"I look at my new wristwatch in the dark of night. It tells me that I'm closer to my death, second by second. That is good news."
- Stephen King, Firestarter.
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Part One: Acheron
1991
When I was around seven years old, my little sister Persephone was born, and a few weeks later I had to go my first funeral. My great uncle Eddie died of a heart attack nearly the exact minute Persephone was born, and we didn't find out until Mom and Dad brought her home from the hospital.
Uncle Eddie was extremely reclusive. I've only seen him once when he was alive, at a family Christmas dinner he was forced to attend. He was thin and ghostly pale, with sunken-in cheekbones and deep purple bags under his eyes, and his face was always set in a cold, sullen expression. Eddie sat at the dinner table with the rest of the family and didn't talk, only stared down at his plate of food and barely picked at it. Sometimes he caught me staring at him, and he'd only smile back at me in his old, depressed way.
Even though I never knew him well, his funeral was very striking to me. Our family members seemed to have only shown up because they thought they had to, not because they were sad about losing him. Everyone wore black, no one cried, no one left flowers, and even the reverend acted like he would've rather been at home. I was shocked at how nobody cared that Eddie passed away. It was like if he dropped off a giant cliff, people would only stare passively at him as he fell. I was scared to death that if I ever died, this would be how people would react at my funeral. This thought kept me awake for days.
When I was forced to walk to the coffin and look at Eddie's face, one of my uncles came up to see how I was feeling. He told me about how I probably shouldn't live like Eddie, that I shouldn't shut myself away from the entire world. Then he went on to say that I should cherish my blessings when they were still around, for time will always keep ticking away....
And whenever we lose someone, we lose them for good.
Back then, I didn't really understand what he meant, but I still followed his advice as well as I could. I did not want to be forgotten when I died, and I didn't want anyone else to be forgotten either. Especially my little sister. As she grew up, she was constantly fighting illness and depression, and I tried my best to help her through it. I cherished her more than anything in the world.
But in the end, it just didn't mean anything. I've come to learn that sooner or later, you're just gonna lose everything anyway. And it doesn't matter if you cherish them or not.
YOU ARE READING
Through the Acheron
General Fiction[Formerly Persephone's Death Wish} Zander was seven years old when his little sister Persephone was born. A few weeks later, he had to go to his first funeral. His first experience with death left him mystified and overwrought, fearful that when h...
