Life After You | ✓

15

L I F E 

 A F T E R    Y O U 

     ____________________  

"Olivia! Olivia, sweetie, are you alright?" My dad's voice boomed throughout the church as I slowly stood up, using the podium to pull myself up.

"I-I'm fine. I think." I mumbled, running my hand gently along my stomach.

"Should we take you to the emergency room?" Tori asked as she helped me stand up straight.

"No, nothing hurts or feels strange. There is no blood anywhere. I think I am fine." I quietly spoke, not wanting to share my news with everyone inside of the church.

"Well, okay. Please be careful!" My dad soothed while lightly rubbing my back. "After we leave here, I want to take you to get an ultrasound, just to be sure."

"Okay dad. Thank you." I sadly smiled as they all took their seats again.

I slowly stepped towards the podium and stood in front of it. I took out my folded piece of paper and placed it on the podium. I took in a deep breath, as I have not yet looked up at the crowd, and pushed a piece of hair behind my ear.

I cleared my throat once and began, still feeling a little shaky.

"Well-" I looked up at the crowd with a small smile, "What an entrance huh?"

A few light chuckles zoomed throughout the room.

"Landon would have been the first to tell you how clumsy I am. I suppose I never really grew out of that phase. Landon knew everything about me, and then some."

I slowly read from my paper while occasionally looking up to see people's reactions. There were a few tears, and many sad smiles. I saw Barbara with sad eyes and a tissue in her hand. Her eyes lit up when they reached my own.

"See, we met in the second grade when Landon moved to Nevada with his parents. The moment I saw him, I knew he was special. Well that, and there were a few kids picking on him and I could not stand the sight of bullying. I immediately knew that I wanted him to be my friend. Little did I know; he would turn out to be my entire universe."

Barbara's eyes began leaking yet again, and I almost winced at the pain I was most likely causing. Although, this is a funeral, a time to grieve and feel the most sadness.

Brian put his arm securely over Barbara's shoulders and I longed for the days when Landon used to do the same to me whenever I were having a bad day.

Water began lining the rims of my eyes and I knew that before this speech were over, I would be a mumbling and crying mess.

"The very day that I talked to Landon for the first time, I invited him over to my house after school to have a snack and play. Mind you, a little boy probably had no idea how to play with a little girl, so of course once he got to my house he began hanging out with Riley my older brother."

At the mention of Riley, I found his eyes and he slightly nodded with nothing but a sad smile on his face. I glanced at Tori sitting next to him with her head leaning on his shoulder. He had his protective arm around her shoulders as well, and I gave them a small smile.

"Riley instantly clicked with Landon, despite the small age difference. So here I was... little seven-year-old Olivia, mad because my new friend would not stop hanging around my older brother. Eventually they let me join them and I got over my mood. Riley was Landon's best friend and I just want everyone to know just how special their bond was and how incredibly sad I am to see it end so suddenly."