Post by jp on May 11, 2017 10:27:29 GMT -5
March 1972
Green-wood Cemetery
Brooklyn, New York
Lilah kissed the cold casket. Papa, she whimpered in her mind. She wrapped her arms around the second coffin. I love you, she told her mama. Biting her lip in a futile effort to stop the sobs, Lilah staggered back under the big, black umbrella she shared with Daniel, her twin. Light rain pattered on the nylon.
Through the fog clouding her mind, she heard one of the mourners murmur. “Death is terrifying enough, even under the best of circumstances.”
A hushed voice responded, “Poor things, to lose their parents at fifteen... what are they going to do?”
Lilah rubbed a fist over the blazer she wore, trying to ease the knot in her chest. A short gust of wind rustled through the trees, blowing goosebumps under her stockings. Her teeth chattered. She barely heard the words of the minister as he said the final prayers committing the remains of their parents to the ground.
The string quartet played “Nearer, My God, to Thee” while the caskets were lowered to their resting place. The minister summoned the twins. Dan returned after tossing mud into the grave, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Cold fingers took the umbrella from Lilah and guided her hand to the mound of earth next to where she stood. Lilah couldn’t see through her tears. She didn’t want to see.
“My dear, everyone’s waiting,” someone whispered. Gentle hands propelled her forward.
The fog in her head got thicker as she walked unsteadily to the graves with a fistful of dirt, wet pumps squelching.
Green-wood Cemetery
Brooklyn, New York
Lilah kissed the cold casket. Papa, she whimpered in her mind. She wrapped her arms around the second coffin. I love you, she told her mama. Biting her lip in a futile effort to stop the sobs, Lilah staggered back under the big, black umbrella she shared with Daniel, her twin. Light rain pattered on the nylon.
Through the fog clouding her mind, she heard one of the mourners murmur. “Death is terrifying enough, even under the best of circumstances.”
A hushed voice responded, “Poor things, to lose their parents at fifteen... what are they going to do?”
Lilah rubbed a fist over the blazer she wore, trying to ease the knot in her chest. A short gust of wind rustled through the trees, blowing goosebumps under her stockings. Her teeth chattered. She barely heard the words of the minister as he said the final prayers committing the remains of their parents to the ground.
The string quartet played “Nearer, My God, to Thee” while the caskets were lowered to their resting place. The minister summoned the twins. Dan returned after tossing mud into the grave, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Cold fingers took the umbrella from Lilah and guided her hand to the mound of earth next to where she stood. Lilah couldn’t see through her tears. She didn’t want to see.
“My dear, everyone’s waiting,” someone whispered. Gentle hands propelled her forward.
The fog in her head got thicker as she walked unsteadily to the graves with a fistful of dirt, wet pumps squelching.
