pushing people away when I looked up.
He was there.
He was there holding her.
He was there holding my mother.
He was seated on the dirt ground stroking my dead mothers head whispering things I couldn’t hear then he looked up and saw me. The grin on his face making my stomach churn.
“You shouldn’t of ran away” he spoke with an intense sound of evil lurking in his voice.
*
I was being shaken and my breathing hitched as I opened my eyes. I didn’t even notice that I was crying.
“Aria are you okay?” Jake asked, concern written all over his face,
“No” I said blinking away the tears and he pulled me into a firm hug as I closed my eyes. After a while I opened them and only just made out a suspicious figure a couple metres away. The fog of the cemetery made it difficult to see. I let go of Jake and walked closer to the figure when I froze and ran. I kept running till I was at the gates of the cemetery and out to the car.
It was him.
It was my father.
