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NO ONE CAME TO PHILIP ESTRANGE'S FUNERAL. lucas watched from afar, along with mike and dustin, staring at the abyss that was the memorial. the only one who bothered to come was philip's mother, who stood, staring at the grave with no body beneath. darkness sagged underneath her foggy eyes, the black dress she wore revealed her wrinkly and pale skin. veins prominent and visible from where the boys stood.
LUCAS WAS LONELY THAT SUNDAY NIGHT. his friends were softly sleeping in their beds, dozing to the sound of nothingness. but lucas was wide awake, facing the ceiling while the hot sheets burned his skin. his room was a lava chamber. part of lucas yearned to grab the walkie-talkie that rested uncomfortably on the side of his nightstand, but another part yelled "no!".
the young boy could hear the breathing of philip estrange through the speakers of the walkie, a noise that provided both comfort and horror. perhaps that was the reason for his hot room, or maybe it was because his room was always like that, and he just never cared to notice.
after contemplating for minutes, lucas' arm reached slowly for the device and put it so where philip could hear him speak.
"hey."
what else was there to say? he couldn't tell him, 'hey, i went to your funeral today'.
"hi."
lucas didn't want to bring up the upside down, he didn't want to talk about philip dying, or will being so close to escaping, or barb being dead, or anything out of a simple comprehension. for just once in his life he wanted a small moment of normality, even if it lasted a fleeting second - he needed a sense of ordinary.
he was pretty sure philip wanted that too.
"have any stories?"
"what do you mean?"
"you know, from school or something. what'd you like to do?"
"one time i convinced my grandmother that wasabi was guacamole and she ate it. you could practically see steam coming from her ears. but i was eight." there was no emotion, like the life had been sucked out of him. philip was a desolate void.
and although lucas didn't know it yet, he wanted to help.
the emotion-full boy laughed quietly.
"why'd you do that?"
"i don't know, didn't like her very much."
"my friends and i dressed up dustin's cat as darth vader once and forgot to take the costume off. so when his mom came home she freaked because she thought the cat was possessed or something."
philip snorted.
lucas stayed awake another hour, filling it with soft laughter and funny stories. he didn't know what happened to philip after they ended their talk, but a small, unconscious, part of lucas hoped that he too had a smile upon his face.
[ author's note ] shameless self promo - if any of you like IT i just posted an IT fanfic called "can't buy me love" !!
