Tangled in South Park

Halloween

*A Few Days Later*

"I haven't been back to the cemetery in many months now," I turn my car off, looking at the girls in the backseat using the rearview mirror. "I know that I should probably have come back, but the first time was hard enough. I hated admitting to myself that he was gone. That he was in the ground there. It broke my heart."

"That's why I haven't made the journey out here," Karen sighs. "When we were here for the funeral, I could barely hold myself together. Just thinking about coming back out here was enough to bring tears to my eyes. But I'm ready now. I want to go out there and talk to him." She nervously giggles, "Is that weird?"

"I don't think so," Ashlyn shrugs. "I mean, it feels better to talk at something that is connected to him. That's where his physical body is."

"That does make sense," Karen nods a few times.

"Okay, I think we have all stalled long enough," I push my door open, grabbing my keys. "We can't just sit in here and talk about him, we need to get off our asses and actually go in."

"You're right," Karen fumbles zip up her jacket. "Okay, we can go now. I'm ready."

The three of us exit my car, and the sharp click of my locking it the only noise to fill the air. Then I am leading the way into the cemetery towards a spot that I didn't think that I would be seeing ever again. I didn't think that I would be coming back here after I pulled myself together to come the first time. I would rather focus on the future where this place won't even exist. Where Kenny's grave will disappear along with all the memories surrounding his death. That's all I care about. That's all I want to focus on. Because it is closer now than it has ever been.

"Here we are," I take a deep breath, stopping us in front of Kenny's gravestone. The small decorations still present, and it looks like someone has come up to keep it looking nice. "It feels weird to talk directly to him with the two of you here. Last time I just let the words spill out of my mouth. Now, I feel tongue tied."

"Then I can talk," Karen takes a step forward. "Hi Ken-Ken, sorry I haven't been out here. I'm sure you understand. I am doing well, though. You would be so thrilled to see my life now. I'm not with our parents anymore. I'm living with my sisters, and it has been the blessing that I needed. I have never really been unhappy, mostly thanks to you doing whatever you could to spoil me, but now I feel this new kind of happiness. There's no underlying fear of something bad happening to me. I'm in a safe place. I'm in a good place," her voice cracks, and her hand comes up to wipe the tears that have begun to stream down her face.

"We're taking good care of your little sis, Kenny," Ashlyn speaks up. "Our business together is going even better than I think either of us could have imagined, and she never has to worry about anything anymore. I forced her to get clothes, and now she plays video games, and she looks so good. Like, she was cute before, but now she's glowing. If that makes any sense," she awkwardly chuckles. "I guess, what I am trying to say is, we've got her. We took your spot, and we are going to hold her close for the rest of her life."

Karen chokes on a sob, her hands coming up to cover her mouth.

I grab her shoulders, pulling her into my hold. "Oh Pumpkin, you're breaking my heart. He wouldn't want you to cry for him again. He wants you to be happy. He wants us to live our lives."

"I know," she chokes out. "But-but as I stood here, I realized h-h-how good it has gotten for me. How, how much love I have received because your family came back to t-town, and I will be f-f-forever grateful. I was so overwhelmed with love."