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While Paul put on his best suit, the rest of the boys stood silently in the kitchen, dreading the funeral. They were all already dressed, and they all talked mindlessly, just trying to get her out of their heads, but it was useless. Everywhere they looked, they saw the ghost of her. Crying, laughing, smiling, talking. It was horrible to be constantly reminded of the loss of their loved one, because she really had become family to them.
Eventually, they all had to go to the funeral. It was an open casket, and there was barely anyone there. The boys, shirley, her father, and a strange woman.
It was an open casket, and Paul looked surprised that she was just as beautiful today as she always had been. Seeing her father made both George and Paul angry, but they didn't have the energy to say anything.
Paul went up first to speak about her, "I was desperately in love with her. She had that way about her, the way that made everyone instantly take a liking to her. I remember we first met at a library," Paul had to take a breath at the reminiscence, "I instantly saw the beauty about her. I knew that she was different, and she was like a mystery. She used to think so badly about herself," with that, Paul shot a glance at her father, "I'd like to think I helped her with that, to see her self-worth. I only wish that I would've listened more. I knew she had many troubles, but she never voiced them. She kept to herself, and it kills me to know that she could've been silently suffering. I'll love you forever, Liz," he choked out, and then got of off the stand.
George went next, searching for insightful words he couldn't quite seem to grasp, "I know we all loved her, and I think I loved her individuality most about her. She loved to admirer art, and I loved to admire her," he said with a quiet laugh, and talking actually seemed to help him. "She will always be remembered. You know, she made a promise to me that she obviously couldn't keep. She promised to never break my heart, but my entire life feels tattered at her passing, but she wants me to be strong, well fuck it. She broke her promise, I don't need to keep mine," George said with anger, and he began to cry, so he got off of the stand, and handed the microphone to John.
"Lizzie, what can I say? I learned so much from her, and I only wish she was still here to see how I've matured morally and intellectually. She taught me that it's okay to be sad, and I think that's important. She didn't tell us not to cry, because she knew that it was better to express our emotions than to keep them bottled up. She knew that the sun shone behind the darkest of clouds even on days you couldn't see it clearly. She knew that love was as abstract a concept as wind, and it couldn't be harnessed or possessed. And most of all, she knew how much every one of us loved her dearly," john finished, tears cascading done his face, "and that's why this is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do," he added up, and everyone wept at his speech.
     "In the time I knew her, she grew to be a sister to me. She told me a lot of things about her perspective on life. If she were here today, she would wipe away our tears, but let us continue to cry. She knew that emotions deserved to be expressed in the same way art is nailed on a wall in a small cafe," ringo said, looking at Paul, "she knew that there were many mysteries in this universe, but she knew she didn't need to uncover all of them, and that's why I loved her. That's why we all did," ringo said beautifully.
     Next to take the stand was Shirley, "Lizzie and I grew apart over the last year, and I was sickly worried about her and her wellbeing because I knew that she didn't have much of a family, but obviously I was wrong. She had four people that loved her more than anything, and it's painfully obvious now that if she had to do it all again, she'd make the same choices," Shirley said simply, and everyone looked down at their shoes. They all went and told her goodbye, and then she was buried in the ground.
     Lizzie's mom watched her beautiful daughter get buried and wondered what could have been. Each boy went home, and learned to let her go a little at a time, although they still thought about her every day.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"Someday when we're dreaming,
Deep in love, not a lot to say,
Then we will remember
  the things we said today
                                        -The Beatles, 1964"
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Well, when I started this, I certainty didn't have this planned out. The amount of tears I shed while writing this book is ridiculous. Well, this has certainly been one of my favorites.
                                                  XOXO, your author

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