a boy for sunflowers (krii7y) [completed]

funeral

A side project I've been working on - probably one of the darkest things I've written. enjoy (make sure to read the description too)

if you've read the description there is a character death (not a spoiler, it's McCreamy) but if you do give this book a try I love you for it

It didn't matter what day it was, it was always going to be a sad day because a married couple were burying their son. It was always going to be a sad day because it was the death of a kid. It was always going to be a sad day because the kid didn't kill himself or he deserved it, he wasn't to know. Nobody in that town could have seen it coming. The only predictable thing that occurred that day was the rain that fell from the sky, oh so transparent and unfeeling, clinging onto skin, materials from clothing and rolling off the sides of shoes. It was the day of a funeral, everyone knew that. The day of putting someone to rest.

Almost the whole town attended the funeral. It had been the biggest event to happen there ever. The death of the boy was covered by newspapers across the country. After all, the town they were living in had been voted one of the safest towns in the US, but it could no longer cling to its title. Sociologists tried to find an answer as to why there were rising crime rates and hostility, journalists were trying to find their next big story and news reporters would get the story right, because it was real and that was what hurt the most. The media was a different debate in itself, one of which should not be talked about during a funeral.

Really, that didn't matter anyway because the funeral was as standard as funerals could get. The coffin came out, carried by family members. A speech was read out by some religious dude, he gave his condolences and people did speeches, because that was what happened at funerals. People hurt together, it was common practise and it happened rarely, but for someone working in the funeral business, it happened every single day.

There was a blond man outside of the church, his hair gelled and tied back into a bun. It was a rubbish effort to look smart and he knew it, but he had to look formal enough to be let in, anyway. He came alone, the news of the death had taken him by surprise, making him uneasy. The man felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, and even his black suit got warm in the cold winter rain. Harshly, he dug his fingernails into his palms, grunting but finding a release from the pain. Next, he took a deep breath before slowly putting one foot in front of the other and carrying on.

He knew he shouldn't have been there.

At some point during the service, a boy holding sunflowers walked into the church. It looked odd to people who didn't understand, but it was a funeral, and people brought flowers with them. The boy was pale with brown eyes and brown hair, a tremble in his walk as he held the sunflowers tightly, a somber expression on his face as he walked to the centre stage. For some reason, the blond could not take his eyes off of him and those bright, beautiful flowers.

"Jay, he um...he meant a lot. He was so happy, so pure. He didn't deserve this, he wasn't meant to go like this. Not at the hands of some godforsaken gang, I can't...I just...I-I wake up and I don't understand, he's not here anymore," the boy wailed, and the blond felt for him, he really did because his heart was beating so fast and he could already feel himself choking back a sob.

But the boy on stage was definitely worse. It started as a sob, and then he started crying uncontrollably to the point that his eyes were red, and he was squatting very close to the ground, on the verge of a breakdown. The blond assumed that one of his friends helped him, he could see something comforting him on stage.

"It really hurts because things won't be the same anymore, they won't be as bright as they were before," the boy finished his speech, and it was the saddest one of the day.