Lost & Found

Evelyn

        Today is the day I leave it all behind.  I leave all of my friends behind.  I leave my school behind.  I leave my house behind.  I leave my parents behind.  

        Their funeral was beautifully sad.  My mother and father had many close friends who, along with many others from our community, came to pay their respects.  All of my friends were there, even some of my teachers too.  They all shared stories of my parents and the time they spent with them.  If I didn't think about it too much, it was almost like they were just telling a story at one of our campfires.  One where my parents would laugh so hard that they'd almost begin to cry.  

        Also in attendance at the funeral was my parents longest and closest friends, the Andersons.  The fact that they were my parents "longest and closest friends" didn't mean much to me. Apparently I had met them when I was little but I have no recollection of ever seeing them.  My parents uses to tell stories about the "good old days" and most of those stories contained the Anersons.  But I, unlike my parents, did not know the Andersons.  And I knew one thing for sure, I did not want to move across the country to live with strangers.

        Shortly after my mothers death, I was informed that I would not be living with my aunt and uncle who lived only five minutes away but that I would be moving.  Very far away.  Away from everything and everyone that was home to me.  When I had asked the lawyers why I had to move, the lawyer just said that my parents "made their wishes very clear."   

        As the funeral was coming to a close, I was overcome by this feeling of dread.  This inescapable feeling that clawed at my insides and threatened to tear my apart.  The funeral, possibly the most final thing in life, was ending.  I had no idea where to go after this.  Do I go home?  To face the empty house that isn't really home without my mom and dad?  Or do I wait until someone tells me what to do?  Who tells me what to do anymore?

        As if to answer my silent questions, two completely unfamiliar faces approached me with tears in their eyes. 

        "Evelyn?" A tall male with salt and pepper hair asked me with a slight smile.

        "Yes,"  I replied and asked a question I already knew the answer to, "who are you?"

        The woman beside him shifted awkwardly on her feet, "I'm Beth, Beth Anderson.  I was a friend of both your mother and your father."

        I smiled slightly to be polite even though nothing about this situation made me want to smile.  I stretched out my hand, "it's nice to meet you." I said with a tone that almost sounded like I meant it.

        The woman, Beth smiled as she shook my hand.  Beth was slim and about 5'6'' so she basically towered over my 5'1'' stature.  She had medium length brown hair which was about a shade or two lighter than mine.  Her eyes were large and expressive and she looked to be about 45, the same age as my parents. 

        "I'm George, it's nice to see you again after all these years.  I just wish it could have been under better circumstances."  He said with a somber look. 

        I could see people begin to funnel out, shaking the hands of various family members of mine. 

        "I'm sure someone has already gone over this with you briefly but George and I are you guardians and we will be taking care of you from now on.  I know this is scary but we will do our best to make you feel safe and comfortable." She said with sorrow, clearly wishing that she didn't have to say this to me.  That makes two of us.

        "I don't know what exactly you've been told so Beth and I thought it would be best if we talked for a little while about what is to come." George said looking back and forth between me and his wife.

        Beth looked at me, and clearly noticing how uncomfortable I was, said "I'm sure you need time to mourn.  How about George and I stop by your house later tonight?  We can bring some sort of food and we can talk then."

        Not knowing how to respond, I just nodded my head.  

        I watched them slowly walk away, leaving me alone.  Alone.  That is what I was now.  An orphan.  The epitome of loneliness.  

        

        

Comment and vote! 

 Evelyn by Gregory Alan Isakov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZynIzXTvk4

Other songs for this chapter include:

Antichrist by The 1975 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26dihEfGCnc

Big Black Car by Gregory Alan Isakov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pak0LEhFyAY

World Spins Madly On by The Weepies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26dihEfGCnc