Joshua woke up to his alarm blaring through the phone speakers. Seven in the morning. Sliding the alarm off, he sat up on his bed and stretched out the sleep from his joints with a satisfying cracking sound. He made his way to the kitchen to prepare a cup of coffee. No good morning ever started without a good cup of coffee.
Joshua whistled an all-too-familiar tune to himself. Wise men say, the song started. Joshua sighed to himself as one of his favorite memories came to his mind. He took a sip of his coffee, careful not to burn his tongue. The bitter taste of coffee surrounded Joshua's mouth, making him smile. God, he loved coffee.
The time went fast and before he knew it, it was Joshua's time to go to work. He dressed into one of his suits before leaving the familiarity of his own home. It was a sunny day, making his walk a lot more difficult than it already was. He had to loosen his tie multiple times and little beads of sweat made their way onto his forehead.
Soon, Joshua was standing in front of a familiar garden. The nicest one in the neighborhood, which had the most beautiful roses of all. Joshua looked around him before jumping over the low wooden fence. He sneaked to the roses and glanced around him before carefully picking out roses, one by one.
"Ahem." Joshua dropped all the flowers he was holding and turned around slowly. He looked like a deer in the headlights.
"May I ask what are you doing?" the older man asked Joshua. Joshua swallowed thickly.
"I'm picking flowers for my, for my boyfriend," he stuttered. The older man chuckled and came closer to Joshua. The man kneeled down in front of him and picked up the flowers, four to be exact. The man held them out for Joshua to take.
"I demand to see this boy to know if he is pretty enough to warrant flower theft," the man said softly but sternly. Joshua swallowed thickly again and nodded shyly.
"I have to inform my wife about where I'm going. Wait here," the man said and walked inside the house. Joshua ran his free hand down his face. To say he was anxious was an understatement. He was terrified of what the man would say about the place Joshua was taking him.
"Okay boy, let's go." The man padded Joshua's shoulder. Joshua started guiding the way to their destination.
The walk was filled with one-way conversations from the man. Joshua couldn't say anything, even if he wanted to. He was too busy worrying about the man's reaction.
The cemetery was filled with the color of the various flowers on the graves. The man was silent. He was looking around the cemetery as Joshua led their way through the cemetery.
Joshua stopped in front of a familiar grave. He swallowed thickly and laid the four roses neatly on the grave. He ran his finger on the letters craved to the gravestone.
"Tyler Robert Joseph."
