Despite the early hour, the small chapel was beginning to fill up with people -and the air that was starting to tense up wasn't welcoming or cheerful.
Groups of people stood huddled together in hushed conversations, their breath visible in the chilly air. In the front row, a woman sat alone, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs -it was aunt Elsie.
A few rows back, two men sat with their heads bowed, their faces etched with sorrow. As more people filed in, the chapel became crowded and stifling.
The air was heavy with the scents of flowers and grief. Soon, a lady clad in a black lengthy gown and a black hat to fit strutted through the marbled floors of the chapel, joining aunt Elsie -her face was clouded in pains and maybe guilt.
At the front of the chapel, a casket rested on a simple stand, flanked by two vases filled with white lilies. The scene was eerie in its stillness, despite the heavy weight of sadness.
As the appointed time drew near, the murmurs in the crowd died down, leaving only the sound ofshuffling feet and quiet sobbing -leaving the atmosphere more unbearable.
Then, slowly, the doors at the back of the chapel opened and a procession of mourners entered -they were a group of three people. They were dressed in black suits just as some other people in the chapel too and their faces were solemn, their gazes fixated on the floor.
At the head of the group was a man in his early sixties, his back straight and his eyes cold. He walked to the front of the chapel and paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the gathered mourners.
The chapel suddenly became as silent as a graveyard, even the sobbing that filled the air seized, as every member around focused their attention on the man.
The man at the casket turned to face the crowd, his eyes red and his jaw set. For a long moment, he just stood there, looking out at the sea of unfamiliar faces -most present were members of the chapel itself, and he could barely recognize up to five among them.
Then, in a surprisingly steady voice, he began to speak.
"It's such sad news to have lost someone like him." He began, his steady voice was starting to quiver, already at the edge of crackling, but he managed to control his emotion. "No one would have thought we will lose Kent this way after struggling with his health for a couple of months."
He paused his lips for a while, heaving in the heavy breath that was starting to choke him as he speaks. "-just when he was at the edge of recovering, we lost him forever to the cold hands of death." He crackled, finally giving in to his emotion he's been trying to fight for a couple of seconds.
"More than thirty years of friendship abruptly coming to an end without us getting to bade one another goodbye -how cruel death is!"
The old man took his time to discuss the man who had been lost, Kent, recounting stories of their shared experiences and the bond they had forged overthe years. His words were like a knife in the hearts of those gathered, a reminder of the person who was no longer with them.
Aunt Elsie had remained seated throughout the entire service, her face hidden behind a veil of tears. Ciara was trying her best to console her, but aunt Elsie turned out to be inconsolable as hertears kept gushing out freely.
But now, aunt Elsie rose to her feet and walked slowly to join her husband's body that was laid in the coffin -soon to be put to rest. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her veil and looked out at the sea of faces staring back at her.
And then she opened her mouth to speak, clearly off herthroat lightly. "It's a big loss to lose my husband, Kent, after the years we've spent together looking out for each other." She started and paused for a while to wipe hertears with the handkerchief with her. "I never would have thought he would leave me so soon, abandoning me to face the world alone..."
Aunt Elsie's speech continued for quite a while, pausing at an interval to clean her tear filled face -and heaving out a deep and heavy sigh too...
******
Aunt Elsie stood at the edge of the grave, her feet sinking into the soft earth beneath her, her breath ragged, streaks of dried tears on her pale face -her eye was bloodshot red and her lids puffy.
She clutched a handful of dirt in her fist, watching as the coffin was lowered into the ground. As the first shovelful of dirt hit the wood, Aunt Elsie turned to Ciara.
"I can't believe he is really gone..." she crackled, hervoice shaking and her lips too, they were quivering as she speaks. "It doesn't seem real, Kent can't be gone -he can't leave me."
Ciara was suddenly swallowed with guilt, seeing her aunt in such a miserable state -even when she knows he deserves whateverthing that happen to him; she still didn't understand where the feeling of guilt was coming from. She wrapped his arm around her aunt's shoulders, and they turned away from the grave.
As they walked back to the car, aunt Elsie realized it was truly her husband being laid down back there.
As they drove away from the cemetery, aunt Elise could still hear the sound of the shovels, like an echo that refused to fade. The world felt different now, somehow hollow and empty without her beloved husband.
She turned to Ciara, but she didn't meet her gaze. Instead, Ciara's kept her eyes fixated on the road ahead, his jaw clenched tight. Aunt Elise sighed, knowing that they were both lost in theirthoughts. There was no easy way to process what had happened, no easy way to move on...