Today was the day.
Today was the day of the funeral.
The one that shouldn't have happened until years and years to come. But, it was today, and the four of them- Johnnie, Josh, Tiger and Juliet- couldn't be more depressed. They had all been crying non-stop for the past month. The police officers, pathologists and FBI agents had finished examining Lilly's body, and after asking Johnnie what he wanted to do with her, he asked if his mother could be cremated; he always knew his mom wanted to 'go out with a bang', and this was the perfect way to do so.
The funeral was to be held on their hill in the park. That way, they could invite everyone they knew, and there would be space for the wake afterwards. Early that morning, the four young adults went to the park to get everything sorted out; the closed casket, a gazebo in case is started to rain, chairs, food, stereos and speakers, and throughout the day, the reverend joined them to speak through the ceremony, and who was going to speak their eulogies in order, and how many people they were expecting to attend. They had invited 78 people, including whichever family members could arrive on time, Lilly's colleagues, all of the people they were close to; and police officers from the station, as they needed to be on high alert if they saw Ben anywhere near the funeral.
By 1.00 pm, everyone had arrived, so they were to begin the funeral. Sniffles and tears and heartbreak could be heard everywhere, as everyone mourned the passing of Lilly Smith. The reverend stood by the closed casket and talked about Lilly; how she was loved by everyone in their small town of Agloe, how the cause of her passing was not intended for her, and that it was far too soon. Johnnie, however, had zoned out completely, preparing himself to talk in front of all these people. He was to read his eulogy first, and he was worried, so much so the he was already shaking, as he wanted it to be perfect for his mom. Sitting in the front row- closest to the deep mahogany casket that was covered over with black dahlias, with the odd, contrasting tiger lilies, which Lilly's daughter was named after- was Johnnie, Josh, Tiger and Juliet, all with damp tissues in their hands from covering up the tears. Johnnie was still lost in his own thoughts and only snapped out of it when he heard his name being called.
"Johnnie? Johnnie?" the reverend was calling out to him, for Johnnie to give his eulogy now. Gingerly, he stood up and walked towards the casket, his whole body trembling. "Thank you, Father..." he mumbled, before facing the tear-stained audience.
Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale Johnnie told himself, and then he pulled his eulogy out and began speaking.
"My mother, Lilly Smith, moved here to Agloe 20 years ago, 2 months before I was born. In that time, she has made lifelong friends and had many memorable experiences with every single one of you here. Remember when she was taking part in that mud-run we had about 13 years ago? And as she was about to cross that finish line, her fingers almost scraping the end, and she tripped and fell face first into the mud? That day she made a vow to never take part in a run ever again,"
Johnnie paused here, mostly to take a breath, but also as the friends and relatives staring intently at him began to smile, some even chuckled at the memory. As this died down again, Johnnie spoke.
"Mom was too young to die. She was only 38, she had another 20 years on her, at least- because she drank too heavily too often. Although she changed when Ben walked out on us and left her with nothing but me, she still loved me, and all of you. I for one hoped she would do more living, as she started changing her lifestyle, these past few months. But her horrible and abusive ex-husband had to go ahead and ruin that for her, and cause collateral damage in me, my siblings, and all of you with us today," Johnnie was getting angry now. Remember, inhale, exhale.
"But now mom is in a better place, and she's happy. She has nothing else to worry about in life, but all I hope she is watching us from above right now, I hope she is proud of me, Josh and Tiger, even Juliet. I hope she is looking down, and seeing us all gathered here today, and know that she has left this damaged place in the best way possible. And I hope she is making sure everything goes to plan, and she's looking out for us. I love you mom, and I always will. I know I didn't tell you that enough, but please know that I love you.." at this, Johnnie began to break down again, as tears started falling down his cheeks and leaving a salty taste on his lips.
"Thank you," Johnnie said through tears as he made his way back to his chair, and upon sitting down again, he couldn't control his emotions and he started balling his eyes out; just like he had done since that dreaded phone call from Detective Mills. After Johnnie's eulogy, Tiger went up to speak, and then Josh. Both of their's were sweet and meaningful, and by the end of Josh's tribute, the reverend got everyone to pray for Lilly, and then Johnnie spoke again, making people aware of the wake that was taking place at 4.00, where everyone in Agloe was invited.
The 45 minutes between the funeral and the wake was spent by Johnnie and Tiger, with help from Josh and Juliet, moving all of the chairs and taking the casket back to the funeral directors, and then moving the gazebo to the top of the hill, connecting fairy lights to bring some subtle colour to the wake. They then connected the speakers and started playing classical music through them, and they started up a barbecue and set out the rest of the food. By the time they had finished and people had started arriving, the sky had gone a pink colour, with streaks of orange, purple and blue creating the picturesque scene.
3 hours later, the entire hill was buzzing with the entire population of Agloe, and the barbecue food had all been demolished, and the sky was now turning a deep navy colour, with stars so close they could almost grab them. And that's when Johnnie attached a microphone to the speakers and caught everyone's attention, and the hill became silent.
"My mother, Lilly Smith, had always told me she wanted to go out with a bang. And tonight, we are going to make that happen to her. Me and my siblings are putting the 'Fun' in funeral, and we are going to give you all a firework display. Mom got cremated, and we then took her ashes to a firework store and got them to create our own firework, using those ashes. Tonight, our mother's wish will come true." With this, Josh signalled to a pyrotechnic handler, who set off the first firework of the night, as the music changed to something a little more upbeat. The first firework was the one that contained Lilly's ashes, and it was followed suite by hundreds of other, extravagant explosions that lit up the nights sky. Bursts of greens, blues, oranges, reds, pinks, whites, purples and yellows streaked and fizzled above their hill, as the attendees stood and watched in awe and amazement. Johnnie, Tiger, Juliet and Josh sat together right on the edge of the hill and watched the display, admiring the way everything, for a few hours at least, was completely perfect.
The wake seemed to last forever, as the last group of people left at half 11, as it had started getting cold. The four young adults then packed everything away and cleared up the mess that was made, before dragging it back home to their apartment. When Johnnie locked himself in his room, he saw Amelia laying under his duvet. "I'm so sorry I couldn't come today, there was a family crisis and I couldn't get out of Cincinnati. How was it anyway, did you do as you said you would; with the fireworks?" Amelia badgered. "Honey its okay, I just hope you sorted out your family problems. And yes, I did what I said and we had the most beautiful fireworks display every to commemorate mom. I'll tell you about it?" Johnnie replied, and to that, his girlfriend nodded her head, so he got under the duvet with her and and held her in his arms, and then told her everything that happened. Eventually they both fell asleep, and everything was...bliss.
The day had gone better than planned. Everyone attended the funeral, and it was a stunning ceremony with Lilly's favourite flowers, the firework display couldn't have had a better reaction, Tiger and Juliet ended the night making out in Tiger's room. Josh had met a boy at the wake and they became best friends almost as fast as Johnnie and Amelia did. And talking of the two lovebirds, they had fallen asleep holding each other for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
Everything.
Was.
Perfect.
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So i tried writing a more descriptive chapter, taking into consideration what worldsinmywords suggested i do to improve my book. i hope you all enjoy this chapter!
ill try and update in the next week, but i cant guarantee everything because schOOL IS APPARENTLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVERYTHING ELSE. ugh. i really hate school :(:
anyways i saw this morning that i had over 100 votes now. thankyou so much to all of you! it means so so much to me, so please let the votes (and comments) keep rolling in!
thankyou again to all of you still reading this book :)
xoxo, Death