SNAP

CHAPTER TWO: PLOP

The funeral was quiet.

No one said much of anything. No one really knew what they could say.

Toby was such a good kid. He made everyone he met feel happy and he was completely nonjudgmental.

His funeral was full of so many people. It was the biggest funeral Avery had ever seen. There weren't enough chairs at the church. It was packed.

But silent. Completely silent.

The church was beautiful. A priest stood at the podium in the front. His words were elegant and filled the room with life… ironically…

Avery looked down at his arm brace that stood out like a sore thumb from his black cloths. He closed his eyes as a tear dropped and landed on the white fabric of his brace. He could still feel Toby’s hand on his shoulder.

“Love you man.” His words echoed through his head over and over again.

Toby’s sister Josey sat next to him. She looked at Avery. Avery was the closest thing she had to a brother now. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Josey had always had a crush on Avery. She felt guilty for that being a thought in her head right now. Today was not the day to worry about that. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind.

Next to her was her mother. A beautiful woman who looked like an angel. That's how Avery always thought about her. She always took care of Avery because of his life at home. She made sure he felt loved to the best of her ability. But today, she wasn't in the mood for that. Eye shadow ran down her face, but she didn't dare to let out a cry. She did not want to disturb the silence.

Next to her was Toby’s dad. He looked broken today. Toby was not just his son, but his best friend. And now he was gone. He thought about his boy. His adventures hiking with him, his games of chess. Pizza dates and trips to subway for a quick minute away. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and opened up the leather binding. Inside was a movie ticket. It was to Star Wars. Behind it was a piece of paper gently folded up. He pulled it out and unfolded it.

‘Der Dady,

Hapy favers dae. I hop u injoy it. Cuz I injoy u!

Lov,

Toby J. Smith.’

He held the letter to his heart and began to sob.

His wife wrapped her arms around him tightly. Then she finally gave in to the tears.

Avery broke down, too.

The only person who had ever loved him genuinely was now dead. And he just had to deal with it.

Josey took Avery’s hand and leaned on his shoulder.

Avery barely noticed. He just needed to cry on someone so he did.

---

The hearse arrived a bit late. There had been some bad traffic because of the rain.

They brought Toby’s coffin out of the church. It was pitch black with two gold bars on either side.

The rain hit the top of the container. Avery heard every plop. As if it was in slow motion.

The coffin was loaded into the hearse with complete care.

It rolled into the vehicle without trouble.