The Golden Girl

Chapter 24

I could hear the bees buzzing from my window. The relaxing hum of hundreds of small insects all soaring past me. I still hadn't gotten used to it. Every morning I still expected to see Julie opposite me smiling in her sleep. It puzzled me to think that after a lifetime waking up in this room, I'd managed to become subconsciously attached to Queensland.

✽

I made my way through the hall to find Dad already up.

"Why are you up so early?" I asked, slightly amused.

He gave me a look and in an instant, it all came back. Gran. She had passed that night after I'd visited. It still hurt to comprehend the truth. My last link was gone.

"What day is it?" I asked blankly.

"Tuesday." He murmured. "We've got to go in an hour or so."

I started shaking like a leaf. I hated funerals. 

✽

"Okay," I whispered, trying to hide my terror.

Olivia turned to me, taking my hands.

"Oh, Sophie. Are you sure you're okay with this?" She asked.

I looked into her hazel eyes for a moment, trying to calm my never-ending butterflies.

"Yes," I whispered.

Ivy smiled, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "You'll be great."

Gran had wanted her wake to be happy, and so I wore a yellow dress. It curled around my body as I followed the girls onto the stage.

"Today," Olivia said, into the microphone. "We would like to sing a tribute song to Elizabeth Carter, who was one of the kindest people I have ever been blessed to know, but we'd also like to dedicate this song to the one who sang it most. Our leading songbird, whose song will never end."

The banjo echoed around the room, quickly joined by the violin. It wasn't my mind which caused the voice to emerge from my lips, it was my heart.

"You belong among the wildflowers,

You belong on a boat out at sea

Sail away kill off the hours

You belong somewhere you feel free

Sail away, go find a lover

Go away, somewhere bright and new

I'd see no other, that compares with you

You belong among the wildflowers

You belong on a boat out at sea

You belong with your love on your arm

You belong somewhere you feel free."

Olivia was staring at me, the violin strings chiming with Ivy's banjo. I couldn't help it. Silent tears slid down my cheeks. I sounded just like her.

"Runaway, go find a lover

Runaway, let your heart be your guide

You deserve the deepest of cover

You belong in that home by and by

You belong among the wildflowers

You belong somewhere close to me

Far away from your trouble and worry

You belong somewhere you feel free."

I could have broken down. I could have fallen to the ground and cried my heart out, but I stood up straight and smiled. It was a smile touched with sadness and heartbreak, but somehow it felt real, like it actually came from the inner Sophie. That part of me that never emerged was standing before a hundred people smiling through her tears.

"Thank you," I whispered, and finally I took a step in the right direction.

I took a step away from the rain and opened my heart to the sunshine.