literature

Remembering Emily

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Literature Text

She gets up to the podium and slowly unfolds the paper, spreading it out and smoothing the creases. She sucks in a deep breath and begins. She talks about how sweet the girl was, how her smile was like the sun brightening up everyone's day. The others listen and smile through their grief. They remember. She says she will miss the girl, but she is happy because her friend is in a better place now. She wipes away her tears with her hands, gives the audience a brave smile before stepping off the podium. Fresh tears well up in my eyes. The strength people have astounds me.

A few more people take turns to speak; their words hauntingly beautiful despite the pain and the solemnity. The service lasts for quite a while as many had gathered to pay their respects. She really was someone special.

I shift my gaze to the framed photograph. A snapshot of a moment of pure bliss, forever frozen in time. So young and so full of life; whatever happened? My tears spill over at last. I let it run down my cheeks.

The pastor is speaking again.

"Earth to earth, dust to dust," he grabs a handful of soil and lets it fall through his fingers onto the coffin below.

The girl's family follow suit. I watch as the brown specks hit the white roses and scatter across the wood.

The service has ended and the crowd begins to thin. The atmosphere remains heavy but it is quieter now. I am alone at last; my turn to say goodbye. I walk over to the headstone. Unsure of what to say I survey the cemetery. In the distance people are getting into cars they have parked beside the tiny church. The waves come crushing down and I am swept away. I wait for the turbulence to subside.

At last it clears and I stare at the engravings a little while longer.

A hand on my shoulder jolts me out of reverie.

"It is time to go."

I turn to find Angel looking at me sympathetically. I nod.

"Goodbye my friend," I say as I press my fingers to my lips and then onto the headstone.

It felt cold.

I follow Angel down the row of memorials. At the end I turn to take one last look at the grave.



R.I.P. Emily Stone.



R.I.P. to me.
A short story I wrote about a girl attending a funeral.

Please comment. I would love to see your understanding of this very short short story.



Below is my explanation for this story (do NOT read if you have not yet read the story and do not want spoilers):
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This story basically sparked off partly because I was watching Pretty Little Liars as well as my continued fascination with the supernatural and the theme of life and death.

I wanted to explore a bit of the possibilities of life after death, or the point of view from the ones that have passed on. I have purposely written the story in a way so the reader will not realize until the end that Emily is the dead girl and is in fact attending her own funeral. The twist at the end was inspired by the short story "The Linesman" by Janet Frame.

Through out the story the girl seems engaged yet detached from the rest of the world. No one really notices her but it didn't seem odd. She seems to partake in the service yet she did not give her eulogy despite being the best friend of the girl. No one offers her condolences. As the story moves on she becomes more separated from the others and the only contact she had with someone else was Angel. Note, other than Emily, the only character named is Angel, though this is not her true name. Angel is a reference to the Angel of Death; she beckons to Emily to follow her as it is time to leave. This realization, however, does not come until the last sentence.

To be honest, I am unsure of how the girl has died. The only facts I know are she was young and loved by all. From what I gather it seems she was an inspiration to the others and her smile was her best feature. My best guess would be she died of some sort of illness and fought hard to stay alive and optimistic. Emily accepted her death and believes she has lived a good life however fleeting it was. Thus she attended her own funeral to say goodbye to her loved ones as well as life itself. Ultimately she is at peace and leaves willingly with Angel.
© 2012 - 2024 RoseaLumina
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